offguardian--2020-12-23--Imperial Intent: Destroying India’s Farm Sector

Agriculture in India is at a crossroads .
Indeed , given that over 60 per cent of the country ’ s 1.3-billion-plus population still make a living from agriculture ( directly or indirectly ) , what is at stake is the future of India .
Unscrupulous interests are intent on destroying India ’ s indigenous agri-food sector and recasting it in their own image .
Farmers are rising up in protest .
To appreciate what is happening to agriculture and farmers in India , we must first understand how the development paradigm has been subverted .
Development used to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ redefining power structures .
Today , neoliberal dogma masquerades as economic theory and the subsequent deregulation of international capital ensures giant transnational conglomerates are able to ride roughshod over national sovereignty .
The deregulation of international capital flows has turned the planet into a free-for-all bonanza for the world ’ s richest capitalists .
Under the post-World-War Two Bretton Woods monetary regime , governments could to a large extent run their own macroeconomic policy without having to constantly seek market confidence or worry about capital flight .
However , the deregulation of global @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of nation states on capital markets and the elite interests who control them .
The dominant narrative calls this ‘ globalisation ’ , a euphemism for a predatory neoliberal capitalism based on endless profit growth , crises of overproduction , overaccumulation and market saturation and a need to constantly seek out and exploit new , untapped ( foreign ) markets to maintain profitability .
In India , we can see the implications very clearly .
Instead of pursuing a path of democratic development , India has chosen ( or has been coerced ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ finance , awaiting signals on how much it can spend , giving up any pretence of economic sovereignty and leaving the space open for private capital to move in on and capture markets .
India ’ s agri-food sector has indeed been flung open , making it ripe for takeover .
The country has borrowed more money from the World Bank than any other country in that institution ’ s history .
Back in the 1990s , the World Bank directed India to implement market reforms that would result in the displacement of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Moreover , the World Bank ’ s ‘ Enabling the Business of Agriculture ’ directives entail opening up markets to Western agribusiness and their fertilisers , pesticides , weedicides and patented seeds and compel farmers to work to supply transnational corporate global supply chains .
The aim is to let powerful corporations take control under the guise of ‘ market reforms ’ .
The very transnational corporations that receive massive taxpayer subsidies , manipulate markets , write trade agreements and institute a regime of intellectual property rights , thereby indicating that the ‘ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ warped delusions of those who churn out clichés about ‘ price discovery ’ and the sanctity of ‘ the market ’ .
What could this mean for India ?
We only have to look at the business model that keeps these companies in profit in the US : an industrialised system that relies on massive taxpayer subsidies and has destroyed many small-scale farmers ’ livelihoods .
The fact that US agriculture now employs a tiny fraction of the population serves as a stark reminder for what is in store for Indian farmers .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ based on overproduction and dumping on the world market to depress prices and rob farmers elsewhere of the ability to cover the costs of production .
The result is huge returns and depressed farmer incomes .
Indian agriculture is to be wholly commercialised with large-scale , mechanised ( monocrop ) enterprises replacing family-run farms that help sustain hundreds of millions of rural livelihoods while feeding the masses .
India ’ s agrarian base is being uprooted , the very foundation of the country , its ( food and non-food ) cultural traditions , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ corporations like Bayer ( and previously Monsanto ) or Reliance say they need to expand the use of GMOs under the guise of feeding a burgeoning population or to ‘ modernise ’ the sector , they are trying to justify their real objective : displacing independent cultivators , food processors and ‘ mom and pop ’ retailers and capturing the entire sector to boost their bottom line .
Indian agriculture has witnessed gross underinvestment over the years , whereby it is now wrongly depicted as a basket case and underperforming and ripe for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who had a stake in its underinvestment .
Today , we hear much talk of ‘ foreign direct investment ’ and making India ‘ business friendly ’ , but behind the benign-sounding jargon lies the hard-nosed approach of modern-day capitalism that is no less brutal for Indian farmers than early industrial capitalism was for English peasants whose access to their productive means was stolen and who were then compelled to work in factories .
The intention is for India ’ s displaced cultivators to be retrained to work as cheap labour in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ though nowhere near the numbers of jobs necessary are being created and that under the World Economic Forum ’ s ‘ great reset ’ human labour is to be largely replaced by artificial intelligence-driven technology under the guise of a ‘ 4th Industrial Revolution ’ .
As independent cultivators are bankrupted , the aim is that land will eventually be amalgamated to facilitate large-scale industrial cultivation .
Those who remain in farming will be absorbed into corporate supply chains and squeezed as they work on contracts dictated by large agribusiness and chain retailers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by 2030 , Delhi ’ s population will be 37 million .
One of the report ’ s principal authors , Felix Creutzig , said : The drive is to entrench industrial agriculture , commercialise the countryside and to replace small-scale farming , the backbone of food production in India .
It could mean hundreds of millions of former rural dwellers without any work .
And given the trajectory the country seems to be on , it does not take much to imagine a countryside with vast swathes of chemically-drenched monocrop fields containing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to become a mere repository for a chemical cocktail of proprietary biocides .
Transnational corporate-backed front groups are also hard at work behind the scenes .
According to a September 2019 report in the New York Times , ‘ A Shadowy Industry Group Shapes Food Policy Around the World ’ , the International Life Sciences Institute ( ILSI ) has been quietly infiltrating government health and nutrition bodies .
The article lays bare ILSI ’ s influence on the shaping of high-level food policy globally , not least in India .
ILSI helps @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the roll out of processed foods containing high levels of fat , sugar and salt .
In India , ILSI ’ s expanding influence coincides with mounting rates of obesity , cardiovascular disease and diabetes .
Accused of being little more than a front group for its 400 corporate members that provide its $ 17 million budget , ILSI ’ s members include Coca-Cola , DuPont , PepsiCo , General Mills and Danone .
The report says ILSI has received more than $ 2 million from chemical companies , among them Monsanto .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a ruling that glyphosate , the key ingredient in Monsanto ’ s weed killer Roundup , was “ probably not carcinogenic , ” contradicting an earlier report by the WHO ’ s cancer agency .
The committee was led by two ILSI officials .
From India to China , whether it has involved warning labels on unhealthy packaged food or shaping anti-obesity education campaigns that stress physical activity and divert attention from the role of food corporations , prominent figures with close ties to the corridors of power have been co-opted to influence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of agri-food corporations .
Whether through IMF-World Bank structural adjustment programmes , as occurred in Africa , trade agreements like NAFTA and its impact on Mexico , the co-option of policy bodies at national and international levels or deregulated global trade rules , the outcome has been similar across the world : poor and less diverse diets and illnesses , resulting from the displacement of traditional , indigenous agriculture by a corporatised model centred on unregulated global markets and transnational monopolies .
For all the discussion in India about loan waivers for farmers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ valid as this is – the core problems affecting agriculture remain .
Recent developments will merely serve to accelerate what is happening .
For example , the Karnataka Land Reform Act will make it easier for business to purchase agricultural land , resulting in increased landlessness and urban migration .
Eventually , as a fully incorporated ‘ asset ’ of global capitalism , India could see private equity funds – pools of money that use pension funds , sovereign wealth funds , endowment funds and investments from governments , banks , insurance companies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ injected into the agriculture sector .
A recent article on the grain.org website notes how across the world this money is being used to lease or buy up farms on the cheap and aggregate them into large-scale , US-style grain and soybean concerns .
This process of ‘ financialisation ’ is shifting power to remote board rooms occupied by people with no connection to farming and who are merely in it to make money .
These funds tend to invest for a 10-15 year period , resulting in handsome returns for investors but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and social devastation and serve to undermine local and regional food insecurity .
This financialisation of agriculture perpetuates a model of commercialised , globalised farming that serves the interests of the agrochemical and seed giants , including one of the world ’ s biggest companies , Cargill , which is involved in almost every aspect of global agribusiness .
Cargill trades in purchasing and distributing various agricultural commodities , raises livestock and produces animal feed as well as food ingredients for application in processed foods and industrial use .
Cargill also has a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ financial risks in the commodity markets for the company .
This includes Black River Asset Management , a hedge fund with about $ 10 billion of assets and liabilities .
A recent article on the Unearthed website accused Cargill and its 14 billionaire owners of profiting from the use of child labour , rain forest destruction , the devastation of ancestral lands , the spread of pesticide use and pollution , contaminated food , antibiotic resistance and general health and environmental degradation .
While this model of corporate agriculture is highly financially lucrative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is this the type of ‘ development ’ – are these the types of companies – that will benefit hundreds of millions involved in India ’ s agri-food sector or the country ’ s 1.3-billion-plus consumers and their health ?
As we witness the undermining of the Agricultural Produce Market Committees or mandis , part of an ongoing process to dismantle India ’ s public distribution system and price support mechanisms for farmers , it is little wonder that massive protests by farmers have been taking place in the country .
Recent legislation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ aimed at imposing the shock therapy of neoliberalism on the sector , finally clearing the way to restructure the agri-food sector for the benefit of large commodity traders and other ( international ) corporations : smallholder farmers will go to the wall in a landscape of ‘ get big or get out ’ , mirroring the US model of food cultivation and retail .
This represents a final death knell for indigenous agriculture in India .
The legislation will mean that mandis – state-run market locations for farmers to sell their agricultural produce @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bypassed , allowing farmers to sell to private players elsewhere ( physically and online ) , thereby undermining the regulatory role of the public sector .
In trade areas open to the private sector , no fees will be levied ( fees levied in mandis go to the states and , in principle , are used to enhance market infrastructure to help farmers ) .
This could incentivise the corporate sector operating outside of the mandis to ( initially at least ) offer better prices to farmers ; however , as the mandi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ corporations will monopolise trade , capture the sector and dictate prices to farmers .
Another outcome could see the largely unregulated storage of produce and speculation , opening the farming sector to a free-for-all profiteering payday for the big players and jeopardising food security .
The government will no longer regulate and make key produce available to consumers at fair prices .
This policy ground has been ceded to market players – again under the pretence of ‘ letting the market decide ’ through ‘ price discovery ’ .
The legislation will enable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and India ’ s billionaire capitalists Gautam Adani ( agribusiness conglomerate ) and Mukesh Ambini ( Reliance retail chain ) to decide on what is to be cultivated at what price , how much of it is to be cultivated within India and how it is to be produced and processed .
Industrial agriculture will be the norm with all the devastating health , social and environmental costs that the model brings with it .
Of course , many millions have already been displaced from the Indian countryside and have had to seek @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the coronavirus-related lockdown has indicated anything , it is that many of these ‘ migrant workers ’ have failed to gain a secure foothold and were compelled to return ‘ home ’ to their villages .
Their lives are defined by low pay and insecurity after 30 years of neoliberal ‘ reforms ’ .
Today , there is talk of farmerless farms being manned by driverless machines and monitored by drones with lab-based food becoming the norm .
One may speculate what this could mean : commodity crops from patented GM seeds doused @ @ @ @ @ @ @ biomatter ’ to be processed by biotech companies and constituted into something resembling food .
Post-COVID , the World Bank talks about helping countries get back on track in return for structural reforms .
Are even more smallholder Indian farmers to be displaced from their land in return for individual debt relief and universal basic income ?
The displacement of these farmers and the subsequent destruction of rural communities and their cultures was something the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation once called for and cynically termed “ land mobility ” .
It raises @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hold for the hundreds of millions of others who will be victims of the dispossessive policies of an elite group of powerful interests ?
The various lockdowns around the globe have already exposed the fragility of the global food system , dominated by long-line supply chains and global conglomerates .
What we have seen underscores the need for a radical transformation of the prevailing globalised food regime which must be founded on localisation and food sovereignty and challenges dependency on global conglomerates and distant volatile commodity markets .

Colin Todhunter
Agriculture in India is at a crossroads. Indeed, given that over 60 per cent of the country’s 1.3-billion-plus population still make a living from agriculture (directly or indirectly), what is at stake is the future of India. Unscrupulous interests are intent on destroying India’s indigenous agri-food sector and recasting it in their own image. Farmers are rising up in protest.
To appreciate what is happening to agriculture and farmers in India, we must first understand how the development paradigm has been subverted. Development used to be about breaking with colonial exploitation and radically redefining power structures. Today, neoliberal dogma masquerades as economic theory and the subsequent deregulation of international capital ensures giant transnational conglomerates are able to ride roughshod over national sovereignty.
The deregulation of international capital flows has turned the planet into a free-for-all bonanza for the world’s richest capitalists. Under the post-World-War Two Bretton Woods monetary regime, governments could to a large extent run their own macroeconomic policy without having to constantly seek market confidence or worry about capital flight. However, the deregulation of global capital movement has increased levels of dependency of nation states on capital markets and the elite interests who control them.
Globalisation
The dominant narrative calls this ‘globalisation’, a euphemism for a predatory neoliberal capitalism based on endless profit growth, crises of overproduction, overaccumulation and market saturation and a need to constantly seek out and exploit new, untapped (foreign) markets to maintain profitability.
In India, we can see the implications very clearly. Instead of pursuing a path of democratic development, India has chosen (or has been coerced) to submit to the regime of foreign finance, awaiting signals on how much it can spend, giving up any pretence of economic sovereignty and leaving the space open for private capital to move in on and capture markets.
India’s agri-food sector has indeed been flung open, making it ripe for takeover. The country has borrowed more money from the World Bank than any other country in that institution’s history. Back in the 1990s, the World Bank directed India to implement market reforms that would result in the displacement of 400 million people from the countryside. Moreover, the World Bank’s ‘Enabling the Business of Agriculture’ directives entail opening up markets to Western agribusiness and their fertilisers, pesticides, weedicides and patented seeds and compel farmers to work to supply transnational corporate global supply chains.
The aim is to let powerful corporations take control under the guise of ‘market reforms’. The very transnational corporations that receive massive taxpayer subsidies, manipulate markets, write trade agreements and institute a regime of intellectual property rights, thereby indicating that the ‘free’ market only exists in the warped delusions of those who churn out clichés about ‘price discovery’ and the sanctity of ‘the market’.
What could this mean for India? We only have to look at the business model that keeps these companies in profit in the US: an industrialised system that relies on massive taxpayer subsidies and has destroyed many small-scale farmers’ livelihoods.
The fact that US agriculture now employs a tiny fraction of the population serves as a stark reminder for what is in store for Indian farmers. Agribusiness companies’ taxpayer-subsidised business models are based on overproduction and dumping on the world market to depress prices and rob farmers elsewhere of the ability to cover the costs of production. The result is huge returns and depressed farmer incomes.
Indian agriculture is to be wholly commercialised with large-scale, mechanised (monocrop) enterprises replacing family-run farms that help sustain hundreds of millions of rural livelihoods while feeding the masses.
India’s agrarian base is being uprooted, the very foundation of the country, its (food and non-food) cultural traditions, communities and rural economy. When agri-food corporations like Bayer (and previously Monsanto) or Reliance say they need to expand the use of GMOs under the guise of feeding a burgeoning population or to ‘modernise’ the sector, they are trying to justify their real objective: displacing independent cultivators, food processors and ‘mom and pop’ retailers and capturing the entire sector to boost their bottom line.
Indian agriculture has witnessed gross underinvestment over the years, whereby it is now wrongly depicted as a basket case and underperforming and ripe for a sell off to those very interests who had a stake in its underinvestment.
Today, we hear much talk of ‘foreign direct investment’ and making India ‘business friendly’, but behind the benign-sounding jargon lies the hard-nosed approach of modern-day capitalism that is no less brutal for Indian farmers than early industrial capitalism was for English peasants whose access to their productive means was stolen and who were then compelled to work in factories.
The intention is for India’s displaced cultivators to be retrained to work as cheap labour in the West’s offshored plants, even though nowhere near the numbers of jobs necessary are being created and that under the World Economic Forum’s ‘great reset’ human labour is to be largely replaced by artificial intelligence-driven technology under the guise of a ‘4th Industrial Revolution’.
As independent cultivators are bankrupted, the aim is that land will eventually be amalgamated to facilitate large-scale industrial cultivation. Those who remain in farming will be absorbed into corporate supply chains and squeezed as they work on contracts dictated by large agribusiness and chain retailers.
Cocktail of deception
A 2016 UN report said that by 2030, Delhi’s population will be 37 million.
One of the report’s principal authors, Felix Creutzig, said:
The emerging mega-cities will rely increasingly on industrial-scale agricultural and supermarket chains, crowding out local food chains.
The drive is to entrench industrial agriculture, commercialise the countryside and to replace small-scale farming, the backbone of food production in India. It could mean hundreds of millions of former rural dwellers without any work. And given the trajectory the country seems to be on, it does not take much to imagine a countryside with vast swathes of chemically-drenched monocrop fields containing genetically modified plants and soils rapidly degrading to become a mere repository for a chemical cocktail of proprietary biocides.
Transnational corporate-backed front groups are also hard at work behind the scenes. According to a September 2019 report in the New York Times, ‘A Shadowy Industry Group Shapes Food Policy Around the World’, the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) has been quietly infiltrating government health and nutrition bodies. The article lays bare ILSI’s influence on the shaping of high-level food policy globally, not least in India.
ILSI helps to shape narratives and policies that sanction the roll out of processed foods containing high levels of fat, sugar and salt. In India, ILSI’s expanding influence coincides with mounting rates of obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Accused of being little more than a front group for its 400 corporate members that provide its $17 million budget, ILSI’s members include Coca-Cola, DuPont, PepsiCo, General Mills and Danone. The report says ILSI has received more than $2 million from chemical companies, among them Monsanto. In 2016, a UN committee issued a ruling that glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto’s weed killer Roundup, was “probably not carcinogenic,” contradicting an earlier report by the WHO’s cancer agency. The committee was led by two ILSI officials.
From India to China, whether it has involved warning labels on unhealthy packaged food or shaping anti-obesity education campaigns that stress physical activity and divert attention from the role of food corporations, prominent figures with close ties to the corridors of power have been co-opted to influence policy in order to boost the interests of agri-food corporations.
Whether through IMF-World Bank structural adjustment programmes, as occurred in Africa, trade agreements like NAFTA and its impact on Mexico, the co-option of policy bodies at national and international levels or deregulated global trade rules, the outcome has been similar across the world: poor and less diverse diets and illnesses, resulting from the displacement of traditional, indigenous agriculture by a corporatised model centred on unregulated global markets and transnational monopolies.
For all the discussion in India about loan waivers for farmers and raising their income levels – as valid as this is – the core problems affecting agriculture remain.
Financialisation
Recent developments will merely serve to accelerate what is happening. For example, the Karnataka Land Reform Act will make it easier for business to purchase agricultural land, resulting in increased landlessness and urban migration.
Eventually, as a fully incorporated ‘asset’ of global capitalism, India could see private equity funds – pools of money that use pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowment funds and investments from governments, banks, insurance companies and high net worth individuals – being injected into the agriculture sector. A recent article on the grain.org website notes how across the world this money is being used to lease or buy up farms on the cheap and aggregate them into large-scale, US-style grain and soybean concerns.
This process of ‘financialisation’ is shifting power to remote board rooms occupied by people with no connection to farming and who are merely in it to make money. These funds tend to invest for a 10-15 year period, resulting in handsome returns for investors but can leave a trail of long-term environmental and social devastation and serve to undermine local and regional food insecurity.
This financialisation of agriculture perpetuates a model of commercialised, globalised farming that serves the interests of the agrochemical and seed giants, including one of the world’s biggest companies, Cargill, which is involved in almost every aspect of global agribusiness.
Cargill trades in purchasing and distributing various agricultural commodities, raises livestock and produces animal feed as well as food ingredients for application in processed foods and industrial use. Cargill also has a large financial services arm, which manages financial risks in the commodity markets for the company. This includes Black River Asset Management, a hedge fund with about $10 billion of assets and liabilities.
A recent article on the Unearthed website accused Cargill and its 14 billionaire owners of profiting from the use of child labour, rain forest destruction, the devastation of ancestral lands, the spread of pesticide use and pollution, contaminated food, antibiotic resistance and general health and environmental degradation.
While this model of corporate agriculture is highly financially lucrative for rich investors and billionaire owners, is this the type of ‘development’ – are these the types of companies – that will benefit hundreds of millions involved in India’s agri-food sector or the country’s 1.3-billion-plus consumers and their health?
Farm bills and post-COVID
As we witness the undermining of the Agricultural Produce Market Committees or mandis, part of an ongoing process to dismantle India’s public distribution system and price support mechanisms for farmers, it is little wonder that massive protests by farmers have been taking place in the country.
Recent legislation based on three important farm bills are aimed at imposing the shock therapy of neoliberalism on the sector, finally clearing the way to restructure the agri-food sector for the benefit of large commodity traders and other (international) corporations: smallholder farmers will go to the wall in a landscape of ‘get big or get out’, mirroring the US model of food cultivation and retail.
This represents a final death knell for indigenous agriculture in India. The legislation will mean that mandis – state-run market locations for farmers to sell their agricultural produce via auction to traders – can be bypassed, allowing farmers to sell to private players elsewhere (physically and online), thereby undermining the regulatory role of the public sector. In trade areas open to the private sector, no fees will be levied (fees levied in mandis go to the states and, in principle, are used to enhance market infrastructure to help farmers).
This could incentivise the corporate sector operating outside of the mandis to (initially at least) offer better prices to farmers; however, as the mandi system is run down completely, these corporations will monopolise trade, capture the sector and dictate prices to farmers.
Another outcome could see the largely unregulated storage of produce and speculation, opening the farming sector to a free-for-all profiteering payday for the big players and jeopardising food security. The government will no longer regulate and make key produce available to consumers at fair prices. This policy ground has been ceded to market players – again under the pretence of ‘letting the market decide’ through ‘price discovery’.
The legislation will enable transnational agri-food corporations like Cargill and Walmart and India’s billionaire capitalists Gautam Adani (agribusiness conglomerate) and Mukesh Ambini (Reliance retail chain) to decide on what is to be cultivated at what price, how much of it is to be cultivated within India and how it is to be produced and processed. Industrial agriculture will be the norm with all the devastating health, social and environmental costs that the model brings with it.
Of course, many millions have already been displaced from the Indian countryside and have had to seek work in the cities. And if the coronavirus-related lockdown has indicated anything, it is that many of these ‘migrant workers’ have failed to gain a secure foothold and were compelled to return ‘home’ to their villages. Their lives are defined by low pay and insecurity after 30 years of neoliberal ‘reforms’.
Today, there is talk of farmerless farms being manned by driverless machines and monitored by drones with lab-based food becoming the norm. One may speculate what this could mean: commodity crops from patented GM seeds doused with chemicals and cultivated for industrial ‘biomatter’ to be processed by biotech companies and constituted into something resembling food.
Post-COVID, the World Bank talks about helping countries get back on track in return for structural reforms. Are even more smallholder Indian farmers to be displaced from their land in return for individual debt relief and universal basic income? The displacement of these farmers and the subsequent destruction of rural communities and their cultures was something the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation once called for and cynically termed “land mobility”.
It raises the question: what does the future hold for the hundreds of millions of others who will be victims of the dispossessive policies of an elite group of powerful interests?
The various lockdowns around the globe have already exposed the fragility of the global food system, dominated by long-line supply chains and global conglomerates. What we have seen underscores the need for a radical transformation of the prevailing globalised food regime which must be founded on localisation and food sovereignty and challenges dependency on global conglomerates and distant volatile commodity markets.


OffGuardian’s Christmas Crossword

After a year of turmoil and stress , OffG wants to offer a little relief over Christmas with our first ever puzzle contest .
A Christmas cryptic crossword set by a regular reader and friend of the site .
To enter simply download the editable form here , solve the crossword and send it back to , with the subject line “ crossword ” .
Five lucky winners , and the goodies they may get , will be announced on 12th Night .
1 .
Beer six sports bodies equated with Black Death , Blitz and Wolf ( 11 ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Matt to begin with ( 3 ) 9 .
“ Citizens , I leave you confused !
” , he – he might have said in Zarathustra ( 9 ) 10 .
Noble former pupil suffering reversal , appropriately clued ( 5 ) 11 .
Prise apart seafront features ( 5 ) 12 .
Member of theatrical union suffers discrimination ( 8 ) 14 .
Venture on board ( 4 ) 16 .
Pronoun at forefront of herd mentality ( 3 ) 17 .
Precious stone set front-to-back – classy confection !
( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from 101 , hesitates , ends at zero ( 6 ) 22 .
Heroine of Die Meistersinger and of 30/23 sceptics ( 3 ) 23 .
Blue ?
Not this clue !
( 4 ) 26 .
Community in exile spoke : “ Westward !
To the River-God !
” ( 8 ) 28 .
Anticipated conclusion of 30/23 ?
Surely not ( 5 ) 31 .
Confused and lacking direction , Nicole has part in soap ( 5 ) 32 .
Naturally assumes Ferguson ’ s initially in error ( 3,6 ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 3 ) 34 .
Scotsman taken unawares by alternative news provider ( 11 ) 1 .
Collaborating with devious intent , criminals undertake maritime plunder ( 10 ) 2 .
He told a tale about the First Lady ( 5 ) 3 .
New Zealand and Old Thailand combine to form regime seemingly undergoing renaissance in some quarters ( 6 ) 4 .
Panaceas produced by pointless new science after purging Victoria ( 8 ) 5 .
Recreational material distributed free , ends in Casualty ( 6 ) 6 .
Beneath hard , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and 30/23 protesters ( 8 ) 7 .
Thoroughly deserve ‘ Tier 1000 ’ madness ( 5 ) 8 .
Millions plead for pointless virtue-signalling fashion accessory ( 4 ) 13 .
Denizen of allotment makes getaway with little money ( 6,4 ) 15 .
Tasteless , mostly , to draw attention to misspelling ( 3 ) 18 .
Feature of allegory shared in large measure by 9 and 10 ( 3 ) 19 .
Corpse dreadfully in front of company – from excessive consumption of this ?
( 8 ) 20 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ once predicted to kill 200 million ( 5,3 ) 24 .
Special offer starts Friday ?
Get away with you !
( 3,3 ) 25 .
Madhya Pradesh city , by the sound of it , location of most activities under 30/23 ( 6 ) 27 .
Marshal Petain , missing Army chief , and many other political leaders could be so described ( 5 ) 29 .
Composer overdid lack of boundaries ( 5 ) 30 .
Sheep lose head and restraint ( 4 )

After a year of turmoil and stress, OffG wants to offer a little relief over Christmas with our first ever puzzle contest. A Christmas cryptic crossword set by a regular reader and friend of the site.
To enter simply download the editable form here, solve the crossword and send it back to [email protected] , with the subject line “crossword”.
Five lucky winners, and the goodies they may get, will be announced on 12th Night.
Good luck, have fun & MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Across
1. Beer six sports bodies equated with Black Death, Blitz and Wolf (11)
7. Silence kept by ministry under Matt to begin with (3)
9. “Citizens, I leave you confused!”, he – he might have said in Zarathustra (9)
10. Noble former pupil suffering reversal, appropriately clued (5)
11. Prise apart seafront features (5)
12. Member of theatrical union suffers discrimination (8)
14. Venture on board (4)
16. Pronoun at forefront of herd mentality (3)
17. Precious stone set front-to-back – classy confection! (6)
21. Statesman/lawyer begins countdown from 101, hesitates, ends at zero (6)
22. Heroine of Die Meistersinger and of 30/23 sceptics (3)
23. Blue? Not this clue! (4)
26. Community in exile spoke: “Westward! To the River-God!” (8)
28. Anticipated conclusion of 30/23? Surely not (5)
31. Confused and lacking direction, Nicole has part in soap (5)
32. Naturally assumes Ferguson’s initially in error (3,6)
33. Equipment found in kitchen (3)
34. Scotsman taken unawares by alternative news provider (11)
Down
1. Collaborating with devious intent, criminals undertake maritime plunder (10)
2. He told a tale about the First Lady (5)
3. New Zealand and Old Thailand combine to form regime seemingly undergoing renaissance in some quarters (6)
4. Panaceas produced by pointless new science after purging Victoria (8)
5. Recreational material distributed free, ends in Casualty (6)
6. Beneath hard, superior male – current status of women and 30/23 protesters (8)
7. Thoroughly deserve ‘Tier 1000’ madness (5)
8. Millions plead for pointless virtue-signalling fashion accessory (4)
13. Denizen of allotment makes getaway with little money (6,4)
15. Tasteless, mostly, to draw attention to misspelling (3)
18. Feature of allegory shared in large measure by 9 and 10 (3)
19. Corpse dreadfully in front of company – from excessive consumption of this? (8)
20. A Roman road North leads to bug once predicted to kill 200 million (5,3)
24. Special offer starts Friday? Get away with you! (3,3)
25. Madhya Pradesh city, by the sound of it, location of most activities under 30/23 (6)
27. Marshal Petain, missing Army chief, and many other political leaders could be so described (5)
29. Composer overdid lack of boundaries (5)
30. Sheep lose head and restraint (4)


offguardian--2020-12-24--Discuss: Brexit Deal Announced

Discuss: Brexit Deal Announced

In a flagrant piece of political theatre , the governments of Britain and the EU have announced they have come to terms on a Brexit deal .
Though the deal has been agreed upon , it is not yet official .
It still has to be voted through parliament when they are recalled on the 30th of December .
What , if anything , is really likely to change , should that happen , is as yet unclear .
However , there ’ s no denying the obviously cynical timing of the announcement , designed to give everyone something to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reigniting the flames of Brexit-Remain division at a time when society should be unifying against the “ pandemic ” narrative and all the evils contained therein .
But , even while it feels awfully like taking the bait and being caught in a trap…discuss it we must .
• Will the UK parliament vote the deal through ?
• What will change as result of the Brexit deal ?
• Will it be revoked by the next government ?
• Will Britain ever rejoin the EU ?
• What impact will this have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the wake of the New Normal and the Great Reset…does any of this even matter ?
Discuss it all below , and we ’ ll see you all after Christmas .

In a flagrant piece of political theatre, the governments of Britain and the EU have announced they have come to terms on a Brexit deal.
Though the deal has been agreed upon, it is not yet official. It still has to be voted through parliament when they are recalled on the 30th of December.
What, if anything, is really likely to change, should that happen, is as yet unclear.
However, there’s no denying the obviously cynical timing of the announcement, designed to give everyone something to talk about over Christmas dinner, and reigniting the flames of Brexit-Remain division at a time when society should be unifying against the “pandemic” narrative and all the evils contained therein.
But, even while it feels awfully like taking the bait and being caught in a trap…discuss it we must.
So:
Will the UK parliament vote the deal through?
What will change as result of the Brexit deal?
Will it be revoked by the next government?
Will Britain ever rejoin the EU?
What impact will this have on Scottish independence movement?
In the wake of the New Normal and the Great Reset…does any of this even matter?
Discuss it all below, and we’ll see you all after Christmas.


offguardian--2020-12-25--Earth to God: Lessons of 2020

Earth to God: Lessons of 2020

Drawing on the positives as we head into the next year Recently a reader here posted this music clip , ‘ Earth to God ’ It reminded of an article I wrote here in the run up to Christmas 2018 – Syria and the will of god .
A piece which pondered whether and how religion plays a role in important world events .
I also talked about the resilience of the Syrian people and suggested that for us to survive we need to become more like them .
At that time , I was exploring religion .
Although I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of reading and learning since , I feel my views on religion have taken more shape , particularly in the background to what has been terrible year with lockdowns .
In December 2020 , I look at people and their negative traits brought out by this crisis and it ’ s easy to be despondent .
Most of us have experienced a range of negative feelings and emotions , and at times I ’ ve felt like giving up .
But it ’ s not been all negative .
So , I thought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emotions throughout the rollercoaster year , drawing on some lessons learned and positives as we head into next year .
The not so good Since around May I ’ ve been exploring reasons why so many people seem to lack any basic reasoning or critical thinking skills , just accepting governments diktats .
I wrote about media propaganda and the emotion of fear , education , ideology , denial and poor perception of the obvious .
I also explored motives and evidence to make sense of what ’ s happening and where this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I knew that lockdowns were wholly disproportionate and despite less information about Covid-19 , these measures were at best guesswork .
However , for several months I held on to the view that it was political and scientific stupidity driving the decision making .
A few months ago , I finally accepted that the whole Covid-19 narrative was based on taking us towards the so-called Great Reset , a social and economic experiment which relies on fear , destruction of today ’ s society and dependence of people on the state .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ me I ’ m still struggling to come to terms with the willful destruction of society to bring through this back-door agenda .
And the majority of people seemingly are still oblivious or in denial .
I ’ m not so surprised that governments lie and cheat , but I guess it is the sheer scale of the 2020 horror show .
I now wonder if the origin of COVID-19 was deliberate and the introduction of the vaccine fills me with utter dread .
For me , my day-to-day frustrations have been with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shadow and won ’ t entertain any other viewpoints on Covid-19 and lockdown .
Wearing masks outside , crossing roads to avoid people .
Even wearing masks on their Twitter profiles as if to make some sort of statement .
The trained scientists and journalists with their tunnel vision .
My biggest annoyance is with the church and its hierarchy .
I rarely attend church but come across many worshippers saying that they feel abandoned and deprived of the social aspect of attending services and church events .
What has always frustrated me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speak up against wars abroad or consider the root causes of humanitarian disasters .
Instead it treats the symptoms , expecting its congregation to pick up the pieces through wasteful donations .
Likewise , the church simply accepting against all the scientific evidence that it has to close its doors .
Its easy to see why so many people are turning away from religion .
To sum up 2020 , for me has been one of frustration and a lot of personal negativity which is unlike me .
Previously I had learned to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the world , but hold on to much good too .
Personally , and across the board , I ’ ve come across some things which have kept me going and hold out some hope for our future .
This year my mother who I care for has been quite unwell with various ailments .
After many prayers and keeping her at home , she keeps bouncing back and in hospital recently received excellent care and kindness .
This year I reconnected with my two nieces .
The older streetwise , funny and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with an amazing enquiring mind .
It ’ s our younger generation we should protect from the darkness descending on us and nurture .
I ’ ve come across many young people who ’ ve amazed me with their wisdom and reading of what ’ s going on in the world and maturity in carrying the burden of the hardships and possible bleak future .
I encourage all those going through family relationship difficulties to make the first move to reconciliation , regardless of original fault .
It ’ s worth the effort @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most intelligent critical thinkers are more vulnerable to mental health issues .
For me , vindication is very important to my mental health .
In supporting others , I always remind them to feel the comfort of vindication and likewise they ’ ve always supported me with coping strategies , even strangers on Twitter .
Music and humour have been great releases throughout this crisis .
I always say to people if we can ’ t change things or prevent evil from imposing itself on our lives lets at least have a laugh @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this article , I have strengthened my faith , that good always overcomes evil .
Things happen for a reason .
After what I think might have been a sort of spiritual awakening a few years ago , a faith from somewhere has helped me do the things I feel I should be doing .
This year , the strains and stresses have pushed me back to struggling again with anxiety and low mood .
But this faith remains unshaken and has prevented me from slipping back too far .
I use this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have a wobble .
I ’ ve also learned over the years and more recently to not engage with every battle .
Choose the most important ones and fight them fiercely .
The Twitter community is also a great place to hang out with like-minded people .
Avoid the negative accounts and stick to the insightful funny and compassionate people of which there are plenty .
And as I said before , many people feel their church has abandoned them and have said to me they are losing their faith .
I always @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the religious hierarchy are quite distinct ( and in many cases quite the opposite ) from the religious teachings where they acquired their faith .
Pray and read at home as I have done since I started my tentative journey into religion .
And I always say to people of religion and non-religion to respect the freedom to worship whichever religion and celebrate religious festivals together .
As seen with Black Lives Matter , BREXIT and lockdowns the state wishes to divide us along racial , religious , ideological lines and distract @ @ @ @ @ @ @ focus purely on the destruction of our societies we stand a better chance of defeating the evil of reset .
The case study , as always to follow is Syria .
A people of many diverse religions and ethnic groups which collectively saw off a huge foreign alliance of evil .
In 2018 I realised that we need to change to survive .
2020 has shown me that things are worse than I thought back then , and we probably need to deal with real hardships to become better human beings .
While @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will be stopped in its tracks soon , I don ’ t think it will .
I suspect it will take the continued suffering and further realisation of what is unfolding and why , for people to finally rise up and defeat it .
There ’ s only so much the few of us fighting this tyranny can do , so it looks as if all humanity will have to take up the slack .
But the reset is a hugely ambitious undertaking with many facets and variables to slot in to succeed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the reset won ’ t succeed , but at a great sacrifice to us .
As I said in 2018 , perhaps God is testing us , giving us the tools to finally overthrow the darkness which hangs over us .
Maybe this is our last chance , our last test .
In my previous Syria article , I said God may , ultimately , intervene to prevent humanity ’ s destruction as possibly has been done during previous world wars .
We don ’ t deserve it , but it may happen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us to change .
Seasons greetings and peace to all .

Drawing on the positives as we head into the next year
Kevin Smith
Personally, and across the board, I’ve come across some things which have kept me going and hold out some hope for our future.
Recently a reader here posted this music clip, ‘Earth to God’
It reminded of an article I wrote here in the run up to Christmas 2018 – Syria and the will of god. A piece which pondered whether and how religion plays a role in important world events.
I also talked about the resilience of the Syrian people and suggested that for us to survive we need to become more like them.
At that time, I was exploring religion. Although I haven’t done a great deal of reading and learning since, I feel my views on religion have taken more shape, particularly in the background to what has been terrible year with lockdowns.
In December 2020, I look at people and their negative traits brought out by this crisis and it’s easy to be despondent. Most of us have experienced a range of negative feelings and emotions, and at times I’ve felt like giving up.
But it’s not been all negative. So, I thought to share some of my thinking and emotions throughout the rollercoaster year, drawing on some lessons learned and positives as we head into next year.
The not so good
Since around May I’ve been exploring reasons why so many people seem to lack any basic reasoning or critical thinking skills, just accepting governments diktats.
I wrote about media propaganda and the emotion of fear, education, ideology, denial and poor perception of the obvious. I also explored motives and evidence to make sense of what’s happening and where this is leading to.
Back in April, I knew that lockdowns were wholly disproportionate and despite less information about Covid-19, these measures were at best guesswork. However, for several months I held on to the view that it was political and scientific stupidity driving the decision making.
A few months ago, I finally accepted that the whole Covid-19 narrative was based on taking us towards the so-called Great Reset, a social and economic experiment which relies on fear, destruction of today’s society and dependence of people on the state. This is all unfolding rapidly.
For me I’m still struggling to come to terms with the willful destruction of society to bring through this back-door agenda. And the majority of people seemingly are still oblivious or in denial.
I’m not so surprised that governments lie and cheat, but I guess it is the sheer scale of the 2020 horror show. I now wonder if the origin of COVID-19 was deliberate and the introduction of the vaccine fills me with utter dread.
For me, my day-to-day frustrations have been with people who are scared of their own shadow and won’t entertain any other viewpoints on Covid-19 and lockdown.
Wearing masks outside, crossing roads to avoid people. Even wearing masks on their Twitter profiles as if to make some sort of statement. The trained scientists and journalists with their tunnel vision.
My biggest annoyance is with the church and its hierarchy. I rarely attend church but come across many worshippers saying that they feel abandoned and deprived of the social aspect of attending services and church events.
What has always frustrated me most is the church doesn’t speak up against wars abroad or consider the root causes of humanitarian disasters. Instead it treats the symptoms, expecting its congregation to pick up the pieces through wasteful donations.
Likewise, the church simply accepting against all the scientific evidence that it has to close its doors. Its easy to see why so many people are turning away from religion.
To sum up 2020, for me has been one of frustration and a lot of personal negativity which is unlike me. Previously I had learned to accept that there is much wrong in the world, but hold on to much good too.
The good
Personally, and across the board, I’ve come across some things which have kept me going and hold out some hope for our future.
This year my mother who I care for has been quite unwell with various ailments. After many prayers and keeping her at home, she keeps bouncing back and in hospital recently received excellent care and kindness.
This year I reconnected with my two nieces. The older streetwise, funny and smart. The younger, sensitive but with an amazing enquiring mind.
It’s our younger generation we should protect from the darkness descending on us and nurture.
I’ve come across many young people who’ve amazed me with their wisdom and reading of what’s going on in the world and maturity in carrying the burden of the hardships and possible bleak future.
I encourage all those going through family relationship difficulties to make the first move to reconciliation, regardless of original fault. It’s worth the effort.
As I explained before often the most intelligent critical thinkers are more vulnerable to mental health issues. For me, vindication is very important to my mental health. In supporting others, I always remind them to feel the comfort of vindication and likewise they’ve always supported me with coping strategies, even strangers on Twitter.
Music and humour have been great releases throughout this crisis. I always say to people if we can’t change things or prevent evil from imposing itself on our lives lets at least have a laugh.
Turning towards the main message of this article, I have strengthened my faith, that good always overcomes evil. Things happen for a reason.
After what I think might have been a sort of spiritual awakening a few years ago, a faith from somewhere has helped me do the things I feel I should be doing. This year, the strains and stresses have pushed me back to struggling again with anxiety and low mood.
But this faith remains unshaken and has prevented me from slipping back too far. I use this to build up again each time I have a wobble.
I’ve also learned over the years and more recently to not engage with every battle. Choose the most important ones and fight them fiercely. The Twitter community is also a great place to hang out with like-minded people. Avoid the negative accounts and stick to the insightful funny and compassionate people of which there are plenty.
And as I said before, many people feel their church has abandoned them and have said to me they are losing their faith. I always remind them that a cold damp church and the religious hierarchy are quite distinct (and in many cases quite the opposite) from the religious teachings where they acquired their faith. Pray and read at home as I have done since I started my tentative journey into religion.
And I always say to people of religion and non-religion to respect the freedom to worship whichever religion and celebrate religious festivals together.
As seen with Black Lives Matter, BREXIT and lockdowns the state wishes to divide us along racial, religious, ideological lines and distract us. If we hold together and focus purely on the destruction of our societies we stand a better chance of defeating the evil of reset.
The case study, as always to follow is Syria. A people of many diverse religions and ethnic groups which collectively saw off a huge foreign alliance of evil.
The future
In 2018 I realised that we need to change to survive. 2020 has shown me that things are worse than I thought back then, and we probably need to deal with real hardships to become better human beings.
While I still retain some hope the reset will be stopped in its tracks soon, I don’t think it will. I suspect it will take the continued suffering and further realisation of what is unfolding and why, for people to finally rise up and defeat it. There’s only so much the few of us fighting this tyranny can do, so it looks as if all humanity will have to take up the slack. But the reset is a hugely ambitious undertaking with many facets and variables to slot in to succeed.
So, my prediction is ultimately the reset won’t succeed, but at a great sacrifice to us.
As I said in 2018, perhaps God is testing us, giving us the tools to finally overthrow the darkness which hangs over us. Maybe this is our last chance, our last test.
In my previous Syria article, I said God may, ultimately, intervene to prevent humanity’s destruction as possibly has been done during previous world wars. We don’t deserve it, but it may happen if there’s enough will within us to change.
Seasons greetings and peace to all.


offguardian--2020-12-27--What Time Is It in Lockdown?

What Time Is It in Lockdown?

Here where I dwell in the northern hemisphere , the winter solstice has just occurred .
The darkest day of the year in a dark year .
A few days ago was also the Grand Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn and the dawning of the Age of Aquarius , which is interesting to those who like the musical Hair and believe their fates lie in the stars and not in themselves .
Shakespeare ’ s Cassius had it right : such astrological determinism is for underlings .
Oppressors have always wanted people to believe their lives are fated , that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is no escape .
It is the key to successful slavery .
Many institutionalized religions have promoted such a belief , contradicting their founders ’ messages of freedom .
So have secular ideologies .
There is nothing you can do , so rollover with Beethoven ; it ’ s hopeless .
“ Do what you ’ re told , ” as the great wise leader Anthony Fauci has said .
Didn ’ t Dostoevsky ’ s Grand Inquisitor say to Jesus in his cell in the gloomy vaulted prison : They will do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ freedom Jesus brought , “ for nothing has been more insupportable for a man and a human society than freedom , ” drones the Inquisitor .
They will do as they are told .
And the prisoner was silent .
As the year comes to an end and another begins , the contemplation of time , its passing , the days gone by and days to come , the new year , resolutions , and how to “ keep safe ” occupy many minds as governments across the world continue to impose lockdowns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on a vast , unimaginable scale .
“ Every ruling minority , ” wrote the late great John Berger , “ needs to numb and , if possible , to kill the time-sense of those whom it exploits .
This is the authoritarian secret of all methods of imprisonment.
” There is time for you and time for me is the mantra of all authoritarians .
We set the clocks to slow or fast .
You follow .
Alternating rhythm to keep you guessing .
When things are kind of slow , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we reset your future to the online life .
Everything will be so fast that you won ’ t know whether you are coming or going or just running in place .
Slow is for prisoners around the world .
Here in the United States , the world leader in incarceration , there are more than 2 million people caged in such hell holes .
Doing time .
Very slow time .
For those on the outside , a year ago , permanent busyness and speed were the norm .
Everyone was so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a consumer and cell phone frenzy , driven by an unseen nanosecond digital dictator .
Now the lockdown has brought a taste of boredom , slow time , and anxious waiting for the day the authoritarians will give the word that the new normal has arrived and the children can fling the doors open and run out to play .
But they will have to learn the new rules of the game .
Same game , but Built Back Better .
Better for the bosses .
Forget that criminal born in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and hard journey .
We are in lockdown .
Just do as you are told .
Or imagine that child as a grown man in a prison cell in Seville 15 centuries later .
Or in Bethlehem today , in the West Bank as Palestinian territory is inexorably disappeared by the Israeli government and Palestinians ’ places to dwell on this earth grow smaller and smaller as their houses are bulldozed and land stolen .
Imagine the fates of all those locked down shut-in abandoned ones , those who are doing time to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Or those who have no time to escape the supersonic hum of drone-launched missiles .
Those whose time is up because the authorities deem it so .
Those who just won ’ t do what they are told .
In lockdown , there is plenty of time to imagine .
Thomas Merton , the inspirational anti-war Trappist monk , in “ The Time of the End Is the Time of No Room ” in Raids on the Unspeakable , said this about that child in a manger , soon to be radical anti-war @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this world , this demented inn , in which there is absolutely no room for him at all , Christ comes uninvited .
But because he can not be at home in it , because he is out of place in it , and yet he must be in it , his place is with those others for whom there is no room .
His place is with those who do not belong , who are rejected by power because they are regarded as weak , those who are discredited , who are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , exterminated .
With those for whom there is no room , Christ is present in this world .
He is mysteriously present in those for whom there seems to be nothing but the world at its worst .
Their numbers are growing by the day .
Pundits are fond of saying that time is all we have .
This is untrue .
We don ’ t have time ; time has us .
We are born into it and in a techno-clock world those clocks start ticking and we turn with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time is up .
It comes with being born , being mortal .
Human .
We don ’ t need astrology to tell us this .
We don ’ t want authoritarians controlling our experience of this greatest of mysteries .
If you listen closely , you can hear waves of empty words tumbling through the world , whistling windy words saying nothing .
Whining words , nodding heads , vacuous sayings .
Media saturated fatuous words .
About “ time ” more clichés have been coined and more quotable quotes recorded than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what no one knows .
Time stands still , time flies , time is up , time is on your side , time is short , time is long , who knows where the time goes , time out , time starts , stop the clocks , start the clocks , we ’ re running out of time , clock in , clock out , time served , serving time , lacking time , losing time , having time , gaining time , the end of time .
Yet everyone knows what time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tell you .
It comes with the territory of existing .
Like silence , like love , like peace , like truth – simple gifts that authoritarians invert to suit their evil designs .
Twisted people twisting words .
It is no different now .
The yearning still gnaws .
The night dark , utterly silent , Sky stretched endlessly back Into an infinity beyond reach .
And the fears , the tears Are they any different ?
It is no different now .
Joy sometimes , hope too , divisions Seemingly unbridgeable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Little changes , though two thousand years Dissolve into oblivion behind us .
It is no different now .
Plus ça change , Plus c ’ est la même chose .
Always the same .
Yet a word is heard dimly Laboring out of the deafening black Silence , almost but not inaudible .
And the angel says , “ Go out , ” And the angel said , “ Go out , ” Always the angel , always the voice Bearing us up along the way ( If you do not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will you turn ? )
, always calling : “ Journey far through strange country , Follow the light you barely see But which is the light of your life .
Follow it across the desert of your heart Where wild beasts seek to devour you .
There is no time , there is no time To hesitate .
Now is the star ’ s hour , Now you are called on a fool ’ s journey Into a pig ’ s pen and a child ’ s strange And glorious presence.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , no matter how dark The darkest day , nothing changes .
It is no different now .
Now as always is the star ’ s hour .
Now as then a star is born to men To lead us on .
A light that darkness Can not overcome , despite us .
Love is not a sometimes thing , Though we abuse it like the earth .
It is all we have to hold us up , And it always will .
Edward Curtin is a writer whose work has appeared widely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Liberal Arts .
His website is http : //edwardcurtin.com/ .
He is the author of the new book Seeking Truth in A Country of Lies

Ed Curtin
Here where I dwell in the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice has just occurred. The darkest day of the year in a dark year. A few days ago was also the Grand Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn and the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, which is interesting to those who like the musical Hair and believe their fates lie in the stars and not in themselves. Shakespeare’s Cassius had it right: such astrological determinism is for underlings.
Free people agree with Beethoven:
I will take fate by the throat; it will never bend me completely to its will.
Oppressors have always wanted people to believe their lives are fated, that they live in a prison and there is no escape. It is the key to successful slavery. Many institutionalized religions have promoted such a belief, contradicting their founders’ messages of freedom. So have secular ideologies. There is nothing you can do, so rollover with Beethoven; it’s hopeless. “Do what you’re told,” as the great wise leader Anthony Fauci has said.
But a much wiser Kris Kristofferson sang:
Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose.
Didn’t Dostoevsky’s Grand Inquisitor say to Jesus in his cell in the gloomy vaulted prison:
We will show them that they are weak, that they are only pitiful children, but that childlike happiness is the sweetest of all. They will become timid and look to us and huddle close to us in fear, as chicks to the hen. They will marvel at us and will be awe-stricken before us, and will be proud at us being so powerful and clever, that we have been able to subdue such a turbulent flock of thousands of millions.
They will do as they are told and reject the freedom Jesus brought, “for nothing has been more insupportable for a man and a human society than freedom,” drones the Inquisitor. They will do as they are told. And the prisoner was silent.
As the year comes to an end and another begins, the contemplation of time, its passing, the days gone by and days to come, the new year, resolutions, and how to “keep safe” occupy many minds as governments across the world continue to impose lockdowns on their people that are creating suffering on a vast, unimaginable scale.
“Every ruling minority,” wrote the late great John Berger, “needs to numb and, if possible, to kill the time-sense of those whom it exploits. This is the authoritarian secret of all methods of imprisonment.”
There is time for you and time for me is the mantra of all authoritarians. We set the clocks to slow or fast. You follow. Alternating rhythm to keep you guessing. When things are kind of slow, we’ll give you 5G speed as we reset your future to the online life. Everything will be so fast that you won’t know whether you are coming or going or just running in place.
Slow is for prisoners around the world. Here in the United States, the world leader in incarceration, there are more than 2 million people caged in such hell holes. Doing time. Very slow time.
For those on the outside, a year ago, permanent busyness and speed were the norm. Everyone was so frantic and rushing in the madding crowd of a consumer and cell phone frenzy, driven by an unseen nanosecond digital dictator. Now the lockdown has brought a taste of boredom, slow time, and anxious waiting for the day the authoritarians will give the word that the new normal has arrived and the children can fling the doors open and run out to play. But they will have to learn the new rules of the game. Same game, but Built Back Better. Better for the bosses.
Forget that criminal born in a manger. Getting there is a long and hard journey. We are in lockdown. Just do as you are told.
Or imagine that child as a grown man in a prison cell in Seville 15 centuries later.
Or in Bethlehem today, in the West Bank as Palestinian territory is inexorably disappeared by the Israeli government and Palestinians’ places to dwell on this earth grow smaller and smaller as their houses are bulldozed and land stolen.
Imagine the fates of all those locked down shut-in abandoned ones, those who are doing time to the slow ticking of the clocks. Or those who have no time to escape the supersonic hum of drone-launched missiles. Those whose time is up because the authorities deem it so. Those who just won’t do what they are told.
In lockdown, there is plenty of time to imagine.
Thomas Merton, the inspirational anti-war Trappist monk, in “The Time of the End Is the Time of No Room” in Raids on the Unspeakable, said this about that child in a manger, soon to be radical anti-war criminal executed by the state:
Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ comes uninvited. But because he cannot be at home in it, because he is out of place in it, and yet he must be in it, his place is with those others for whom there is no room. His place is with those who do not belong, who are rejected by power because they are regarded as weak, those who are discredited, who are denied the status of persons, tortured, exterminated. With those for whom there is no room, Christ is present in this world. He is mysteriously present in those for whom there seems to be nothing but the world at its worst.
Their numbers are growing by the day.
Pundits are fond of saying that time is all we have. This is untrue. We don’t have time; time has us. We are born into it and in a techno-clock world those clocks start ticking and we turn with the seasons until our turning stops and our time is up. It comes with being born, being mortal. Human. We don’t need astrology to tell us this. We don’t want authoritarians controlling our experience of this greatest of mysteries.
If you listen closely, you can hear waves of empty words tumbling through the world, whistling windy words saying nothing. Whining words, nodding heads, vacuous sayings. Media saturated fatuous words. About “time” more clichés have been coined and more quotable quotes recorded than nearly any other word. Quotes about what no one knows.
Time stands still, time flies, time is up, time is on your side, time is short, time is long, who knows where the time goes, time out, time starts, stop the clocks, start the clocks, we’re running out of time, clock in, clock out, time served, serving time, lacking time, losing time, having time, gaining time, the end of time.
Yet everyone knows what time is even though they can’t tell you. It comes with the territory of existing. Like silence, like love, like peace, like truth – simple gifts that authoritarians invert to suit their evil designs. Twisted people twisting words.
And yet:
It is no different now.
The yearning still gnaws.
The night dark, utterly silent,
Sky stretched endlessly back
Into an infinity beyond reach.
And the fears, the tears
Are they any different?
It is no different now.
Joy sometimes, hope too, divisions
Seemingly unbridgeable, vast chasms
Opening between those closest.
Little changes, though two thousand years
Dissolve into oblivion behind us.
It is no different now.
Plus ça change,
Plus c’est la même chose.
Always the same.
Yet a word is heard dimly
Laboring out of the deafening black
Silence, almost but not inaudible.
And the angel says, “Go out,”
And the angel said, “Go out,”
Always the angel, always the voice
Bearing us up along the way
(If you do not turn to the inner light,
Where will you turn?), always calling:
“Journey far through strange country,
Follow the light you barely see
But which is the light of your life.
Follow it across the desert of your heart
Where wild beasts seek to devour you.
There is no time, there is no time
To hesitate. Now is the star’s hour,
Now you are called on a fool’s journey
Into a pig’s pen and a child’s strange
And glorious presence.” Thus speaks the angel
Again and again, no matter how dark
The darkest day, nothing changes.
It is no different now.
Now as always is the star’s hour.
Now as then a star is born to men
To lead us on. A light that darkness
Cannot overcome, despite us.
Love is not a sometimes thing,
Though we abuse it like the earth.
It is all we have to hold us up,
And it always will.
A star is always born.
Edward Curtin is a writer whose work has appeared widely. He teaches sociology at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. His website is http://edwardcurtin.com/. He is the author of the new book Seeking Truth in A Country of Lies


offguardian--2020-12-28--WHO (secretly) changed their definition of “Herd Immunity”

Global health body dishonestly alters meaning , claims you need a vaccine to achieve it The World Health Organization has changed the definition of “ herd immunity ” on the Covid section of their website , inserting the claim that it is a “ concept used in vaccination ” , and requires a vaccine to be achieved .
Both of these statements are total falsehoods , which is demonstrated by the WHO ’ s own website back in June , and every dictionary definition of “ herd immunity ” you can find .
To quote the WHO ’ s own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the WHO ’ s website on June 9th of this year , and conforms with the general usage of the term for generations .
Then , on October 15th , we woke up to find the words on the side of the barn had changed .
The definition has been altered to this : No explanation is offered for the change , in fact note of the change is made on the website at all .
Indeed all the previous versions of the website have been totally wiped from the wayback machine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in and of itself .
We ’ re only aware of the change because screencaps of the original exist : The new definition , aside from being inaccurate and off-handedly disposing of decades of epidemiological research , is also contradictory .
It includes the phrase : Which is newspeak doublethink nonsense .
The entire point of vaccination IS “ exposing ” people to the virus .
This revised , inaccurate and contradictory definition of “ herd immunity ” was first expressed in a speech by WHO Director General Thedros Adhanom on October 12th @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been added , word for word , to the website .
And within a month of the change , the UK had approved the first commercial vaccine for Sars-Cov-2 infection .
We ’ re truly in an Orwellian timeline , where the powers that be can simply change the meaning of words and phrases to suit their purpose .

Global health body dishonestly alters meaning, claims you need a vaccine to achieve it
Kit Knightly
The World Health Organization has changed the definition of “herd immunity” on the Covid section of their website, inserting the claim that it is a “concept used in vaccination”, and requires a vaccine to be achieved.
Both of these statements are total falsehoods, which is demonstrated by the WHO’s own website back in June, and every dictionary definition of “herd immunity” you can find.
To quote the WHO’s own original definition:
Herd immunity is the indirect protection from an infectious disease that happens when a population is immune either through vaccination or a natural immunity developed through previous infection.
This definition was posted on the WHO’s website on June 9th of this year, and conforms with the general usage of the term for generations.
Then, on October 15th, we woke up to find the words on the side of the barn had changed. The definition has been altered to this:
‘Herd immunity’, also known as ‘population immunity’, is a concept used for vaccination, in which a population can be protected from a certain virus if a threshold of vaccination is reached.
No explanation is offered for the change, in fact note of the change is made on the website at all.
Indeed all the previous versions of the website have been totally wiped from the wayback machine. A telling thing to do, in and of itself.
We’re only aware of the change because screencaps of the original exist:
The new definition, aside from being inaccurate and off-handedly disposing of decades of epidemiological research, is also contradictory. It includes the phrase:
Herd immunity is achieved by protecting people from a virus, not by exposing them to it.”
Which is newspeak doublethink nonsense. The entire point of vaccination IS “exposing” people to the virus.
This revised, inaccurate and contradictory definition of “herd immunity” was first expressed in a speech by WHO Director General Thedros Adhanom on October 12th. Within three days that speech had been added, word for word, to the website. And within a month of the change, the UK had approved the first commercial vaccine for Sars-Cov-2 infection.
We’re truly in an Orwellian timeline, where the powers that be can simply change the meaning of words and phrases to suit their purpose.


Review: Seven

The new film Seven ( trailer above ) , directed by Dylan Avery , examines the story of the scientific study of World Trade Center building 7 ( WTC 7 ) recently published by the University of Alaska Fairbanks .
The study was led by structural engineering professor J. Leroy Hulsey and took nearly five years to complete .
It evaluated the possibilities for destruction of WTC 7 using two versions of high-tech computer software that simulated the structural components of the building and the forces that acted upon it on September 11th .
After inputting worst case conditions , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happen , Hulsey and his team of engineers came to the following conclusions : These peer-reviewed conclusions directly contradict the findings of the U.S. government ’ s final investigation into WTC 7 as reported by the National Institute of Standards and Technology ( NIST ) .
Seven documents the journey of Professor Hulsey and his team from their introduction to the subject and the related evidence to the final publication of their report in March of this year .
It is an interesting story and important for several reasons .
First , it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ science professionals will find if they look closely at the destruction of WTC 7 .
Additionally , it provides a great example of what one concerned citizen can do to make a great difference in shedding light on the truth of the events of September 11 , 2001 .
The concerned citizen , who was barely mentioned in the film , is John Thiel , a nurse anesthetist from Alaska .
In 2010 , Thiel began a 3-year process of looking for an engineer to conduct an honest scientific investigation into the destruction @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a structural engineer , but he knew that the official reports on the destruction of that building were false and he wanted to do something about it .
Ten years later , after contacting 150 engineers , finally finding and gaining Hulsey ’ s commitment to do it , and persuading Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth to get involved , Thiel ’ s persistence paid off .
Seven also features comments from some brave engineers who have spoken out in the past about WTC 7 .
This includes fire protection engineer Scott @ @ @ @ @ @ @ civil engineer and AE911Truth board director Roland Angle , and mechanical engineer Tony Szamboti .
All these men make powerful statements in the film about NIST ’ s failures and omission of evidence .
The film reviews much of the evidence and how it was treated by the initial ASCE/FEMA building performance study and by NIST .
It discusses circumstantial evidence including the suspicious tenants of WTC 7 ( e.g .
the CIA , the Secret Service , the DOD , and the SEC ) and foreknowledge about the collapse of the building @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” of WTC 7 ’ s collapse by media giants CNN and BBC , both of which reported the collapse before it actually happened .
However , the strength of the film is in exposing the viewer to scientific facts and evidence as described by credible experts like Hulsey , Angle , Grainger , Obeid , and Szamboti .
This includes the samples of steel exhibiting intergranular melting and sulfidation that the New York Times originally called “ the deepest mystery uncovered in the investigation ” but that were ignored in the NIST @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no tall building had ever collapse primarily from fire and that the fires in WTC 7 were ordinary and were fed by only 20-minutes of fire load in any given area .
The film also highlights concerns about the lack of scientific integrity in NIST ’ s manipulation of model parameters like the coefficient of expansion of steel and the omission of shear studs on the WTC 7 floor assemblies .
The film is only 45 minutes long and focuses largely on the evidence related to Hulsey ’ s study .
It does @ @ @ @ @ @ @ WTC 7 that have been pointed out in the past .
For example , it does not detail NIST ’ s history of failed hypotheses , like the diesel fuel tank hypothesis or the claim that the design of the building contributed to the collapse .
It also doesn ’ t mention that the new WTC 7 was completed in 2006 , when NIST was stating it had no idea what happened to the first one .
In the film , Professor Hulsey comes across as very credible and driven by the desire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public an understanding of what happened to WTC 7 .
His comments about building his study on a clear palate , using pure science , ring true .
Avery tells Hulsey ’ s story simply , without engulfing the viewer in unanswered questions .
Overall , Seven is an excellent presentation for people with a scientific mindset .
As John Thiel wrote to me : If people want to help reveal the truth about WTC 7 , and therefore about 9/11 , they should share this film with every scientist and engineer they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ streaming platforms , including Amazon Prime , iTunes , Vudu , Google Play , and Microsoft .
As a society , our understanding of the crimes of 9/11 continues to be crucial to our understanding of what is going on today .
Seven is directed by Dylan Avery , released by Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth , and available to rent and buy from various platforms , here .

Kevin Ryan
The new film Seven (trailer above), directed by Dylan Avery, examines the story of the scientific study of World Trade Center building 7 (WTC 7) recently published by the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The study was led by structural engineering professor J. Leroy Hulsey and took nearly five years to complete. It evaluated the possibilities for destruction of WTC 7 using two versions of high-tech computer software that simulated the structural components of the building and the forces that acted upon it on September 11th.
After inputting worst case conditions, and painstakingly eliminating what didn’t happen, Hulsey and his team of engineers came to the following conclusions:
The principal conclusion of our study is that fire did not cause the collapse of WTC 7 on 9/11, contrary to the conclusions of NIST and private engineering firms that studied the collapse. The secondary conclusion of our study is that the collapse of WTC 7 was a global failure involving the near-simultaneous failure of every column in the building.
These peer-reviewed conclusions directly contradict the findings of the U.S. government’s final investigation into WTC 7 as reported by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Seven documents the journey of Professor Hulsey and his team from their introduction to the subject and the related evidence to the final publication of their report in March of this year. It is an interesting story and important for several reasons. First, it shows what an objective group of engineering science professionals will find if they look closely at the destruction of WTC 7. Additionally, it provides a great example of what one concerned citizen can do to make a great difference in shedding light on the truth of the events of September 11, 2001.
The concerned citizen, who was barely mentioned in the film, is John Thiel, a nurse anesthetist from Alaska. In 2010, Thiel began a 3-year process of looking for an engineer to conduct an honest scientific investigation into the destruction of WTC 7. Thiel was not a structural engineer, but he knew that the official reports on the destruction of that building were false and he wanted to do something about it. Ten years later, after contacting 150 engineers, finally finding and gaining Hulsey’s commitment to do it, and persuading Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth to get involved, Thiel’s persistence paid off.
Seven also features comments from some brave engineers who have spoken out in the past about WTC 7. This includes fire protection engineer Scott Grainger, structural engineer Kamal Obeid, civil engineer and AE911Truth board director Roland Angle, and mechanical engineer Tony Szamboti. All these men make powerful statements in the film about NIST’s failures and omission of evidence.
The film reviews much of the evidence and how it was treated by the initial ASCE/FEMA building performance study and by NIST. It discusses circumstantial evidence including the suspicious tenants of WTC 7 (e.g. the CIA, the Secret Service, the DOD, and the SEC) and foreknowledge about the collapse of the building. It reviews the inexplicable “predictions” of WTC 7’s collapse by media giants CNN and BBC, both of which reported the collapse before it actually happened.
However, the strength of the film is in exposing the viewer to scientific facts and evidence as described by credible experts like Hulsey, Angle, Grainger, Obeid, and Szamboti. This includes the samples of steel exhibiting intergranular melting and sulfidation that the New York Times originally called “the deepest mystery uncovered in the investigation” but that were ignored in the NIST reports. It includes the fact that no tall building had ever collapse primarily from fire and that the fires in WTC 7 were ordinary and were fed by only 20-minutes of fire load in any given area. The film also highlights concerns about the lack of scientific integrity in NIST’s manipulation of model parameters like the coefficient of expansion of steel and the omission of shear studs on the WTC 7 floor assemblies.
The film is only 45 minutes long and focuses largely on the evidence related to Hulsey’s study. It does not include some facts and evidence about WTC 7 that have been pointed out in the past. For example, it does not detail NIST’s history of failed hypotheses, like the diesel fuel tank hypothesis or the claim that the design of the building contributed to the collapse. It also doesn’t mention that the new WTC 7 was completed in 2006, when NIST was stating it had no idea what happened to the first one.
In the film, Professor Hulsey comes across as very credible and driven by the desire for an objective approach that gives the public an understanding of what happened to WTC 7. His comments about building his study on a clear palate, using pure science, ring true. Avery tells Hulsey’s story simply, without engulfing the viewer in unanswered questions.
Overall, Seven is an excellent presentation for people with a scientific mindset. As John Thiel wrote to me:
Any engineer or scientist with a basic understanding of physics, who does not suffer from cognitive dissonance, should easily be convinced of the truth after watching this video.
I agree.
If people want to help reveal the truth about WTC 7, and therefore about 9/11, they should share this film with every scientist and engineer they know. It is available on multiple streaming platforms, including Amazon Prime, iTunes, Vudu, Google Play, and Microsoft. As a society, our understanding of the crimes of 9/11 continues to be crucial to our understanding of what is going on today.
***
Seven is directed by Dylan Avery, released by Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth, and available to rent and buy from various platforms, here.


offguardian--2020-12-30--WATCH: The Future of Vaccines

WATCH: The Future of Vaccines

If the Gateses and the Faucis and the representatives of the international medical establishment get their way , life will @ @ @ @ @ the entire planet is vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 .
What many do not yet understand , @ @ @ @ @ vaccines that are being developed for SARS-Cov-2 are unlike any vaccines that have ever been @ @ @ @ @ before .
And , as radically different as these vaccines appear , they represent only @ @ @ @ @ complete transformation of vaccine technology that is currently taking place in research labs across the @ @ @ @ @ study of The Future of Vaccines .
For links , sources and shownotes – plus @ @ @ @ @ links and a full transcript – click here .

If the Gateses and the Faucis and the representatives of the international medical establishment get their way, life will not return to normal until the entire planet is vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2.
What many do not yet understand, however, is that the vaccines that are being developed for SARS-Cov-2 are unlike any vaccines that have ever been used on the human population before. And, as radically different as these vaccines appear, they represent only the very beginning of a complete transformation of vaccine technology that is currently taking place in research labs across the planet.
This is a study of The Future of Vaccines.
For links, sources and shownotes – plus an audio-only version, download links and a full transcript – click here.