thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-13--Hamilton and the Crisis of Legitimacy

Hamilton and the Crisis of Legitimacy

U.S. rulers are in complete disarray as the legitimation crisis of the system and the state deepens every day another person is killed by the police and the number of COVID-19 deaths is reported .
The U.S. national identity—always fragile because of the United States ’ origin as a slavocracy built on genocide and extreme individualism—is rapidly disintegrating as the public ’ s anger has turned to the symbols of white supremacy .
The Confederacy and its heroes were the first and—for many—the most obvious targets .
But as people tore down those statues , it began to dawn on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the leaders of the Confederacy and the slave-owning “ founding fathers.
” Here , the Disney Corporation came to the rescue .
Disney , one of six major companies that controls over 90 percent of news and entertainment content in the United States , released the movie version of the play , “ Hamilton , ” on July 3 , taking advantage of the July 4 holiday weekend .
The play itself had broken records for attendance and profits on Broadway in portraying “ founding father ” Alexander Hamilton as an abolitionist .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrote the play , dressed up African/Black actors as slave traders and appropriated hip hop in yet another attempt to whitewash the history of degradation and dehumanization that is at the center of the U.S. national project .
Black writer and critic Ishmael Reed was correct in his brutal dismemberment of Miranda ’ s insulting piece of historical revisionism .
Of course , liberals and particularly warmongers such as Barack Obama , Hillary Clinton and John Bolton loved it .
It is clear the objective in rolling out the movie at this critical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the U.S. public ’ s growing rejection of the United States ’ white-supremacist origin story .
But people are seeing through the smoke and mirrors because the reality they are living through is too harsh to keep them disillusioned .
That is why thousands took to the streets .
It ’ s why the monuments are coming down and the crisis is deepening .
BAP is contributing to help people see through the nonsense with our weekly newsletter .
By presenting alternative news and analysis , we are in our small way laying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ understands the fundamental difference between the people ’ s history and the lies peddled by the U.S. settler state .
Netfa Freeman , who represents BAP member organization Pan-African Community Action ( PACA ) , interviewed BAP Advisory Committee member Mireille Fanon-Nendès France .
A human rights lawyer and former member of the U.N .
Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent , she appeared on Netfa ’ s WPFW radio show , “ Voices with Vision , ” to discuss the United Nations addressing U.S. police repression and its relationship @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interviewed Netfa on radio networks WBAI and WPFW about the demand for defunding the police and community control over police .
The interview can be heard here and seen here .
BAP Coordinating Committee member Margaret Kimberley examined the call to defund the police .
PACA organizer Olufemi Taiwo was featured on an online panel hosted by Dissident Magazine as part of its summer series , “ Dismantle Racial Capitalism.
” BAP National Organizer Ajamu Baraka urged the public to stay vigilant against U.S. “ attempts to control the narrative ” of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ event organized by the Workers ’ Party ( Ireland ) .
He also discussed the issue in his latest Black Agenda Report article .
U.S. Out of Africa Network Coordinator Tunde Osazua broke down how the U.S. Africa Command ( AFRICOM ) enforces the U.S. colonial project .
• July 16 : The Embassy Protection Collective in the United States and the Committee for International Solidarity in Venezuela have organized a meeting , “ Strengthening US Venezuela Social Movement Solidarity.
” • July 18-19 : The International Committee for Peace , Justice and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cuba to celebrate the revolutionary country ’ s achievements amid the COVID-19 pandemic .
Register here .
• July 20 : BAP member organization Ujima People ’ s Progress Party will continue distributing food , supporting community sustainability with window-box garden creations and a giving away books for African/Black children through the # LiberationThroughReading program .
For information , call 443.826.9654 or send a message to the organization ’ s Facebook page .
• July 25 : Register for the “ International Meeting : No to the New Cold War , ” featuring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will discuss the U.S. drive toward a war with China .
• Ask your local , state and federal candidates to sign BAP ’ s 2020 Candidate Accountability Pledge .
If you are a candidate , distinguish yourself from the other corporate warmongering candidates by signing the pledge .
• Sign up to join BAP ’ s U.S. Out of Africa Network to receive the bi-weekly AFRICOM Watch Bulletin in your inbox .
• Make sure you keep up with us throughout the week by subscribing to our YouTube channel , liking us @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Instagram and Twitter .
No Compromise , No Retreat !
Struggle to win , Ajamu , Brandon , Dedan , Jaribu , Margaret , Netfa , Paul , Vanessa , YahNé

A BAP PRESS RELEASE
U.S. rulers are in complete disarray as the legitimation crisis of the system and the state deepens every day another person is killed by the police and the number of COVID-19 deaths is reported.
The U.S. national identity—always fragile because of the United States’ origin as a slavocracy built on genocide and extreme individualism—is rapidly disintegrating as the public’s anger has turned to the symbols of white supremacy. The Confederacy and its heroes were the first and—for many—the most obvious targets. But as people tore down those statues, it began to dawn on some that not much difference existed between the leaders of the Confederacy and the slave-owning “founding fathers.”
Here, the Disney Corporation came to the rescue. Disney, one of six major companies that controls over 90 percent of news and entertainment content in the United States, released the movie version of the play, “Hamilton,” on July 3, taking advantage of the July 4 holiday weekend.
The play itself had broken records for attendance and profits on Broadway in portraying “founding father” Alexander Hamilton as an abolitionist. Puerto Rican artist Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the play, dressed up African/Black actors as slave traders and appropriated hip hop in yet another attempt to whitewash the history of degradation and dehumanization that is at the center of the U.S. national project. Black writer and critic Ishmael Reed was correct in his brutal dismemberment of Miranda’s insulting piece of historical revisionism. Of course, liberals and particularly warmongers such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Bolton loved it.
It is clear the objective in rolling out the movie at this critical moment is to turn the tide of the U.S. public’s growing rejection of the United States’ white-supremacist origin story.
But people are seeing through the smoke and mirrors because the reality they are living through is too harsh to keep them disillusioned. That is why thousands took to the streets. It’s why the monuments are coming down and the crisis is deepening.
BAP is contributing to help people see through the nonsense with our weekly newsletter. By presenting alternative news and analysis, we are in our small way laying the foundation for a new movement that understands the fundamental difference between the people’s history and the lies peddled by the U.S. settler state.
PRESS AND MEDIA
Netfa Freeman, who represents BAP member organization Pan-African Community Action (PACA), interviewed BAP Advisory Committee member Mireille Fanon-Nendès France. A human rights lawyer and former member of the U.N. Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, she appeared on Netfa’s WPFW radio show, “Voices with Vision,” to discuss the United Nations addressing U.S. police repression and its relationship to anti-Black policies internationally.
CodePink Radio interviewed Netfa on radio networks WBAI and WPFW about the demand for defunding the police and community control over police. The interview can be heard here and seen here.
BAP Coordinating Committee member Margaret Kimberley examined the call to defund the police.
PACA organizer Olufemi Taiwo was featured on an online panel hosted by Dissident Magazine as part of its summer series, “Dismantle Racial Capitalism.”
BAP National Organizer Ajamu Baraka urged the public to stay vigilant against U.S. “attempts to control the narrative” of the Black Lives Matter movement during an online event organized by the Workers’ Party (Ireland). He also discussed the issue in his latest Black Agenda Report article.
U.S. Out of Africa Network Coordinator Tunde Osazua broke down how the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) enforces the U.S. colonial project.
EVENTS
July 16: The Embassy Protection Collective in the United States and the Committee for International Solidarity in Venezuela have organized a meeting, “Strengthening US Venezuela Social Movement Solidarity.”
July 18-19: The International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity is hosting a two-day concert for Cuba to celebrate the revolutionary country’s achievements amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Register here.
July 20: BAP member organization Ujima People’s Progress Party will continue distributing food, supporting community sustainability with window-box garden creations and a giving away books for African/Black children through the #LiberationThroughReading program. For information, call 443.826.9654 or send a message to the organization’s Facebook page.
July 25: Register for the “International Meeting: No to the New Cold War,” featuring Ajamu and other prominent speakers, who will discuss the U.S. drive toward a war with China.
TAKE ACTION
No Compromise, No Retreat!
Struggle to win,
Ajamu, Brandon, Dedan, Jaribu, Margaret, Netfa, Paul, Vanessa, YahNé
P.S. Freedom isn’t free. Consider giving today.
Photo Credit: GDA via AP


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-13--GALLUP: 61% of Democrats, 24% of Republicans, ‘Always’ Use Face Masks

Another important dispatch from The Greanville Post .
Be sure to share it widely .
This article is part of an ongoing series of dispatches by historian Eric Zuesse Consequently , with such an overwhelming Party-difference on that , all of the other demographic variables Gallup reported were showing that on the demographic variables which usually skew Democratic , such as low income , and female , mask-usage is high , and on the variables that skew Republican , such as high income and male , it ’ s low .
No state-by-state breakdown was provided , but , because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the usage and non-usage of face-masks in public , a logical conclusion from Gallup ’ s poll is that the higher a percentage by which a given state is Democratic , the higher a percentage of residents there are using face-masks , and that the higher a percentage by which a state is Republican , the lower this percentage is .
Consequently — since all of the scientific reports thus far have indicated that the best or most effective way to lower the percentage-increase of the infection-rate of the Covid-19 virus is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a reasonable expectation on the basis of this latest poll from Gallup is that the states which will end up having the largest percentage of their people infected with coronavirus-19 are the most heavily-Republican states .
As regards coronavirus-19 death-rates , however , since those are skewing far higher for older than for younger people , the states whose average or mean age is older will tend to have higher death-rates from this disease , and the states where young people predominate will have lower ones .
Consequently , since a state ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from a combination of both a low infection-rate and a young population , the states that will have the highest Covid-19 ( coronavirus-19 ) death-rates will be those Republican states which have the oldest populations .
However , the states with the youngest average population are , in order : Utah , Alaska , Texas , North Dakota , Nebraska , Idaho , and Oklahoma , all 8 of which tend Republican .
And the states with the oldest average population are , in order : Maine , New Hampshire , Vermont , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pennsylvania , and Delaware , all 8 of which are either Democratic or toss-ups .
Here is the reason why partisan affiliation is likely to be a larger determinant of coronavirus-19 death-rate than is average age : Obviously , there is zero coronavirus death-rate amongst people who don ’ t have the infection .
All of the deaths will be from only amongst the percentage of the population who have the infection .
By contrast , there is only a higher tendency for older people than for younger people who have the disease @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than does average age .
Furthermore : partisan affiliation varies among the statesthan does average age .
The U.S. average age is 38.2 years .
The average age in the oldest state , Maine , is 44.9 years , which is 18 % higher .
The average age in the youngest state , Utah , is 31.0 , which is 19 % lower .
By contrast , if are to indicate Democratic versus Republican states , then the U.S. average was 51.5 % Democratic ( Obama ) versus 47.2 % Republican ( Romney @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were Hawaii 70.55 % , Vermont 66.57 % , New York 63.35 % , and Rhode Island 62.70 % ; and the most Republican states were Utah 72.79 % , Wyoming 68.64 % , Oklahoma 66.77 % , and Idaho 64.53 % .
So , the divergence from the average is vastly higher for partisanship than it is for age .
The conclusion from all of this is that the main determinant of a state ’ s infection-rate will be how high its percentage Republican is , and that the main determinant of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but that the highest coronavirus-19 death-rates will probably be in Florida , Connecticut , Pennsylvania , Delaware , New Jersey , Montana , Michigan , and South Carolina , since those are the least-Democratic of the states which have a high mean age .

Another important dispatch from The Greanville Post. Be sure to share it widely.
This article is part of an ongoing series of dispatches by historian Eric Zuesse
O n July 13th, Gallup headlined n July 13th, Gallup headlined “Americans' Face Mask Usage Varies Greatly by Demographics” and reported that by far the biggest demographic difference is by Party-affiliation, with 61% of Democrats and 24% of Republicans saying that they “Always” use face-masks in public, and with 33% of Democrats and 22% of Republicans saying that they “Sometimes” do. So, 94% of Democrats and 46% of Republicans either “Always” or “Sometimes” use face-masks in public.
Consequently, with such an overwhelming Party-difference on that, all of the other demographic variables Gallup reported were showing that on the demographic variables which usually skew Democratic, such as low income, and female, mask-usage is high, and on the variables that skew Republican, such as high income and male, it’s low.
No state-by-state breakdown was provided, but, because the Party-affiliation variable was so strongly correlated with the usage and non-usage of face-masks in public, a logical conclusion from Gallup’s poll is that the higher a percentage by which a given state is Democratic, the higher a percentage of residents there are using face-masks, and that the higher a percentage by which a state is Republican, the lower this percentage is.
Consequently — since all of the scientific reports thus far have indicated that the best or most effective way to lower the percentage-increase of the infection-rate of the Covid-19 virus is usage of a face-mask in public — a reasonable expectation on the basis of this latest poll from Gallup is that the states which will end up having the largest percentage of their people infected with coronavirus-19 are the most heavily-Republican states.
As regards coronavirus-19 death-rates, however, since those are skewing far higher for older than for younger people, the states whose average or mean age is older will tend to have higher death-rates from this disease, and the states where young people predominate will have lower ones.
Consequently, since a state’s death-rate from this disease will result from a combination of both a low infection-rate and a young population, the states that will have the highest Covid-19 (coronavirus-19) death-rates will be those Republican states which have the oldest populations. However, the states with the youngest average population are , in order: Utah, Alaska, Texas, North Dakota, Nebraska, Idaho, and Oklahoma, all 8 of which tend Republican. And the states with the oldest average population are , in order: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, West Virginia, Florida, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, all 8 of which are either Democratic or toss-ups.
Here is the reason why partisan affiliation is likely to be a larger determinant of coronavirus-19 death-rate than is average age:
Obviously, there is zero coronavirus death-rate amongst people who don’t have the infection. All of the deaths will be from only amongst the percentage of the population who have the infection.
By contrast, there is only a higher tendency for older people than for younger people who have the disease to die from it.
far more than does average age. Furthermore: partisan affiliation varies among the statesthan does average age. The U.S. average age is 38.2 years. The average age in the oldest state, Maine, is 44.9 years, which is 18% higher. The average age in the youngest state, Utah, is 31.0, which is 19% lower. By contrast, if the 2012 Obama versus Romney state percentages are to indicate Democratic versus Republican states, then the U.S. average was 51.5% Democratic (Obama) versus 47.2% Republican (Romney), but the most Democratic states were Hawaii 70.55%, Vermont 66.57%, New York 63.35%, and Rhode Island 62.70%; and the most Republican states were Utah 72.79%, Wyoming 68.64%, Oklahoma 66.77%, and Idaho 64.53%. So, the divergence from the average is vastly higher for partisanship than it is for age.
(It’s also interesting that the most-Republican states have significantly younger populations than the most-Democratic states do. Perhaps people who retire to different states tend to be Democrats. However, such statistical data as has been published relating to that suggests no such tendency. Furthermore, it indicates that the reason for Utah’s having the youngest population is its exceptionally high birth-rate. Consequently, Utah’s being the most-Republican state means that it is likely to have an exceptionally high rate of Covid-19 infections, but the state’s exceptionally low average age means that only an extraordinarily low percentage of its population will currently be exhibiting the disease. If this combination is also present, though to lesser degrees, in many other Republican-majority states, then though their coronavirus-19 infection-rates will be exceptionally high, their coronavirus-19 death-rates might not be, but the future average life-spans there might be significantly shortened by Covid-19.)
The conclusion from all of this is that the main determinant of a state’s infection-rate will be how high its percentage Republican is, and that the main determinant of its death-rate also will be this, but that the highest coronavirus-19 death-rates will probably be in Florida, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Montana, Michigan, and South Carolina, since those are the least-Democratic of the states which have a high mean age.
—————


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-13--Russia Offers Latin America a Drug to Cure COVID-19

Please make sure these dispatches reach as many readers as possible .
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thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-14--The Wasp Network Stings in Miami

The Wasp Network Stings in Miami

ince Netflix decided to release The Wasp Network on June 19 to reach the captive audience of the Covid-19 , the film has become a media hit for unconventional reasons .
In Florida they have threatened to burn cinemas , if the film is ever shown in theaters , and signatures are collected to force Netflix to withdraw the film , without understanding that the download site is not a television channel .
People have the option of watching it or going on , although the scandal must have boosted the rating of a film that had passed through the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ glory , despite a celebrity cast headed by Penélope Cruz .
But in Miami , right now , the theme of the film has become a sort of anti-communist conga with all the local media dancing the cool step of attacking the French director , Olivier Assayas , accusing him of making propaganda for Cuba .
The great detail is that The Wasp Network narrates real events that have been documented by the United States authorities themselves , in a trial that is considered to be the longest in the history of that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ three generals , an admiral , a former presidential advisor and self-confessed terrorists , who appear on screen as what they are , testified .
The Wasp Network ’ s plot begins in Havana in the early 1990s .
René González ( Edgar Ramírez in the film ) , a flight instructor at a military airbase , steals a plane and flees Cuba .
He begins a new life in Miami , away from Olguita , his wife ( played by Penelope Cruz ) and their young daughter .
Other Cuban defectors soon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to infiltrate various organizations based in that city , responsible for attacks on the island , including a bombing campaign against hotels that killed an Italian tourist .
Instead of capturing and prosecuting the terrorists , responsible for atrocious crimes , the U.S. government locks up and subjects the Cuban agents to blackmail and punishment .
It ’ s the story of what happened in its pure state , naked in the opinions or interpretations of the screenwriter and director ; an intolerable truth for one of the real characters in the film @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in those years as a good samaritan , savior of rafters in the Florida Straits , but he supported his excursions with drug trafficking , cheerfully violated Cuban airspace and financed shootings against bathers on the beaches .
Paradoxically , the evidence of his crimes was not provided by the Cuban Ministry of the Interior , but by the FBI , which was aware of everything that was going on , as the film shows .
Now Basulto shouts against Netflix and shows his fist in front of the cameras , “ I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ relationship and agreements with Cuba should be terminated ” .
Here is a story that seems merely anecdotal of events that occurred more than 20 years ago , but which is current if you look at it correctly .
Genuine people like José Basulto or Luis Posada Carriles , who organized the bombing of hotels in Havana and the sabotage of a civilian airplane in which 73 passengers and crew members died , are not marginal in American society today .
The Cubans on the island who saw The Wasp Network at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the hatred that inspired the Miami attacks in the 1990s permeates the speeches of President Donald Trump today and conquers other radicals who swarm the Facebook forums and YouTube channels linked to the white supremacists .
Moreover , George W. Bush unleashed his war on terrorism from others while protecting his terrorist friends at home , and now Trump courts Florida ’ s arsonists and is evasive in condemning the right-wing extremists who have left a trail of death during his administration , from Charlottesville to Minneapolis to El Paso .
A study @ @ @ @ @ @ @ indicates that 74 percent of the terrorist attacks that occurred on U.S. soil after September 11 , 2001 , through 2016 , were the work of the extreme right .
Since Trump became president in 2017 , the majority of attacks against defenseless civilians have been carried out by supremacists .
The profile of the aggressor does not vary much : a white man , inspired by other violent acts and speeches , and with easy access to assault weapons .
He is the archetype of Joseph Basulto , who benefited as the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which allows only foreign groups or attackers to be designated as terrorists .
Virtues and shortcomings of realization aside , The Wasp Network is unusual and courageous .
It focuses on explaining what was hidden for decades and still does not want to be looked at head-on ; that is why Cuban agents were sent to the United States in the first place .
This is the heart of the story that has set the networks on fire , that tries to censor it on Netflix and that has the right-wing making @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Pablo Iglesias .
He joined the film ’ s Twitter feed with three words of unsurpassed precision : Sight .
Heroes .
Big Movie .

By Rosa Miriam Elizalde
LA JORNADA
S
ince Netflix decided to release The Wasp Network on June 19 to reach the captive audience of the Covid-19, the film has become a media hit for unconventional reasons.
In Florida they have threatened to burn cinemas, if the film is ever shown in theaters, and signatures are collected to force Netflix to withdraw the film, without understanding that the download site is not a television channel. People have the option of watching it or going on, although the scandal must have boosted the rating of a film that had passed through the Venice Film Festival without any pity or glory, despite a celebrity cast headed by Penélope Cruz.
But in Miami, right now, the theme of the film has become a sort of anti-communist conga with all the local media dancing the cool step of attacking the French director, Olivier Assayas, accusing him of making propaganda for Cuba. The great detail is that The Wasp Network narrates real events that have been documented by the United States authorities themselves, in a trial that is considered to be the longest in the history of that country’s jurisprudence and in which three generals, an admiral, a former presidential advisor and self-confessed terrorists, who appear on screen as what they are, testified.
The Wasp Network’s plot begins in Havana in the early 1990s. René González (Edgar Ramírez in the film), a flight instructor at a military airbase, steals a plane and flees Cuba. He begins a new life in Miami, away from Olguita, his wife (played by Penelope Cruz) and their young daughter. Other Cuban defectors soon follow him and set up a network to infiltrate various organizations based in that city, responsible for attacks on the island, including a bombing campaign against hotels that killed an Italian tourist. Instead of capturing and prosecuting the terrorists, responsible for atrocious crimes, the U.S. government locks up and subjects the Cuban agents to blackmail and punishment.
It’s the story of what happened in its pure state, naked in the opinions or interpretations of the screenwriter and director; an intolerable truth for one of the real characters in the film, José Basulto. He presented himself in those years as a good samaritan, savior of rafters in the Florida Straits, but he supported his excursions with drug trafficking, cheerfully violated Cuban airspace and financed shootings against bathers on the beaches.
Paradoxically, the evidence of his crimes was not provided by the Cuban Ministry of the Interior, but by the FBI, which was aware of everything that was going on, as the film shows. Now Basulto shouts against Netflix and shakes his fist in front of the cameras, “I more than agree with Trump that the relationship and agreements with Cuba should be terminated”.
Here is a story that seems merely anecdotal of events that occurred more than 20 years ago, but which is current if you look at it correctly. Real people like José Basulto or Luis Posada Carriles, who organized the bombing of hotels in Havana and the sabotage of a civilian airplane in which 73 passengers and crew members died, are not marginal in American society today. The Cubans on the island who saw The Wasp Network at the Havana Film Festival last December know that the hatred that inspired the Miami attacks in the 1990s permeates the speeches of President Donald Trump today and conquers other radicals who swarm the Facebook forums and YouTube channels linked to the white supremacists. Moreover, George W. Bush unleashed his war on terrorism from others while protecting "his" terrorist friends at home, and now Trump courts Florida’s arsonists and is evasive in condemning the right-wing extremists who have left a trail of death during his administration, from Charlottesville to Minneapolis to El Paso.
A study by the U.S. Extremist Crime Database indicates that 74 percent of the terrorist attacks that occurred on U.S. soil after September 11, 2001, through 2016, were the work of the extreme right. Since Trump became president in 2017, the majority of attacks against defenseless civilians have been carried out by supremacists. The profile of the aggressor does not vary much: a white man, inspired by other violent acts and speeches, and with easy access to assault weapons. He is the archetype of Joseph Basulto, who benefited as the current right-wing extremists from the American law, which allows only foreign groups, organizations, or attackers to be designated as terrorists.
Virtues and shortcomings of realization aside, The Wasp Network is unusual and courageous. It focuses on explaining what was hidden for decades and still does not want to be looked at head-on; that is why Cuban agents were sent to the United States in the first place. This is the heart of the story that has set the networks on fire, that tries to censor it on Netflix and that has the right-wing making common cause against the Spanish vice president, Pablo Iglesias. He joined the film’s Twitter feed with three words of unsurpassed precision: Sight. Heroes. Big Movie.
Source: La Jornada, translation Resumen Latinoamericano, North America bureau
Rosa Miriam Elizalde is a Cuban journalist and editor of the site Cubadebate.
READ HERE THE SPANISH ORIGINAL VERSION OF THE ARTICLE ABOVE
La Red Avispa pica en Miami
Rosa Miriam Elizalde*


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-14--No Holds Barred Media/Politics Dissection: Jimmy Dore on Useful Idiots, with Matt Taibbi and Katie H

No Holds Barred Media/Politics Dissection: Jimmy Dore on Useful Idiots, with Matt Taibbi and Katie Helper

Please make sure these dispatches reach as many readers as possible .
Share with kin , friends and workmates and @ @ @ @ @ .
Jimmy Dore on Useful Idiots , Interview Only USEFUL IDIOTS—A compelling , must watch @ @ @ @ @ Matt Taibbi and Katie Helper on the clusterfuck that passes for mainstream culture in the @ @ @ @ @ half-deranged , out-of-touch prostituted politicians and `` journalists '' .
( 24 May 2020 )


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-14--Israel is becoming terrified of the U.S. empire’s decline

The desperate aspect of Netanyahu ’ s motivations is partly shown in the fact that his annexation plan has come with a lot of international blowback .
Egypt , France , Germany , and Jordan have warned Israel to abandon the annexation , making the Trump White House an isolated presence in its backing of Israel ’ s actions .
And it ’ s clear that the move will end up harming Israel ; columnist Trudy Rubin wrote last month that “ Trump ’ s support for Israeli annexation in West Bank will endanger the Jewish state , ” and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ end any pretense of peace negotiations , endanger Israel ’ s peace with Jordan , and undercut promising advances in normalization with the Gulf States…Many Israeli security experts fear that if Netanyahu moves ahead…Israel will pay dearly at multiple levels : on the West Bank and Gaza , with its Arab neighbors , and with the rest of the world .
Without any security gains .
Additionally , an annexation would make it harder for Israel ’ s defenders to argue that the country seeks peace with Palestine .
Given all these costs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Zionists decided upon this course of action ?
Because this faction is afraid of a U.S. retreat from the Middle East .
Israeli defense strategists , including one deputy national security adviser to Netanyahu who recently stated that “ American hegemony is crumbling before our eyes , ” have become anxious about the prospect of the U.S. withdrawing from the region .
The events of the last couple of years in particular have caused these kinds of concerns among Israel ’ s policy-making elites .
As indicated by Israel ’ s massacres @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Israeli settler-colonialism has been experiencing increasing challenges .
With the rise of BDS and the international outcry against Israel ’ s genocidal actions , the Palestinian resistance movement has been gaining more and more leverage over the colonial regime .
In December of 2018 , Miko Peled wrote in Mintpress News that… Every Israeli prime minister , from this moment on , must know that he or she is likely , like De Klerk in Apartheid South Africa , to announce the end of the apartheid regime in Palestine , unconditionally release @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one-person-one-vote elections .
This will lead to the creation of a legislature and a government that represents all people who live between the River to the Sea .
With the collapse of the two-state solution as a viable option , the one-state solution of a decolonized Palestine has become more widely supported .
The pressure on the settler state has only mounted as Israel ’ s atrocities against Palestinians have continued .
Add this growing sense of pressure with the weakening of American power , and you get an Israel that feels more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Pentagon admitted that U.S. global influence is rapidly declining .
And for Israel , this imperial decline has created many unfavorable developments : the victory of its enemy Bashar al Assad in the Syrian war , an expansion of influence for Israel ’ s archenemy Iran , the increased potential for Israel ’ s adversaries to establish military control near the country .
These developments , writes the Times of Israel ’ s Haviv Rettig Gur , lend , …a new importance to the West Bank .
A withdrawal from the Jordan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , now becomes impossible to justify .
A vacuum of Israeli security control in the West Bank would be used by rising enemies from Ankara to Tehran — and their proxies and ideological compatriots in Hamas , Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad — to directly threaten the Israeli heartland of the coastal plain .
In other words , an Israeli withdrawal from the Jordan Valley grows more distant as US power recedes .
Annexing the West Bank , these defense planners argue , will be crucial for providing a buffer for Israel as U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to wind down .
What must be troubling Netanyahu ’ s circle is that despite their best efforts to annex the West Bank , the many obstacles to the project have so far been too great for them to overcome .
Netanyahu promised that he would push through the full annexation of the West Bank on July 1st , yet nothing happened when this date passed .
The fears of blowback have complicated the mechanics of the annexation plan , which continues to be delayed .
Once again , the bluster and belligerence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been revealed as a reaction to the growing material limitations on what they can do .
It ’ s for this reason that Trump recently grew intimidated and stopped Netanyahu ’ s initial annexation attempt .
The White House has been hesitant to allow Israel to do something so drastic , despite the Trump administration ’ s otherwise consistently pro-Zionist stances .
As much as the imperialists and the Zionists aggressively posture towards their enemies and plan new conquests , they keep getting themselves into more trouble and then ultimately having to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ carry out an annexation , it will gain them a momentary advantage , but in the long term it will end up accelerating the collapse of Israeli settler-colonialism .
The entire situation is a dilemma for them , despite Netanyahu ’ s narrative about how what he ’ s doing only helps Israel ’ s interests .
So is the case for colonialism , imperialism , and capitalism at large .
The Washington imperialists keep pushing forth with their cold war against Russia and China , yet this is only making the U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the U.S. keeps brutally cracking down on anti-racist protesters , yet this only sheds more light on the illegitimate nature of the American settler state .
Neoliberal countries are increasing austerity and allowing billionaires to become richer during the economic crisis , yet this increases the potential for class struggle .
History is fulfilling Mao ’ s prediction about the fate of U.S. imperialism : I said all allegedly powerful reactionaries are merely paper tigers .
The reason is that they are divorced from the people .
Look !
Wasn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t he overthrown ?
I also said that the tsar of Russia was a paper tiger , as were the emperor of China and Japanese imperialism , and see , they were all overthrown .
U.S. imperialism has not yet been overthrown and it has the atom bomb , but I believe it too is a paper tiger and will be overthrown .
The more U.S. imperialism declines , the more Israel will lash out , and the more the Zionist settler state will endanger itself in turn .
The more Zionism is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ come to installing a new anti-imperialist government on the land that was stolen from them .
And therefore the closer Washington will come to losing its crucial Middle Eastern military ally and asset in internal repression .
It ’ s turning into a cycle where the paper tigers end up sabotaging themselves .

M ao said that “All reactionaries are paper tigers. In appearance, the reactionaries are terrifying, but in reality they are not so powerful.” We’re seeing this now in the case of Israel, whose fascistic president Benjamin Netanyahu has tried to annex the West Bank as a show of the supposed strength of the Zionist project; behind Netanyahu’s confident appearance, his actions have been driven by fears of a decline for the global empire that props up Israel. ao said that “All reactionaries are paper tigers. In appearance, the reactionaries are terrifying, but in reality they are not so powerful.” We’re seeing this now in the case of Israel, whose fascistic president Benjamin Netanyahu has tried to annex the West Bank as a show of the supposed strength of the Zionist project; behind Netanyahu’s confident appearance, his actions have been driven by fears of a decline for the global empire that props up Israel.
The desperate aspect of Netanyahu’s motivations is partly shown in the fact that his annexation plan has come with a lot of international blowback. Egypt, France, Germany, and Jordan have warned Israel to abandon the annexation, making the Trump White House an isolated presence in its backing of Israel’s actions. And it’s clear that the move will end up harming Israel; columnist Trudy Rubin wrote last month that “Trump’s support for Israeli annexation in West Bank will endanger the Jewish state,” and that…
This is a move that will end any pretense of peace negotiations, endanger Israel’s peace with Jordan, and undercut promising advances in normalization with the Gulf States…Many Israeli security experts fear that if Netanyahu moves ahead…Israel will pay dearly at multiple levels: on the West Bank and Gaza, with its Arab neighbors, and with the rest of the world. Without any security gains.
Additionally, an annexation would make it harder for Israel’s defenders to argue that the country seeks peace with Palestine. Given all these costs, why has the ruling faction of the Zionists decided upon this course of action? Because this faction is afraid of a U.S. retreat from the Middle East.
Israeli defense strategists, including one deputy national security adviser to Netanyahu who recently stated that “American hegemony is crumbling before our eyes,” have become anxious about the prospect of the U.S. withdrawing from the region. The events of the last couple of years in particular have caused these kinds of concerns among Israel’s policy-making elites.
As indicated by Israel’s massacres of peaceful border protesters in recent years, Israeli settler-colonialism has been experiencing increasing challenges. With the rise of BDS and the international outcry against Israel’s genocidal actions, the Palestinian resistance movement has been gaining more and more leverage over the colonial regime. In December of 2018, Miko Peled wrote in Mintpress News that…
Every Israeli prime minister, from this moment on, must know that he or she is likely, like De Klerk in Apartheid South Africa, to announce the end of the apartheid regime in Palestine, unconditionally release the Palestinian prisoners, and call for one-person-one-vote elections. This will lead to the creation of a legislature and a government that represents all people who live between the River to the Sea.
With the collapse of the two-state solution as a viable option, the one-state solution of a decolonized Palestine has become more widely supported. The pressure on the settler state has only mounted as Israel’s atrocities against Palestinians have continued.
Add this growing sense of pressure with the weakening of American power, and you get an Israel that feels more isolated than ever. In 2017, the Pentagon admitted that U.S. global influence is rapidly declining. And for Israel, this imperial decline has created many unfavorable developments: the victory of its enemy Bashar al Assad in the Syrian war, an expansion of influence for Israel’s archenemy Iran, the increased potential for Israel’s adversaries to establish military control near the country. These developments, writes the Times of Israel’s Haviv Rettig Gur, lend,
…a new importance to the West Bank. A withdrawal from the Jordan Valley, say most Israeli defense planners, now becomes impossible to justify. A vacuum of Israeli security control in the West Bank would be used by rising enemies from Ankara to Tehran — and their proxies and ideological compatriots in Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad — to directly threaten the Israeli heartland of the coastal plain. In other words, an Israeli withdrawal from the Jordan Valley grows more distant as US power recedes.
Annexing the West Bank, these defense planners argue, will be crucial for providing a buffer for Israel as U.S. military commitments to the Middle East continue to wind down.
What must be troubling Netanyahu’s circle is that despite their best efforts to annex the West Bank, the many obstacles to the project have so far been too great for them to overcome. Netanyahu promised that he would push through the full annexation of the West Bank on July 1st, yet nothing happened when this date passed. The fears of blowback have complicated the mechanics of the annexation plan, which continues to be delayed. Once again, the bluster and belligerence from Israel’s ruling right wing has been revealed as a reaction to the growing material limitations on what they can do.
It’s for this reason that Trump recently grew intimidated and stopped Netanyahu’s initial annexation attempt. The White House has been hesitant to allow Israel to do something so drastic, despite the Trump administration’s otherwise consistently pro-Zionist stances. As much as the imperialists and the Zionists aggressively posture towards their enemies and plan new conquests, they keep getting themselves into more trouble and then ultimately having to draw back. If they manage to carry out an annexation, it will gain them a momentary advantage, but in the long term it will end up accelerating the collapse of Israeli settler-colonialism. The entire situation is a dilemma for them, despite Netanyahu’s narrative about how what he’s doing only helps Israel’s interests.
So is the case for colonialism, imperialism, and capitalism at large. The Washington imperialists keep pushing forth with their cold war against Russia and China, yet this is only making the U.S. more globally isolated. With Israeli help, the U.S. keeps brutally cracking down on anti-racist protesters, yet this only sheds more light on the illegitimate nature of the American settler state. Neoliberal countries are increasing austerity and allowing billionaires to become richer during the economic crisis, yet this increases the potential for class struggle. History is fulfilling Mao’s prediction about the fate of U.S. imperialism:
I said all allegedly powerful reactionaries are merely paper tigers. The reason is that they are divorced from the people. Look! Wasn’t Hitler a paper tiger? Wasn’t he overthrown? I also said that the tsar of Russia was a paper tiger, as were the emperor of China and Japanese imperialism, and see, they were all overthrown. U.S. imperialism has not yet been overthrown and it has the atom bomb, but I believe it too is a paper tiger and will be overthrown.
The more U.S. imperialism declines, the more Israel will lash out, and the more the Zionist settler state will endanger itself in turn. The more Zionism is endangered, the closer the Palestinians will come to installing a new anti-imperialist government on the land that was stolen from them. And therefore the closer Washington will come to losing its crucial Middle Eastern military ally and asset in internal repression. It’s turning into a cycle where the paper tigers end up sabotaging themselves.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-14--Max Blumenthal: ‘Cancel Culture’ hypocrites cancel open debate and foreign countries

Pushback with Aaron Maté A new open letter signed by prominent pundits and intellectuals warns of a growing problem with @ @ @ @ @ 's Max Blumenthal says that signatories of the `` Cancel Culture '' letter fail to @ @ @ @ @ while fueling an internecine liberal dispute that sidelines vital issues and cancels foreign lives .
@ @ @ @ @ editor of The Grayzone and author of `` The Management of Savagery . ''


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-14--Blaming China is dead end for Trump election hopes

President is betting on the economy but nearly 50 million have filed unemployment claims for their first time n April , the US Republican Party issued a playbook for the November election .
Put simply : Blame the Covid-19 pandemic and everything else on China and do not bother to defend President Donald Trump .
As matters have unraveled since then , it ’ s becoming obvious the strategy will not work .
Trump and his faithful henchman Mike Pompeo continue to hammer home the message that China did not tell the world about Covid-19 in a timely manner , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus , and may even have created it in one of its own labs .
But the narrative lacks authenticity and rings more hollow with repetition .
To bolster a tenuous accusation , Pompeo has to exaggerate when the virus first struck in China and the length of time the authorities kept silent .
While the two sides will never agree between what Pompeo said and China said , it has become obvious that regardless of when the Trump administration knew about the virus , it let weeks if not months go by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his re-election on a healthy economy .
He is desperately wishing for a normal recovery without paying the price of a nationwide lockdown , testing , mandating wearing facial masks and maintaining social distance .
Unemployment remains over 11 % and nearly 50 million Americans have filed unemployment claims for their first time .
To inject liquidity and keep businesses afloat and wage earners from drowning in debt , Congress authorized the sending of checks on a massive scale .
The federal budget deficit for June was well over $ 800 billion , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same month last year .
The June World Economic Outlook published by the International Monetary Fund projected that the US economy will shrink by roughly 8 % for the year .
Canada is slightly worse and Germany slightly better , while most European economies will experience the pain of negative 10 % growth or more .
Only China is expected to show a 1 % gain in gross domestic product .
The country bit the bullet , clamped down hard and brought the virus under control quickly , measures the Western countries were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ credit Trump ’ s stupidity for facilitating China ’ s economic rise and surge past the US .
His administration and some poorly informed Republican senators seem to think that the US is the fountainhead of all advanced technology and the Chinese only come to America to steal .
As The New York Times reported , the artificial-intelligence project contracted to Google by the Defense Department was powered by brilliant Chinese citizens on the staff .
This was OK with the DoD because it wanted the most qualified minds on the job .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ officer and current adviser to the DoD , said restricting entry of Chinese students is against America ’ s own self-interest .
Some of the best minds are Chinese and they contribute to our national security , he said .
Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have launched a joint legal suit against the government to allow foreign students to enter the US even for online classes .
More than 40 % of their international students are from China .
But many students admitted from China are hesitating .
They fear the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ policy and being caught by surprise in the blanket “ whole of society ” arrest for spying by the Federal Bureau of Investigation .
If some of these students decide to continue their work at home , they will further China ’ s advances in 5G , AI , wireless applications , quantum computing and advanced weapons development .
By recently completing the Beidou satellite navigation system to compete with the US Global Positioning System , China has severed another dependence on American technology .
So far 130 countries have adopted the Chinese @ @ @ @ @ @ @ face the reality of the virus and the need to confront the contagion .
He thought the virus was a hoax .
A 30-year-old man who believed Trump recently attended a “ Covid party ” in Texas and died from the disease .
The chief medical officer at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio said his dying words were , “ I thought it was a hoax.
” Trump sneered at those wearing a mask as unmanly and wearing a mask became not a matter of public health but was politicized and became a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ does not understand science and does not care .
On various occasions he suggested treatments for the disease without any basis in science .
He also thought the virus would go away in the summer months .
His scientific advisers such as Dr Anthony Fauci , whose advice could make a difference in guiding the American public to a healthier lifestyle , have been relegated to the back stage simply because what they have to say contradicts Trump ’ s public positions .
Trump is a president who does not care about the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the deadly consequences of the outbreak , he does not want social distancing , he does not want shelter-in-place and he wants businesses operating as usual .
Appallingly , he thinks too much testing is the reason for too many cases .
Data from testing gives him the bad news that he doesn ’ t want to know , and facts merely confuse him .
He has managed the epidemic so badly already more than 135,000 Americans have died from Covid-19 , nearly one-quarter of the world ’ s total , coming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s population .
Virtually all developing countries with threadbare health-care systems have handled the pandemic better than the US .
Yet Trump has shamelessly given himself credit for a superb job because actual death count “ could have been higher.
” Being a totally ignorant , incompetent , and irresponsible president fits Trump to a T. He cares only about himself and other than his core base he has no empathy for anyone else .
Having seen him in action for nearly four years , what does the rest of the world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Trump ’ s top diplomat , the pompous Pompeo with a perpetual smirk , prances around the world urging and sometimes threatening countries to adopt the US anti-China line , or else .
But action speaks louder than words .
The world has come to understand that “ America first ” means everybody else last .
When he first heard a rumor that a German company was near a breakthrough in developing a vaccine for Covid-19 , Pompeo ’ s instinct was to try to acquire the company and relocate it to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , so his idea of monopolizing the vaccine fell through .
Of course , typical of anyone ignorant of science , Pompeo did not understand that developing an effective and proven-safe vaccine takes time and is fraught with uncertainty .
Buying the German company could have turned out to be a foolish bet .
Today , many vaccine candidates are in the running .
Some of the leading potential vaccines in final stages of clinical testing are being developed in China , and China has announced its intention to share its research with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the Cambridge , Massachusetts , company whose mere announcement of a possible approach to a vaccine was good enough for Wall Street to get excited and the founders to cash out and take millions to the bank .
China has shown to the world that it took strict and draconian measures to bring the coronavirus under control and now is actively supplying personal protective equipment to other countries in need .
China also continue to work within the World Health Organization to help quell the worldwide pandemic .
194 nations in WHO @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are members of the WHO have the common goal of collaboration to detect and contain outbreaks because contagious diseases know no national boundaries .
They were aghast that Trump would withdraw the US membership because the WHO has made him look bad by contradicting some of his hyperbole and misstatements .
What to make of Trump ’ s pettiness ?
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said , “ You can not fight the pandemic with lies and disinformation any more than you fight it with hate or incitement to hatred.
” So much for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to enjoy the world ’ s respect .
Domestically , the Trump administration has fared even worse .
The brutal murder of George Floyd triggered nationwide Black Lives Matter protests .
Instead of reaching out to the black communities with words of sympathy and support to cool things down , Trump used the pulpit to castigate the protesters and threaten to shoot them .
His act that passes for empathy was to order the National Guard to clear away the protesters near the White House so that Trump could walk to St John @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of him holding a Bible .
Since he ’ s not known to be a reader of the Bible or for that matter any book , it was a strikingly strange and awkward photo with not one scintilla of sincerity .
His distaste and racial bias for all people of color is palpable .
He openly praised the glory of the Confederacy , condemned the destruction of statues of Confederate generals and accused the BLM protests as acts of terrorism .
He has not acknowledged the centuries of racial injustice and made no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has imposed on the black communities for centuries .
Asia Times reported the simultaneous naval exercises in the South China Sea by two US aircraft-carrier strike groups and a comparable Chinese flotilla that took place around July 4 .
The article expressed concern over possible conflict at sea .
Another observer worried that the Trump administration could be orchestrating another Gulf of Tonkin incident .
Readers may remember the alleged firefight that did not take place on Tonkin Gulf but which gave Washington the pretense to start the Vietnam War .
Observers from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ east of the Philippines while the People ’ s Liberation Army Navy was near the Paracel Islands , well inside the South China Sea and a safe social distance apart .
The Chinese test-fired their full array of advanced weapons including missiles that they claim are carrier killers for the benefit of the American observers .
Letting the Americans see is consistent with China ’ s past practices .
Acording to Physics Today , it once invited an American intelligence officer to visit and learn about China ’ s nuclear weapon test and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Pentagon is fully informed and does not miscalculate .
The author of the Physics Today article was Thomas Reed , former US secretary of the Air Force .
His concluding statement was , “ Over a period of 15 years , an intellectually talented China achieved parity with the West and preeminence over its Asian peers in the design of nuclear weapons and in understanding underground nuclear testing .
China now stands in the first rank of nuclear powers.
” Whether members of the Trump administration are smart enough to get the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be seen .
There is growing disenchantment with the Trump government within the ranks of the Republican Party and among the rank and file of the military .
They see that Trump has no regard for the sanctity of the US constitution and his henchmen can break the law at will and count on the president to issue them “ get out of jail free ” cards .
The dissidents see that under the Trump administration , the US has completely lost the respect and admiration of the international community of nations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ divide the American people according to black and colored vs the white supremacists , and between the states that want to contain the epidemic and the states that blindly follow him for the sake of economic activity .
They see no hope of stopping the pandemic and bringing about economic recovery under Trump ’ s management and they see that his re-election would only destroy the Republican Party , begin a death spiral for America and cause a disastrous ripple across the world .

By
President is betting on the economy but nearly 50 million have filed unemployment claims for their first time
I
n April, the US Republican Party issued a playbook for the November election. Put simply: Blame the Covid-19 pandemic and everything else on China and do not bother to defend President Donald Trump. As matters have unraveled since then, it’s becoming obvious the strategy will not work.
Trump and his faithful henchman Mike Pompeo continue to hammer home the message that China did not tell the world about Covid-19 in a timely manner, did not share its knowledge about the virus, and may even have created it in one of its own labs.
But the narrative lacks authenticity and rings more hollow with repetition. To bolster a tenuous accusation, Pompeo has to exaggerate when the virus first struck in China and the length of time the authorities kept silent.
While the two sides will never agree between what Pompeo said and China said, it has become obvious that regardless of when the Trump administration knew about the virus, it let weeks if not months go by before taking action.
Trump is betting his re-election on a healthy economy. He is desperately wishing for a normal recovery without paying the price of a nationwide lockdown, testing, mandating wearing facial masks and maintaining social distance.
Unemployment remains over 11% and nearly 50 million Americans have filed unemployment claims for their first time. To inject liquidity and keep businesses afloat and wage earners from drowning in debt, Congress authorized the sending of checks on a massive scale.
The federal budget deficit for June was well over $800 billion, more than a tenfold increase from the same month last year.
The June World Economic Outlook published by the International Monetary Fund projected that the US economy will shrink by roughly 8% for the year. Canada is slightly worse and Germany slightly better, while most European economies will experience the pain of negative 10% growth or more.
Only China is expected to show a 1% gain in gross domestic product. The country bit the bullet, clamped down hard and brought the virus under control quickly, measures the Western countries were reluctant to take.
History may well credit Trump’s stupidity for facilitating China’s economic rise and surge past the US. His administration and some poorly informed Republican senators seem to think that the US is the fountainhead of all advanced technology and the Chinese only come to America to steal.
As The New York Times reported, the artificial-intelligence project contracted to Google by the Defense Department was powered by brilliant Chinese citizens on the staff. This was OK with the DoD because it wanted the most qualified minds on the job.
Eric Schmidt, former Google chief executive officer and current adviser to the DoD, said restricting entry of Chinese students is against America’s own self-interest. Some of the best minds are Chinese and they contribute to our national security, he said.
Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have launched a joint legal suit against the government to allow foreign students to enter the US even for online classes. More than 40% of their international students are from China.
But many students admitted from China are hesitating. They fear the whiplash of abrupt changes in the Trump policy and being caught by surprise in the blanket “whole of society” arrest for spying by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
If some of these students decide to continue their work at home, they will further China’s advances in 5G, AI, wireless applications, quantum computing and advanced weapons development. By recently completing the Beidou satellite navigation system to compete with the US Global Positioning System, China has severed another dependence on American technology. So far 130 countries have adopted the Chinese system.
Trump’s aversion to reality
Trump did not want to face the reality of the virus and the need to confront the contagion. He thought the virus was a hoax. A 30-year-old man who believed Trump recently attended a “Covid party” in Texas died from the disease. The chief medical officer at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio said his dying words were, “I thought it was a hoax.”
Trump sneered at those wearing a mask as unmanly and wearing a mask became not a matter of public health but was politicized and became a sign of disloyalty to Trump.
Trump does not understand science and does not care. On various occasions he suggested treatments for the disease without any basis in science. He also thought the virus would go away in the summer months.
His scientific advisers such as Dr Anthony Fauci, whose advice could make a difference in guiding the American public to a healthier lifestyle, have been relegated to the back stage simply because what they have to say contradicts Trump’s public positions.
Trump is a president who does not care about the welfare of the American people. Regardless of the deadly consequences of the outbreak, he does not want social distancing, he does not want shelter-in-place and he wants businesses operating as usual.
Appallingly, he thinks too much testing is the reason for too many cases. Data from testing gives him the bad news that he doesn’t want to know, and facts merely confuse him.
He has managed the epidemic so badly already more than 135,000 Americans have died from Covid-19, nearly one-quarter of the world’s total, coming from just 5% of the world’s population.
Virtually all developing countries with threadbare health-care systems have handled the pandemic better than the US. Yet Trump has shamelessly given himself credit for a superb job because actual death count “could have been higher.”
Being a totally ignorant, incompetent, and irresponsible president fits Trump to a T. He cares only about himself and other than his core base he has no empathy for anyone else.
Having seen him in action for nearly four years, what does the rest of the world think of him? Apparently very little.
Trump’s top diplomat, the pompous Pompeo with a perpetual smirk, prances around the world urging and sometimes threatening countries to adopt the US anti-China line, or else. But action speaks louder than words. The world has come to understand that “America first” means everybody else last.
When he first heard a rumor that a German company was near a breakthrough in developing a vaccine for Covid-19, Pompeo’s instinct was to try to acquire the company and relocate it to the US. The German government objected, so his idea of monopolizing the vaccine fell through.
Of course, typical of anyone ignorant of science, Pompeo did not understand that developing an effective and proven-safe vaccine takes time and is fraught with uncertainty. Buying the German company could have turned out to be a foolish bet.
Today, many vaccine candidates are in the running. Some of the leading potential vaccines in final stages of clinical testing are being developed in China, and China has announced its intention to share its research with the world.
This is in contrast to the Cambridge, Massachusetts, company whose mere announcement of a possible approach to a vaccine was good enough for Wall Street to get excited and the founders to cash out and take millions to the bank.
China has shown to the world that it took strict and draconian measures to bring the coronavirus under control and now is actively supplying personal protective equipment to other countries in need. China also continue to work within the World Health Organization to help quell the worldwide pandemic.
194 nations in WHO vs one US
The 194 nations that are members of the WHO have the common goal of collaboration to detect and contain outbreaks because contagious diseases know no national boundaries. They were aghast that Trump would withdraw the US membership because the WHO has made him look bad by contradicting some of his hyperbole and misstatements.
What to make of Trump’s pettiness? German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, “You cannot fight the pandemic with lies and disinformation any more than you fight it with hate or incitement to hatred.” So much for the Trump/Pompeo perception that the US continues to enjoy the world’s respect.
Domestically, the Trump administration has fared even worse. The brutal murder of George Floyd triggered nationwide Black Lives Matter protests. Instead of reaching out to the black communities with words of sympathy and support to cool things down, Trump used the pulpit to castigate the protesters and threaten to shoot them.
His act that passes for empathy was to order the National Guard to clear away the protesters near the White House so that Trump could walk to St John’s Church for a souvenir photo of him holding a Bible. Since he’s not known to be a reader of the Bible or for that matter any book, it was a strikingly strange and awkward photo with not one scintilla of sincerity.
Black lives don’t matter to Trump
His distaste and racial bias for all people of color is palpable. He openly praised the glory of the Confederacy, condemned the destruction of statues of Confederate generals and accused the BLM protests as acts of terrorism.
He has not acknowledged the centuries of racial injustice and made no attempt to heal the wounds white supremacy has imposed on the black communities for centuries.
Naval showdown in South China Sea
Asia Times reported the simultaneous naval exercises in the South China Sea by two US aircraft-carrier strike groups and a comparable Chinese flotilla that took place around July 4. The article expressed concern over possible conflict at sea.
Another observer worried that the Trump administration could be orchestrating another Gulf of Tonkin incident. Readers may remember the alleged firefight that did not take place on Tonkin Gulf but which gave Washington the pretense to start the Vietnam War.
Observers from China noted that the American fleet was east of the Philippines while the People’s Liberation Army Navy was near the Paracel Islands, well inside the South China Sea and a safe social distance apart. The Chinese test-fired their full array of advanced weapons including missiles that they claim are carrier killers for the benefit of the American observers.
Letting the Americans see is consistent with China’s past practices. Acording to Physics Today, it once invited an American intelligence officer to visit and learn about China’s nuclear weapon test and development. They want to make sure the Pentagon is fully informed and does not miscalculate.
The author of the Physics Today article was Thomas Reed, former US secretary of the Air Force. His concluding statement was, “Over a period of 15 years, an intellectually talented China achieved parity with the West and preeminence over its Asian peers in the design of nuclear weapons and in understanding underground nuclear testing. China now stands in the first rank of nuclear powers.”
Whether members of the Trump administration are smart enough to get the message from the South China Sea remains to be seen.
Dissident movement against Trump
There is growing disenchantment with the Trump government within the ranks of the Republican Party and among the rank and file of the military. They see that Trump has no regard for the sanctity of the US constitution and his henchmen can break the law at will and count on the president to issue them “get out of jail free” cards.
The dissidents see that under the Trump administration, the US has completely lost the respect and admiration of the international community of nations.
They see that Trump will only divide the American people according to black and colored vs the white supremacists, and between the states that want to contain the epidemic and the states that blindly follow him for the sake of economic activity.
They see no hope of stopping the pandemic and bringing about economic recovery under Trump’s management and they see that his re-election would only destroy the Republican Party, begin a death spiral for America and cause a disastrous ripple across the world.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-15--U.S. Tensions Against CHINA Increase! Journalist Danny Haiphong’s Perspective.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-16--The Worst Time in History to Be Alive, According to Science (Beats the Black Death, WW2, and even th

The Worst Time in History to Be Alive, According to Science (Beats the Black Death, WW2, and even the implosion of the American empire)

Now , researchers have discovered one of the main sources of that fog .
The team reported in Antiquity that a volcanic eruption in Iceland in early 536 helped spread ash across the Northern Hemisphere , creating the fog .
Like the 1815 Mount Tambora eruption—the deadliest volcanic eruption on record—this eruption was big enough to alter global climate patterns , causing years of famine .
What exactly did the first 18 months of darkness look like ?
The Byzantine historian Procopius wrote that “ the sun gave forth its light without brightness , like the moon , during this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it seemed like the sun was constantly in eclipse ; and that during this time , “ men were free neither from war nor pestilence nor any other thing leading to death.
” Accounts like these weren ’ t taken very seriously until the 1990s , says Michael McCormick , a history professor at Harvard University and co-author of the Antiquity paper .
That decade , researchers examined tree rings in Ireland and found that something weird did happen around 536 .
Summers in Europe and Asia became 35°F to 37°F colder , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This Late Antique Little Ice Age , as it ’ s known , came about when volcanic ash blocked out the sun .
“ It was a pretty drastic change ; it happened overnight , ” McCormick says .
“ The ancient witnesses really were onto something .
They were not being hysterical or imagining the end of the world.
” With this realization , accounts of 536 become newly horrifying .
“ We marvel to see no shadows of our bodies at noon , ” wrote Cassiodorus , a Roman politician .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a “ bluish ” color , the moon had lost its luster and the “ seasons seem to be all jumbled up together.
” The effects of the 536 eruption were compounded by eruptions in 540 and 547 , and it took a long time for the Northern Hemisphere to recover .
“ The Late Antique Little Ice Age that began in the spring of 536 lasted in western Europe until about 660 , and it lasted until about 680 in Central Asia , ” McCormick says .
`` It was the beginning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be alive , if not the worst year , '' McCormick told Science .
This period of cold and starvation caused economic stagnation in Europe that intensified in 541 when the first bubonic plague broke out .
The plague killed between one-third and one-half of the population in the Byzantine Empire , or Eastern Roman Empire .
There might still be other , undiscovered volcanic eruptions that contributed to the 536 fog , says Andrei Kurbatov , an Earth and climate sciences professor at the University of Maine and another co-author of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know at least one of the reasons people in 536 couldn ’ t see their own shadows—even at noon .

Now, researchers have discovered one of the main sources of that fog. The team reported in Antiquity that a volcanic eruption in Iceland in early 536 helped spread ash across the Northern Hemisphere, creating the fog. Like the 1815 Mount Tambora eruption—the deadliest volcanic eruption on record—this eruption was big enough to alter global climate patterns, causing years of famine.
What exactly did the first 18 months of darkness look like? The Byzantine historian Procopius wrote that “the sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the moon, during this whole year.” He also wrote that it seemed like the sun was constantly in eclipse; and that during this time, “men were free neither from war nor pestilence nor any other thing leading to death.”
Accounts like these weren’t taken very seriously until the 1990s, says Michael McCormick, a history professor at Harvard University and co-author of the Antiquity paper. That decade, researchers examined tree rings in Ireland and found that something weird did happen around 536. Summers in Europe and Asia became 35°F to 37°F colder, with China even reporting summer snow. This Late Antique Little Ice Age, as it’s known, came about when volcanic ash blocked out the sun.
“It was a pretty drastic change; it happened overnight,” McCormick says. “The ancient witnesses really were onto something. They were not being hysterical or imagining the end of the world.”
With this realization, accounts of 536 become newly horrifying. “We marvel to see no shadows of our bodies at noon,” wrote Cassiodorus, a Roman politician. He also wrote that the sun had a “bluish” color, the moon had lost its luster and the “seasons seem to be all jumbled up together.”
The effects of the 536 eruption were compounded by eruptions in 540 and 547, and it took a long time for the Northern Hemisphere to recover. “The Late Antique Little Ice Age that began in the spring of 536 lasted in western Europe until about 660, and it lasted until about 680 in Central Asia,” McCormick says.
"It was the beginning of one of the worst periods to be alive, if not the worst year," McCormick told Science.
This period of cold and starvation caused economic stagnation in Europe that intensified in 541 when the first bubonic plague broke out. The plague killed between one-third and one-half of the population in the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire.
There might still be other, undiscovered volcanic eruptions that contributed to the 536 fog, says Andrei Kurbatov, an Earth and climate sciences professor at the University of Maine and another co-author of the Antiquity paper. However, we now know at least one of the reasons people in 536 couldn’t see their own shadows—even at noon.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-16--The China-Iran Deal to Undermine US Geopolitics and Sanctions / Special discussion on Venezuela

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Share with kin , friends and workmates and ask them to do likewise .
George Galloway for Kalima Horra on Al Mayadeen TV , discussing Iranian fuel tankers in Venezuela , the US hegemony around the world and whether an alliance between Iran and Venezuela could challenge that .
First Broadcast 6th July 2020 To join our studio audience for future shows in London , sign up to our e-mail database : http : //eepurl.com/c9RY_f For more , follow @ KalimaLondon and @ GeorgeGalloway .
Al Mayadeen ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is predominantly news .
It has news reporters in most Arab countries .
In the pan-Arab TV news market it competes against [ 12 ] Besides the headquarters in [ 13 ] Al Mayadeen has a wide-ranging news network and three regional offices , one in NOTE : Arabic : الميادين ; English : The Plazas ) is a pan-Arabist .
satellite television channel launched on 11 June 2012 in Beirut Its programming is predominantly news .
It has news reporters in most Arab countries .
In the pan-Arab TV news market it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and also against Sky News Arabia and BBC Arabic Television .
The channel is part of Al Mayadeen satellite media network , including a production company , a radio station , a website , an advertising company and other media-related projects.Besides the headquarters in Beirut Al Mayadeen has a wide-ranging news network and three regional offices , one in Tunisia , another in Cairo with three reporters and a big studio , and a third in Tehran .
At its founding in 2012 , many of Al Mayadeen 's senior staff were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Al Mayadeen is viewed as pro- Hezbollah and pro- Syrian government This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License Do people get the government they deserve ?
• remember : ALL CAPTIONS , IMAGES , PULL QUOTES AND ANNOTATIONS BY THE EDITORS , NOT THE AUTHOR—

Please make sure these dispatches reach as many readers as possible. Share with kin, friends and workmates and ask them to do likewise.
George Galloway for Kalima Horra on Al Mayadeen TV, discussing Iranian fuel tankers in Venezuela, the US hegemony around the world and whether an alliance between Iran and Venezuela could challenge that. First Broadcast 6th July 2020 To join our studio audience for future shows in London, sign up to our e-mail database: http://eepurl.com/c9RY_f For more, follow @KalimaLondon and @GeorgeGalloway.
Al Mayadeen (Lebanon.[3] Its programming is predominantly news. It has news reporters in most Arab countries. In the pan-Arab TV news market it competes against [12] Besides the headquarters in [13] Al Mayadeen has a wide-ranging news network and three regional offices, one in NOTE: Arabic : الميادين ; English: The Plazas) is a pan-Arabist. satellite television channel launched on 11 June 2012 in Beirut Its programming is predominantly news. It has news reporters in most Arab countries. In the pan-Arab TV news market it competes against Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya , and also against Sky News Arabia and BBC Arabic Television . The channel is part of Al Mayadeen satellite media network, including a production company, a radio station, a website, an advertising company and other media-related projects.Besides the headquarters in Beirut Al Mayadeen has a wide-ranging news network and three regional offices, one in Tunisia , another in Cairo with three reporters and a big studio, and a third in Tehran . At its founding in 2012, many of Al Mayadeen's senior staff were formerly correspondents and editors at Al Jazeera. Al Mayadeen is viewed as pro- Hezbollah and pro- Syrian government
[post-views]
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Do people get the government they deserve?
This bloodsoaked monster is probably the most evil person on planet earth https://t.co/nGq2H1EPHt — Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) April 9, 2020
• remember: ALL CAPTIONS, IMAGES, PULL QUOTES AND ANNOTATIONS BY THE EDITORS, NOT THE AUTHOR—


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-16--Will Iranian fuel tankers in Venezuela challenge US global dominance? | Kalima Horra on Al Mayadeen

Tune in to George Galloway for Kalima Horra on Al Mayadeen TV , discussing Iranian fuel tankers in Venezuela , @ @ @ @ @ world and whether an alliance between Iran and Venezuela could challenge that .
First Broadcast @ @ @ @ @ our studio audience for future shows in London , sign up to our e-mail database @ @ @ @ @ @ KalimaLondon and @ GeorgeGalloway .

Tune in to George Galloway for Kalima Horra on Al Mayadeen TV, discussing Iranian fuel tankers in Venezuela, the US hegemony around the world and whether an alliance between Iran and Venezuela could challenge that. First Broadcast 6th July 2020 To join our studio audience for future shows in London, sign up to our e-mail database:
For more, follow @KalimaLondon and @GeorgeGalloway.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-16--DEMOCRATS Prevent Trump Withdrawing Troops From Afghanistan!


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-15--For US Corporate Media, Not Intervening in Chinese Politics Is Journalistically Suspect

ime ( 6/26/20 ) reported last month that Michael Pack , the ultraconservative Trump-appointed CEO of the US Agency for Global Media ( USAGM ) , froze funding related to the anti-Beijing protests in Hong Kong .
According to the magazine , the agency—which overseesand other US government–funded media—halted some $ 2 million worth of contracts for projects whose stated purpose was to protect the digital privacy of demonstrators .
These included a “ cybersecurity incident response team ” to analyze “ Chinese surveillance techniques , ” as well as a “ rapid response fund ” for protesters deemed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A major Western publication ’ s confirmation that the US government was directly sponsoring the Hong Kong protests would seem to be a pivotal development .
This both corroborates the Chinese Foreign Ministry ’ s claims of external intervention in the protests ( Xinhua , 5/23/20 ) and sheds light on US media ’ s glowing portrayals of the protests ( FAIR.org , 10/26/19 , 12/6/19 ) .
Yet the issue , according to US media , isn ’ t that a government body intended to fund these demonstrations in the first place @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it from doing so .
USAGM ’ s funding was channeled through a little-known offshoot called the Open Technology Fund ( OTF ) .
Arguably best-known for funding encrypted messaging apps like Signal and web browsers like Tor , OTF originated as a pilot program within Radio Free Asia in 2012 and was classified in 2019 as an “ independent nonprofit ” USAGM grantee .
Under USAGM ’ s authority , OTF planned to furnish demonstrators with technology to “ evade surveillance by the Chinese government , ” according to Time .
After @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a number of news sources lamented the funding freeze , along with a series of high-profile USAGM firings under Pack ’ s command , asserting that OTF ’ s continued financing of the Hong Kong protests was the USAGM ’ s journalistic imperative .
A recent Slate piece ( 6/26/20 ) headlined “ Free the Open Technology Fund ” criticized Pack from the right , cautioning that OTF ’ s “ work must be allowed to continue .
To do otherwise will be a gift to the Chinese Communist Party and autocrats around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , meanwhile , fretted : Here , “ authoritarian countries ” appears to signify Iran and China , which have become prime targets of warmongering US media .
( See FAIR.org , 7/2/19 , 5/15/20 . )
Media ’ s displeasure was compounded by Pack ’ s reported plan for the software itself .
According to Slate , Pack may have sought to replace the OTF ’ s open-source privacy technology with a closed-source alternative designed by members of the far-right Chinese opposition group Falun Gong .
Unlike open-source software , closed-source software @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by independent researchers , rendering an application potentially less secure .
The story ’ s author , Rebecca MacKinnon—the director of a US State Department–funded program within the think tank New America—justifiably bemoaned the prospect of using a Falun Gong–associated tool .
But , rather than offering a moral critique of the US for its international meddling , MacKinnon focused on Pack ’ s inefficacy in subverting the Chinese government : The New York Times ( 7/4/20 ) offered a similar , if more muted , defense of the OTF .
Describing the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new technology that promotes human rights and open societies , ” the Times cited pro-US “ internet freedom ” experts to warn of the failures of closed-source technology as a tool of US intervention .
These included MacKinnon , the founder of an OTF-funded cybersecurity nonprofit called Kandoo , and the executive director of the OTF-funded Tor Project , which the Timescalled a “ nonprofit digital privacy group.
” Nowhere was the US ’ s involvement in the protests , or in Hong Kong/Mainland China relations more broadly , questioned .
Additionally , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ internet freedom ” and “ digital privacy ” are far from neutral in US media framings of Hong Kong and Beijing .
Building the case for US intervention , media have lambasted China ’ s alleged surveillance of Hong Kong protesters for months—however speculative those accusations are .
Last year , the Atlantic ( 8/30/19 ) , CNN ( 9/9/19 ) and Business Insider ( 8/26/19 ) , among other publications , reported that Hong Kong protesters were toppling “ smart lampposts ” in order to circumvent suspected facial recognition .
No @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were spying on protesters : The Atlantic conceded that the lampposts ’ facial-recognition capabilities had “ not been proved or debunked , ” while CNN reported that there was “ no evidence that the government ’ s new lamp posts are a cover for increased surveillance.
” Official reports , moreover , indicated that the lampposts were solely meant to collect data on air quality , traffic and weather .
Demonstrators in the US , conversely , face unequivocal , expansive surveillance from police and governments .
Instances abound of law enforcement monitoring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are high : Police have injured and killed numerous people during protests , laying bare the dire need for protection from digital tracking .
Of the deaths reported during the Hong Kong protests , none have been credibly attributed to police .
To the OTF ’ s credit , antiracist activists in the US have adopted Signal as a privacy tool .
But while US media champions institutional support for the Hong Kong protests , it neglects to do the same for those in the US .
If , per the above US @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the right to “ free expression ” for Hong Kong demonstrators , who haven ’ t faced fatal state violence , why isn ’ t the same true for US demonstrators , who have ?
If it ’ s part of a news outlet ’ s job to aid dissenters , through privacy protection or other means , why aren ’ t NPR , CNN and the like providing cybersecurity and “ rapid response funds ” for antiracist protesters domestically ?
Discrepancies like these further discredit media ’ s characterization of USAGM as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this year , corporate media expressed fears that Pack would compromise the USAGM ’ s “ quality journalism and editorial independence ” —fears that ignore the agency ’ s adherence to the US state line .
Informing their current international coverage , Voice of America and the Radio Free media properties have a decades-long history of targeting socialist and Communist countries on behalf of the US ; USAGM has previously crowed about its anti-Communist interceptions in China and the Soviet Union .
( See FAIR.org , 5/21/20 . )
According to multiple reports @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after the publication of the Time article .
Had the funding suspension remained , the New York Times hypothesized , it “ would have dealt a potential blow to Hong Kong ’ s pro-democracy movement.
” Tellingly , a number of Republican policymakers would agree : On July 1 , hawkish reactionaries Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham cosigned a letter that threatened to “ review ” USAGM funding and chastised Pack for weakening the agency ’ s ability to produce “ credible journalism ” and “ cultivate a free and open world.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ media , with the vehement support of conservative lawmakers , would equate the USAGM ’ s success in intervening in the politics of Hong Kong with journalistic integrity .
After all , isn ’ t traditional Western journalism supposed to uphold the virtues of neutrality , impartiality and a refusal to uncritically accept government directives ?
For the New York Times and its ilk , the answer is apparently no—at least not when it comes to the US foreign policy consensus .

T
ime ( 6/26/20 ) reported last month that Michael Pack, the ultraconservative Trump-appointed CEO of the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), froze funding related to the anti-Beijing protests in Hong Kong. According to the magazine, the agency—which overseesand other US government–funded media—halted some $2 million worth of contracts for projects whose stated purpose was to protect the digital privacy of demonstrators. These included a “cybersecurity incident response team” to analyze “Chinese surveillance techniques,” as well as a “rapid response fund” for protesters deemed to be monitored by the Chinese government.
A major Western publication’s confirmation that the US government was directly sponsoring the Hong Kong protests would seem to be a pivotal development. This both corroborates the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s claims of external intervention in the protests (Xinhua, 5/23/20) and sheds light on US media’s glowing portrayals of the protests (FAIR.org, 10/26/19, 12/6/19). Yet the issue, according to US media, isn’t that a government body intended to fund these demonstrations in the first place; it’s that Pack prevented it from doing so.
USAGM’s funding was channeled through a little-known offshoot called the Open Technology Fund (OTF). Arguably best-known for funding encrypted messaging apps like Signal and web browsers like Tor, OTF originated as a pilot program within Radio Free Asia in 2012 and was classified in 2019 as an “independent nonprofit” USAGM grantee. Under USAGM’s authority, OTF planned to furnish demonstrators with technology to “evade surveillance by the Chinese government,” according to Time.
After the publication of the Time article, a number of news sources lamented the funding freeze, along with a series of high-profile USAGM firings under Pack’s command, asserting that OTF’s continued financing of the Hong Kong protests was the USAGM’s journalistic imperative.
A recent Slate piece (6/26/20) headlined “Free the Open Technology Fund” criticized Pack from the right, cautioning that OTF’s “work must be allowed to continue. To do otherwise will be a gift to the Chinese Communist Party and autocrats around the world.” Reuters (7/2/20), meanwhile, fretted:
Digital rights activists and researchers now worry that the turmoil at the OTF could threaten people living in authoritarian countries who rely on the organization to help them navigate censorship and evade surveillance.
Here, “authoritarian countries” appears to signify Iran and China, which have become prime targets of warmongering US media. (See FAIR.org, 7/2/19, 5/15/20.)
Media’s displeasure was compounded by Pack’s reported plan for the software itself. According to Slate, Pack may have sought to replace the OTF’s open-source privacy technology with a closed-source alternative designed by members of the far-right Chinese opposition group Falun Gong. Unlike open-source software, closed-source software can’t be examined or audited by independent researchers, rendering an application potentially less secure.
The story’s author, Rebecca MacKinnon—the director of a US State Department–funded program within the think tank New America—justifiably bemoaned the prospect of using a Falun Gong–associated tool. But, rather than offering a moral critique of the US for its international meddling, MacKinnon focused on Pack’s inefficacy in subverting the Chinese government:
Funding Falun Gong tools would be a good way to reward political loyalty: Since 2016 the Falun Gong–affiliated Epoch Times has become an enthusiastic member of Trump’s social media cheerleading squad. But if the objective is actually to undermine the Chinese Communist Party, firing OTF’s top leadership with the intent to change the organization’s funding scope and strategy makes little sense. To anybody with knowledge of OTF’s programs and community, it is clear that a radical overhaul of OTF’s funding strategy would be a win for the CCP.
The New York Times (7/4/20) offered a similar, if more muted, defense of the OTF. Describing the organization’s work as “incubating new technology that promotes human rights and open societies,” the Times cited pro-US “internet freedom” experts to warn of the failures of closed-source technology as a tool of US intervention. These included MacKinnon, the founder of an OTF-funded cybersecurity nonprofit called Kandoo, and the executive director of the OTF-funded Tor Project, which the Timescalled a “nonprofit digital privacy group.” Nowhere was the US’s involvement in the protests, or in Hong Kong/Mainland China relations more broadly, questioned.
Additionally, conceptions of “open societies,” “internet freedom” and “digital privacy” are far from neutral in US media framings of Hong Kong and Beijing. Building the case for US intervention, media have lambasted China’s alleged surveillance of Hong Kong protesters for months—however speculative those accusations are. Last year, the Atlantic (8/30/19), CNN (9/9/19) and Business Insider (8/26/19), among other publications, reported that Hong Kong protesters were toppling “smart lampposts” in order to circumvent suspected facial recognition. No outlets could offer proof that the lampposts were spying on protesters: The Atlantic conceded that the lampposts’ facial-recognition capabilities had “not been proved or debunked,” while CNN reported that there was “no evidence that the government’s new lamp posts are a cover for increased surveillance.” Official reports, moreover, indicated that the lampposts were solely meant to collect data on air quality, traffic and weather.
Demonstrators in the US, conversely, face unequivocal, expansive surveillance from police and governments. Instances abound of law enforcement monitoring protesters of police violence. The stakes are high: Police have injured and killed numerous people during protests, laying bare the dire need for protection from digital tracking. Of the deaths reported during the Hong Kong protests, none have been credibly attributed to police.
To the OTF’s credit, antiracist activists in the US have adopted Signal as a privacy tool. But while US media champions institutional support for the Hong Kong protests, it neglects to do the same for those in the US. If, per the above US media, USAGM is obliged to support the right to “free expression” for Hong Kong demonstrators, who haven’t faced fatal state violence, why isn’t the same true for US demonstrators, who have? If it’s part of a news outlet’s job to aid dissenters, through privacy protection or other means, why aren’t NPR, CNN and the like providing cybersecurity and “rapid response funds” for antiracist protesters domestically?
Discrepancies like these further discredit media’s characterization of USAGM as a bastion of journalistic merit. Earlier this year, corporate media expressed fears that Pack would compromise the USAGM’s “quality journalism and editorial independence”—fears that ignore the agency’s adherence to the US state line. Informing their current international coverage, Voice of America and the Radio Free media properties have a decades-long history of targeting socialist and Communist countries on behalf of the US; USAGM has previously crowed about its anti-Communist interceptions in China and the Soviet Union. (See FAIR.org, 5/21/20.)
According to multiple reports, USAGM reinstated OTF’s funding after the publication of the Time article. Had the funding suspension remained, the New York Times hypothesized, it “would have dealt a potential blow to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.” Tellingly, a number of Republican policymakers would agree: On July 1, hawkish reactionaries Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham cosigned a letter that threatened to “review” USAGM funding and chastised Pack for weakening the agency’s ability to produce “credible journalism” and “cultivate a free and open world.”
It might seem odd that US corporate media, with the vehement support of conservative lawmakers, would equate the USAGM’s success in intervening in the politics of Hong Kong with journalistic integrity. After all, isn’t traditional Western journalism supposed to uphold the virtues of neutrality, impartiality and a refusal to uncritically accept government directives? For the New York Times and its ilk, the answer is apparently no—at least not when it comes to the US foreign policy consensus.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-15--The Movie Villain/The Actual Villain

The Movie Villain/The Actual Villain

Please make sure these dispatches reach as many readers as possible .
Share with kin , friends and workmates and @ @ @ @ @ .
There ’ s a meme going around on Twitter again called “ The Movie @ @ @ @ @ where people post an image of someone in a movie or a show and then @ @ @ @ @ think the real bad guy is .
Some are getting creative with it and showing @ @ @ @ @ general society that have been widely regarded as “ villains ” , versus who the @ @ @ @ @ life .
You ’ ll get the idea in a minute .
This is a @ @ @ @ @ by Caitlin Johnstone Covid-19 has put this site on ventilators .
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JUST USE THE BUTTON BELOW NOTE : ALL CAPTIONS AND PULL QUOTES @ @ @ @ @ THE AUTHORS .

Please make sure these dispatches reach as many readers as possible. Share with kin, friends and workmates and ask them to do likewise.
Caitlin Johnstone
There’s a meme going around on Twitter again called “The Movie Villain/The Actual Villain”, where people post an image of someone in a movie or a show and then an image of who they think the real bad guy is. Some are getting creative with it and showing people and things in our general society that have been widely regarded as “villains”, versus who the actual villain is in real life. You’ll get the idea in a minute.
Anyway, here are my contributions (click on images for best resolution):
THE MOVIE VILLAIN. THE ACTUAL VILLAIN
Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2
This is a dispatch from our ongoing series by Caitlin Johnstone
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Caitlin Johnstone is a brave journalist, political junkie, relentless feminist, champion of the 99 percent. And a powerful counter-propaganda tactician.
NOTE ^1000Careerist lackeys serving the elites control the American press. Ever pushing for war and inequality, covering up the oligarchy's crimes... They are in reality shameless disinformers. No wonder the world is in such terrible disarray. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Photo Credit: GDA via AP
Covid-19 has put this site on ventilators.
DONATIONS HAVE DRIED UP...
PLEASE send what you can today!
JUST USE THE BUTTON BELOW
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NOTE : ALL CAPTIONS AND PULL QUOTES BY THE EDITORS, NOT THE AUTHORS.