thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-14--Putin’s Huge Blunder on Coronavirus

Putin’s Huge Blunder on Coronavirus

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 ussia ’ s President , Vladimir Putin , is finally following the libertarian instead of the socialist path forward in the coronavirus-19 crisis , placing himself into the category of America ’ s libertarian President Donald Trump , instead of into the category of the countries that have been successfully dealing with the crisis , such as Taiwan , China , South Korea , Japan , and Venezuela , all five @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ‘ solutions ’ , which prioritize the economy above public health , and which thereby harm both .
( The libertarian countries rely instead on developing “ herd immunity ” to the disease , in preference to imposing social distancing and “ lockdowns , '' which aim instead to reduce the spread of the infection .
Unlike socialist measures , the “ herd immunity ” approach doesn ’ t need any regulations , because it allows the disease to spread so that the people who survive it will become predominant ; it allows @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as to develop a ‘ strong herd ’ .
Social distancing , etc.
, countervail that goal , by protecting the public from the virus . )
ussia ’ s President , Vladimir Putin , is finally following the libertarian instead of the socialist path forward in the coronavirus-19 crisis , placing himself into the category of America ’ s libertarian President Donald Trump , instead of into the category of the countries that have been successfully dealing with the crisis , such as Taiwan , China , South Korea , Japan , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nations have rejected the libertarian ‘ solutions ’ , which prioritize the economy above public health , and which thereby harm both .
( The libertarian countries rely instead on developing “ herd immunity ” to the disease , in preference to imposing social distancing and “ lockdowns , '' which aim instead to reduce the spread of the infection .
Unlike socialist measures , the “ herd immunity ” approach doesn ’ t need any regulations , because it allows the disease to spread so that the people who survive it will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take its course , so as to develop a ‘ strong herd ’ .
Social distancing , etc.
, countervail that goal , by protecting the public from the virus . )
In an article on May 11th , I documented the astounding success of those five countries ( Taiwan , China , South Korea , Japan , and Venezuela ) in dealing with this crisis , and the equally astounding failure of the United States in dealing with it , and you can see all of that there , with links to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ despite such data , Putin , on that very same day ( May 11th ) , decided for Russia to pursue the libertarian approach — the proven-failed method for dealing with the coronavirus-crisis .
( And here is where all nations ’ data on Covid-19 today can be found and compared , all together on one page , so that the performance of each nation can easily be compared with that of every other nation and with the global averages — it ’ s the daily international scorecard on coronavirus-perfomance . )
laissez @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ socialist ” versus “ libertarian ” here concerns the extent to which the government sets the rules regarding what is considered acceptable in order to protect the public from coronavirus-19 infection , versus the extent to which violation of such rules is considered to be acceptable .
In a country where violation of the governmentally established rules is treated as being acceptable , there are effectively fewer actual rules and enforcement of rules than in a country which has been adhering more to socialism regarding Covid-19 policy .
A libertarian country is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , than is a socialist country , regardless of whether or not a given country is democratic or dictatorial .
For example , Denmark is socialist but democratic , whereas Cuba is socialist but dictatorial ; and Switzerland is capitalist but democratic , whereas The libertarian approach minimizes the imposition of regulations , and instead relies on “ nature ” to take its course , as being the best way to ‘ protect the herd ’ .
It ’ s opposite to the socialist approach , which consists of governmentally imposed rules , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every country has those , but in a socialist country , the government ’ s right to make and enforce laws is more respected , whereas in a libertarian country , the right of individuals to violate laws is more respected .
This has nothing to do with the distinction between dictatorship and democracy .
For example , Marxist countries , such as was the Soviet Union , are dictatorial socialist , whereas democratic socialist countries such as is Denmark , are , indeed , democratic , not at all dictatorial .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Axis powers during WW II were , are dictatorial libertarian ( or dictatorial capitalist ) .
Another word for “ libertarian ” is simply “ capitalist ” or “ free-market , ” but no country is entirely free-market , not even those Axis countries were : capitalistic countries only favor the rights of capital — the owners of corporations — above the rights of workers and consumers , and so respect property-rights above civil rights ( the rights of workers and consumers ) and therefore they allow corporations much more freedom to abuse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that ’ s a freer market ; it is .
Consequently , applying the terms “ socialist ” versus “ libertarian ” here concerns the extent to which the government sets the rules regarding what is considered acceptable in order to protect the public from coronavirus-19 infection , versus the extent to which violation of such rules is considered to be acceptable .
In a country where violation of the governmentally established rules is treated as being acceptable , there are effectively fewer actual rules and enforcement of rules than in a country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regarding Covid-19 policy .
A libertarian country is more accepting of law-violators regarding coronavirus policy , than is a socialist country , regardless of whether or not a given country is democratic or dictatorial .
For example , Denmark is socialist but democratic , whereas Cuba is socialist but dictatorial ; and Switzerland is capitalist but democratic , whereas today ’ s United States is capitalist but dictatorial .
Whereas both America and Switzerland are libertarian , both Cuba and Denmark are socialist .
But no country fits 100 % into any of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is only a matter of degree , never ( except , perhaps , under the Axis powers during WW II ) actually polar on a given measure ( and those — the Axis powers — were 100 % capitalist ; i.e.
, pure libertarian , meaning that workers and consumers had no rights ) .
The libertarian approach minimizes the imposition of regulations , and instead relies on “ nature ” to take its course , as being the best way to ‘ protect the herd ’ .
It ’ s opposite to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ governmentally imposed rules , or “ laws.
” Of course , every country has those , but in a socialist country , the government ’ s right to make and enforce laws is more respected , whereas in a libertarian country , the right of individuals to violate laws is more respected .
This has nothing to do with the distinction between dictatorship and democracy .
IntelliNews reports that “ each week the lockdown is extended will result in a geometrical increase in the number of bankruptcies – something that could rapidly lead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ keen to head off as quickly as possible.
” So , Putin is doing this — removing protections of workers — in order to “ head off ” “ protests.
” ( Presumably , employees will now increasingly fear for their jobs , and thus not “ protest . )
Also : the free market grants exponentially more power to large firms rather than to small ones because concentrated wealth means concentrated power , and therefore survival-of-the-fittest will greatly favor large firms over small ones .
The natural tendency in a free market @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because only enforcement of laws and regulations to countervail such concentration can prevent it from happening .
This new libertarian policy means that , in Russia , the pressure will be on for employees to show up at their places of work regardless of whether or not they have and can spread the Covid-19 virus .
It ’ s capitalistic ; it is libertarian .
The government is reducing protection of employees .
It ’ s increasing employers ’ power over employees .
On May 11th , RT headlined “ Paid holidays end @ @ @ @ @ @ @ easing coronavirus quarantine measures – Putin ” and reported that , “ ‘ Starting from tomorrow , May 12 , the joint non-working period for the whole country and for all the sectors of its economy ends , ’ Putin said during a televised speech on Monday.
” The Government has been supporting the big employers more than the small employers ; and , so , the small employers will soon need to shed workers in order to avoid immediately going bankrupt .
The new policy will allow that .
An increasing percentage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the big employers , which are the ones that the Government treats as being ‘ essential ’ .
This increasing bankruptcy of small firms will leave increasing amounts of those firms ’ assets available to become purchased by big firms at depression prices , so that , as the coronavirus-crisis subsides , an increasing percentage of the economy will be controlled by Russia ’ s billionaires .
This is exactly the same process that is already occurring in the United States .
Putin is increasingly adopting a libertarian approach ( like America @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crisis .
Wall Street Journal had reported The United States probably remains even more capitalistic than Russia is , but it is something of an extreme case in the world today .
For example , on May 13th , Axios headlined “ Coronavirus likely forced 27 million off their health insurance ” and reported an analysis which estimated this to be the number of persons who had lost their health insurance because of the soaring unemployment which has thus far resulted from the virus .
On 10 September 2019 — just prior to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ number of Americans without health insurance climbed to 27.5 million in 2018 , ” and so the total number of health-uninsured Americans now is around 55 million , which is 17 % of Americans — and many of America ’ s “ health-insured ” have only extremely limited such ‘ insurance ’ , so that perhaps only 50 % have health-insurance which is actually comparable to what 100 % of the residents in all other industrialized nations ( in all of which , healthcare is a right instead of a privilege ) have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the more people will need the income from work in order to be able to pay for their healthcare , and this makes them virtual slaves of their employers .
It ’ s for reasons like this that the American model is extraordinarily libertarian , and this model results in almost a third of the entire world ’ s Covid-19 cases currently being in the United States , which has only 4.2 % of the world ’ s population .
In other words : the supposed either-or choice ( trade-off ) that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ assert , between either controlling the epidemic ( continuing the “ lockdowns ” etc . )
or else preventing economic collapse ( “ reopening the businesses ” etc . )
, is fraudulent .
The exact opposite is the actual case : in order to minimize the economic damage , controlling the epidemic is basic — whatever is sound policy for the public ’ s health is also sound economic policy .

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
OpEds
[dropcap]R[/dropcap]ussia’s President, Vladimir Putin, is finally following the libertarian instead of the socialist path forward in the coronavirus-19 crisis, placing himself into the category of America’s libertarian President Donald Trump, instead of into the category of the countries that have been successfully dealing with the crisis, such as Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan, and Venezuela, all five of which nations have rejected the libertarian ‘solutions’, which prioritize the economy above public health, and which thereby harm both. (The libertarian countries rely instead on developing “herd immunity” to the disease, in preference to imposing social distancing and “lockdowns," which aim instead to reduce the spread of the infection. Unlike socialist measures, the “herd immunity” approach doesn’t need any regulations, because it allows the disease to spread so that the people who survive it will become predominant; it allows survival-of-the-fittest to take its course, so as to develop a ‘strong herd’. Social distancing, etc., countervail that goal, by protecting the public from the virus.)
In an article on May 11th , I documented the astounding success of those five countries (Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan, and Venezuela) in dealing with this crisis, and the equally astounding failure of the United States in dealing with it, and you can see all of that there , with links to all of the evidence; but, despite such data, Putin, on that very same day (May 11th), decided for Russia to pursue the libertarian approach — the proven-failed method for dealing with the coronavirus-crisis. (And here is where all nations’ data on Covid-19 today can be found and compared, all together on one page, so that the performance of each nation can easily be compared with that of every other nation and with the global averages — it’s the daily international scorecard on coronavirus-perfomance.)
laissez faire. Consequently, applying the terms “socialist” versus “libertarian” here concerns the extent to which the government sets the rules regarding what is considered acceptable in order to protect the public from coronavirus-19 infection, versus the extent to which violation of such rules is considered to be acceptable. In a country where violation of the governmentally established rules is treated as being acceptable, there are effectively fewer actual rules and enforcement of rules than in a country which has been adhering more to socialism regarding Covid-19 policy. A libertarian country is more accepting of law-violators regarding coronavirus policy, than is a socialist country, regardless of whether or not a given country is democratic or dictatorial. For example, Denmark is socialist but democratic, whereas Cuba is socialist but dictatorial; and Switzerland is capitalist but democratic, whereas The libertarian approach minimizes the imposition of regulations, and instead relies on “nature” to take its course, as being the best way to ‘protect the herd’. It’s opposite to the socialist approach, which consists of governmentally imposed rules, or “laws.” Of course, every country has those, but in a socialist country, the government’s right to make and enforce laws is more respected, whereas in a libertarian country, the right of individuals to violate laws is more respected. This has nothing to do with the distinction between dictatorship and democracy. For example, Marxist countries, such as was the Soviet Union, are dictatorial socialist, whereas democratic socialist countries such as is Denmark, are, indeed, democratic, not at all dictatorial. And fascist countries, such as the three Axis powers during WW II were, are dictatorial libertarian (or dictatorial capitalist). Another word for “libertarian” is simply “capitalist” or “free-market,” but no country is entirely free-market, not even those Axis countries were: capitalistic countries only favor the rights of capital — the owners of corporations — above the rights of workers and consumers, and so respect property-rights above civil rights (the rights of workers and consumers) and therefore they allow corporations much more freedom to abuse and cheat their workers and consumers — that’s a freer market; it is. Consequently, applying the terms “socialist” versus “libertarian” here concerns the extent to which the government sets the rules regarding what is considered acceptable in order to protect the public from coronavirus-19 infection, versus the extent to which violation of such rules is considered to be acceptable. In a country where violation of the governmentally established rules is treated as being acceptable, there are effectively fewer actual rules and enforcement of rules than in a country which has been adhering more to socialism regarding Covid-19 policy. A libertarian country is more accepting of law-violators regarding coronavirus policy, than is a socialist country, regardless of whether or not a given country is democratic or dictatorial. For example, Denmark is socialist but democratic, whereas Cuba is socialist but dictatorial; and Switzerland is capitalist but democratic, whereas today’s United States is capitalist but dictatorial . Whereas both America and Switzerland are libertarian, both Cuba and Denmark are socialist. But no country fits 100% into any of those categories; in politics, everything is only a matter of degree, never (except, perhaps, under the Axis powers during WW II) actually polar on a given measure (and those — the Axis powers — were 100% capitalist; i.e., pure libertarian, meaning that workers and consumers had no rights).
On May 11th, the IntelliNews site, which leads the world in reporting geostrategically important news, bannered “Putin eases Russia’s coronavirus lockdown restrictions” , and sub-headed “Putin has eased the lockdown restrictions a little, but the change has more to do with restarting Russia's stalled economy than with the population's frustration at being kept indoors.” This report noted that “Companies will increasingly have to choose between sacking workers or going bust. The big employers have been the focus of the Kremlin’s economic aid programmes, but the SMEs [Small and Medium-sized Enterprises] have largely fallen through the cracks.” That’s increasing a ‘survival of the fittest’ approach, and it’s Russia’s new policy on coronavirus.
The libertarian approach minimizes the imposition of regulations, and instead relies on “nature” to take its course, as being the best way to ‘protect the herd’. It’s opposite to the socialist approach, which consists of governmentally imposed rules, or “laws.” Of course, every country has those, but in a socialist country, the government’s right to make and enforce laws is more respected, whereas in a libertarian country, the right of individuals to violate laws is more respected. This has nothing to do with the distinction between dictatorship and democracy.
IntelliNews reports that “each week the lockdown is extended will result in a geometrical increase in the number of bankruptcies – something that could rapidly lead to protests and which the Kremlin is keen to head off as quickly as possible.” So, Putin is doing this — removing protections of workers — in order to “head off” “protests.” (Presumably, employees will now increasingly fear for their jobs, and thus not “protest.) Also: the free market grants exponentially more power to large firms rather than to small ones because concentrated wealth means concentrated power, and therefore survival-of-the-fittest will greatly favor large firms over small ones. The natural tendency in a free market is toward increased concentration of wealth, because only enforcement of laws and regulations to countervail such concentration can prevent it from happening.
This new libertarian policy means that, in Russia, the pressure will be on for employees to show up at their places of work regardless of whether or not they have and can spread the Covid-19 virus. It’s capitalistic; it is libertarian. The government is reducing protection of employees. It’s increasing employers’ power over employees.
Wall Street Journal had reported The United States probably remains even more capitalistic than Russia is, but it is something of an extreme case in the world today. For example, on May 13th, Axios headlined “Coronavirus likely forced 27 million off their health insurance” and reported an analysis which estimated this to be the number of persons who had lost their health insurance because of the soaring unemployment which has thus far resulted from the virus. On 10 September 2019 — just prior to the virus — thehad reported “The number of Americans without health insurance climbed to 27.5 million in 2018,” and so the total number of health-uninsured Americans now is around 55 million, which is 17% of Americans — and many of America’s “health-insured” have only extremely limited such ‘insurance’, so that perhaps only 50% have health-insurance which is actually comparable to what 100% of the residents in all other industrialized nations (in all of which, healthcare is a right instead of a privilege) have.
The fewer people who have health-insurance, the more people will need the income from work in order to be able to pay for their healthcare, and this makes them virtual slaves of their employers. It’s for reasons like this that the American model is extraordinarily libertarian, and this model results in almost a third of the entire world’s Covid-19 cases currently being in the United States, which has only 4.2% of the world’s population.
non-citizen resident can receive or transmit a communicable infection. America is systematically the most vulnerable industrialized country for any communicable disease to thrive and spread. And The Axios report closed: “The coronavirus is blowing up health insurance at a time when people need it most.” Destroying health-insurance will inevitably increase Covid-19 deaths. Since America is the only industrialized nation where there are residents who don’t have any health insurance, America is an extreme case, which is extremely likely to be the worst industrialized nation during the coronavirus crisis. After all: even a-citizen resident can receive or transmit a communicable infection. America is systematically the most vulnerable industrialized country for any communicable disease to thrive and spread. And this shows up in America's shortened life-spans
As I headlined at Strategic Culture on May 5th, “America’s design causes it to fail the coronavirus-19 challenge.” America is the wrong model to follow, but Russia is starting to copy it.
I therefore retract and reverse my opinion on March 26th, that “Coronavirus: Why Russians Are Lucky to Be Led by Putin” . “Lucky” there has now become “unlucky”. Perhaps what happened is that Russia’s socialistic measures at the beginning of the epidemic needed to be even stronger than they were. But whatever they were, they are now being relaxed. The result will be a collapsing Russian economy, much like in the United States. As I argued on May 11th
In other words: the supposed either-or choice (trade-off) that the libertarian U.S. regime and its propagandists assert, between either controlling the epidemic (continuing the “lockdowns” etc.) or else preventing economic collapse (“reopening the businesses” etc.), is fraudulent. The exact opposite is the actual case: in order to minimize the economic damage, controlling the epidemic is basic — whatever is sound policy for the public’s health is also sound economic policy.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-13--How The Trump Administration Inserts ‘Blame China’ Propaganda Into Main Stream Media

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DISPATCHES FROM MOON OF ALABAMA , BY `` B '' This article is part of an ongoing series of dispatches from Moon of Alabama Throughout the last month there have been a number of reports with headlines like : • US officials sounded alarm about Wuhan lab years before coronavirus outbreak • US officials were reportedly concerned that safety breaches at a Wuhan lab studying coronaviruses in bats could cause a pandemic All the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a Washington Post opinion piece by Josh Rogin published on April 14 and headlined : Josh Rogin is a neo-conservative hack who carries water for the Trump administration .
That administration has launched a 'blame China ' campaign to distract from its failure to contain the epidemic outbreak in the United States .
To that purpose they handed Rogin an old diplomatic cable and told him how to 'interpret ' it .
Rogin dutifully does as he is told .
That sets the frame for describing the one cable that was given to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ facts from his reporting while eliminating the propaganda this picture arises : • None The Wuhan Institute of Virology has a level 4 bio-security laboratory .
• None The institute is known for research on coronaviruses that occur in bats from south China .
• None Some of the research was done in collaboration with two U.S. universities and financed by the U.S. government .
• None The laboratory had asked to receive additional U.S. support for further studies .
• None The January 2018 the U.S. embassy in China sends two diplomats @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them is an expert for laboratory safety or virology .
• None The diplomats are told that research on bat derived coronaviruses is important as such viruses , like SARS , can threaten humans .
• None They are told by the Chinese researchers that more work could be done if the laboratory had more trained technicians .
• None The diplomats travel back to their embassy .
They write a cable using the researchers ' arguments to recommend that additional U.S. support should be granted to the laboratory .
When described as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in publicly financed research institutions day in and out .
Everyone research institution is always looking for new grants .
It communicates with possible grant givers and empathizes the necessity of its research and the need for further support .
But Rogin constructs a rather wild picture from those facts : What the U.S. officials learned during their visits concerned them so much that they dispatched two diplomatic cables categorized as Sensitive But Unclassified back to Washington .
The cables warned about safety and management weaknesses at the WIV lab and proposed more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which I obtained , also warns that the lab ’ s work on bat coronaviruses and their potential human transmission represented a risk of a new SARS-like pandemic .
“ During interactions with scientists at the WIV laboratory , they noted the new lab has a serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate this high-containment laboratory , ” states the Jan. 19 , 2018 , cable , which was drafted by two officials from the embassy ’ s environment , science and health sections who met with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about safety issues at the lab would certainly be classified .
What Rogin describes as `` warning about safety '' is a warning of a new SARS like pandemic .
The `` management weakness '' is the desire to get the U.S. to finance more personnel at the laboratory .
Rogin admits as much in his next paragraph : Rogin then introduces an additional scare factor by lamenting about 'gain of function ' research on viruses .
Such research attempts to manipulated viruses to give them additional features .
He is trying to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of research : As the cable noted , the U.S. visitors met with Shi Zhengli , the head of the research project , who had been publishing studies related to bat coronaviruses for many years .
In November 2017 , just before the U.S. officials ’ visit , Shi ’ s team had published research showing that horseshoe bats they had collected from a cave in Yunnan province were very likely from the same bat population that spawned the SARS coronavirus in 2003 .
...
The research was designed to prevent the next @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emerge .
But even in 2015 , other scientists questioned whether Shi ’ s team was taking unnecessary risks .
In October 2014 , the U.S. government had imposed a moratorium on funding of any research that makes a virus more deadly or contagious , known as “ gain-of-function ” experiments .
The link Rogin provides goes to a Nature piece on a debate about a certain 'gain of function ' research .
The research in question was experiments at University of North Carolina , not in Wuhan .
The paper describing that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bat coronaviruses shows potential for human emergence , was written by Professor Ralph S. Baricwho had also designed the experiment .
The paper lists a total of fifteen collaborators .
One of the listed authors is indeed Zhengli-Li Shi who leads the laboratory in Wuhan .
But neither Zhengli-Li Shi , nor her laboratory , were actually involved in any of the experiments .
At the and of the research paper the contributions of each co-author are listed .
About Zhengli-Li Shi it says : The Wuhan laboratory only provided specific gene sequences @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the laboratory 's and Zhengi-Li Shi 's specialty , that the researchers in North Caroline wanted to use in their experiment .
To construe that furnisher function as involvement in 'gain of function ' experiments is a unjustified exaggeration .
I have found no evidence that the Wuhan lab itself ever engaged in such research .
Rogin concludes his scare piece by handing the microphone to the demagogue in the White House that is his source : Inside the Trump administration , many national security officials have long suspected either the WIV or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Prevention lab was the source of the novel coronavirus outbreak .
According to the New York Times , the intelligence community has provided no evidence to confirm this .
But one senior administration official told me that the cables provide one more piece of evidence to support the possibility that the pandemic is the result of a lab accident in Wuhan .
“ The idea that it was just a totally natural occurrence is circumstantial .
The evidence it leaked from the lab is circumstantial .
Right now , the ledger on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is packed with bullet points and there ’ s almost nothing on the other side , ” the official said .
Manipulated interpretations of diplomatic cables and evidence-free claims about allegedly existing evidence were also used in warmongering campaigns about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and chemical attacks in Syria .
The neo-conservatives are now using the same old tricks against China .
The media echo shows that they have some success with this .
Posted by b on May 13 , 2020 at 17:21 UTC | Permalink '' b '' is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chief ) editor .
This site 's purpose is to discuss politics , economics , philosophy and blogger Billmon 's Whiskey Bar writings .
Moon Of Alabama was opened as an independent , open forum for members of the Whiskey Bar community .
Bernhard ) '' b '' ) started and still runs the site .
Once in a while you will also find posts and art from regular commentators .
You can reach the current administrator of this site by emailing Bernhard at MoonofA @ aol.com .
This work is licensed under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

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DISPATCHES FROM MOON OF ALABAMA, BY "B"
This article is part of an ongoing series of dispatches from Moon of Alabama
Throughout the last month there have been a number of reports with headlines like:
All the above and many more hark back to a Washington Post opinion piece by Josh Rogin published on April 14 and headlined:
State Department cables warned of safety issues at Wuhan lab studying bat coronaviruses.
Josh Rogin is a neo-conservative hack who carries water for the Trump administration. That administration has launched a 'blame China' campaign to distract from its failure to contain the epidemic outbreak in the United States. To that purpose they handed Rogin an old diplomatic cable and told him how to 'interpret' it. Rogin dutifully does as he is told.
He begins:
Two years before the novel coronavirus pandemic upended the world, U.S. Embassy officials visited a Chinese research facility in the city of Wuhan several times and sent two official warnings back to Washington about inadequate safety at the lab, which was conducting risky studies on coronaviruses from bats. The cables have fueled discussions inside the U.S. government about whether this or another Wuhan lab was the source of the virus — even though conclusive proof has yet to emerge.
That sets the frame for describing the one cable that was given to Rogin. But when one extracts the facts from his reporting while eliminating the propaganda this picture arises:
The Wuhan Institute of Virology has a level 4 bio-security laboratory.
The institute is known for research on coronaviruses that occur in bats from south China.
Some of the research was done in collaboration with two U.S. universities and financed by the U.S. government.
The laboratory had asked to receive additional U.S. support for further studies.
The January 2018 the U.S. embassy in China sends two diplomats to visit the laboratory. Neither of them is an expert for laboratory safety or virology.
The diplomats are told that research on bat derived coronaviruses is important as such viruses, like SARS, can threaten humans.
They are told by the Chinese researchers that more work could be done if the laboratory had more trained technicians.
The diplomats travel back to their embassy. They write a cable using the researchers' arguments to recommend that additional U.S. support should be granted to the laboratory.
No additional funds are granted.
When described as above the story is one that occurs in publicly financed research institutions day in and out. Everyone research institution is always looking for new grants. It communicates with possible grant givers and empathizes the necessity of its research and the need for further support.
But Rogin constructs a rather wild picture from those facts:
What the U.S. officials learned during their visits concerned them so much that they dispatched two diplomatic cables categorized as Sensitive But Unclassified back to Washington. The cables warned about safety and management weaknesses at the WIV lab and proposed more attention and help. The first cable, which I obtained, also warns that the lab’s work on bat coronaviruses and their potential human transmission represented a risk of a new SARS-like pandemic. “During interactions with scientists at the WIV laboratory, they noted the new lab has a serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate this high-containment laboratory,” states the Jan. 19, 2018, cable, which was drafted by two officials from the embassy’s environment, science and health sections who met with the WIV scientists.
A real warning about safety issues at the lab would certainly be classified. What Rogin describes as "warning about safety" is a warning of a new SARS like pandemic. The "management weakness" is the desire to get the U.S. to finance more personnel at the laboratory. Rogin admits as much in his next paragraph:
The Chinese researchers at WIV were receiving assistance from the Galveston National Laboratory at the University of Texas Medical Branch and other U.S. organizations, but the Chinese requested additional help. The cables argued that the United States should give the Wuhan lab further support, mainly because its research on bat coronaviruses was important but also dangerous.
Rogin then introduces an additional scare factor by lamenting about 'gain of function' research on viruses. Such research attempts to manipulated viruses to give them additional features. He is trying to associate the Wuhan lab with such type of research:
As the cable noted, the U.S. visitors met with Shi Zhengli, the head of the research project, who had been publishing studies related to bat coronaviruses for many years. In November 2017, just before the U.S. officials’ visit, Shi’s team had published research showing that horseshoe bats they had collected from a cave in Yunnan province were very likely from the same bat population that spawned the SARS coronavirus in 2003.
...
The research was designed to prevent the next SARS-like pandemic by anticipating how it might emerge. But even in 2015, other scientists questioned whether Shi’s team was taking unnecessary risks. In October 2014, the U.S. government had imposed a moratorium on funding of any research that makes a virus more deadly or contagious, known as “gain-of-function” experiments.
The link Rogin provides goes to a Nature piece on a debate about a certain 'gain of function' research. The research in question was experiments at University of North Carolina, not in Wuhan. The paper describing that research, A SARS-like cluster of circulating bat coronaviruses shows potential for human emergence, was written by Professor Ralph S. Baricwho had also designed the experiment. The paper lists a total of fifteen collaborators. One of the listed authors is indeed Zhengli-Li Shi who leads the laboratory in Wuhan.
But neither Zhengli-Li Shi, nor her laboratory, were actually involved in any of the experiments. At the and of the research paper the contributions of each co-author are listed. About Zhengli-Li Shi it says:
Z.-L.S. provided SHC014 spike sequences and plasmids.
The Wuhan laboratory only provided specific gene sequences from its pool of bat viruses, the laboratory's and Zhengi-Li Shi's specialty, that the researchers in North Caroline wanted to use in their experiment.
To construe that furnisher function as involvement in 'gain of function' experiments is a unjustified exaggeration. I have found no evidence that the Wuhan lab itself ever engaged in such research.
Rogin concludes his scare piece by handing the microphone to the demagogue in the White House that is his source:
Inside the Trump administration, many national security officials have long suspected either the WIV or the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention lab was the source of the novel coronavirus outbreak. According to the New York Times, the intelligence community has provided no evidence to confirm this. But one senior administration official told me that the cables provide one more piece of evidence to support the possibility that the pandemic is the result of a lab accident in Wuhan. “The idea that it was just a totally natural occurrence is circumstantial. The evidence it leaked from the lab is circumstantial. Right now, the ledger on the side of it leaking from the lab is packed with bullet points and there’s almost nothing on the other side,” the official said.
Manipulated interpretations of diplomatic cables and evidence-free claims about allegedly existing evidence were also used in warmongering campaigns about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and chemical attacks in Syria. The neo-conservatives are now using the same old tricks against China.
The media echo shows that they have some success with this.
Posted by b on May 13, 2020 at 17:21 UTC | Permalink
Comments Sampler
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.
About the author(s) "b" is Moon of Alabama's founding (and chief) editor. This site's purpose is to discuss politics, economics, philosophy and blogger Billmon's Whiskey Bar writings. Moon Of Alabama was opened as an independent, open forum for members of the Whiskey Bar community. Bernhard )"b") started and still runs the site. Once in a while you will also find posts and art from regular commentators. You can reach the current administrator of this site by emailing Bernhard at MoonofA@aol.com.
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thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-13--Joe Biden Suffers Massive Stroke! (Satire)

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden suffered a massive brain hemorrhage today as he practiced reciting the days of the week for upcoming debates with President Trump .
Campaign staff members say it will not affect his work , and insist he has no plans to withdraw from the presidential contest , unless “ something serious happens.
” “ We ’ ve been through this before , ” explained senior advisor Symone Slanders .
“ Joe will have a stroke or two before breakfast , but by mid-morning he ’ s his old self again , sniffing our hair and fondling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to get upset about , and we frankly resent attempts by Donald Trump to politicize it.
” Reached for comment at Bethesda Naval Hospital where he was having a brain installed , Biden said , “ old people are just as sharp as senile people , ” and expressed gratitude for get-well calls from Dwight Eisenhower and Harry Truman .
Although his campaign has come under fire in recent weeks for lacking energy , Biden now claims that he “ has the momentum ” against Donald Trump , because of a surge in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voter.
” To date , reporters have been unable to speak to such voters , because of strict visitation restrictions at state mental hospitals .
Luckily , a Legalienate reporter working undercover has smuggled out recorded interviews with ardent Biden supporters , who give a whole new meaning to the term , “ committed ” voter .
“ Sure , I ’ m enthused about him .
Why not ?
I like the way he curses out voters who have issue questions and tells them to vote for Trump .
It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ I like his random babbling , ” said another .
“ I haven ’ t seen anything like that since Reagan , although GW had his moments , of course .
But Bush was merely catatonic .
With Biden , you ’ ve got the verbal diarrhea and the mangled syntax all in one package .
He ’ s the best !
” “ For me , it ’ s all about the issues , ” said a thoughtful schizophrenic .
“ Biden ’ s not above hallucinating , like with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of people in here see things , too , but Biden actually made a career of it .
He ’ s living proof that no one is too deluded to make a difference .
It ’ s so validating !
” Meanwhile , more pragmatic Biden voters are taking a page from Trump ’ s rhetorical playbook , chanting , “ Lock him up !
” every time their candidate delivers another gaffe .
This has given rise to the “ basement strategy , ” i.e.
, keeping the doddering Biden entombed in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nation without national health insurance recoils in shocked horror watching the Trump administration implode under its innovative “ let ‘ em drink bleach ” approach to the coronavirus pandemic .
“ It ’ s a clash of the titans , ” says media consultant Harry Scene , “ the village idiot against the demented degenerate .
May the best fraud win !
”

Up to You.
^3000US citizens have no real political representation.
We don't live in a democracy. And our freedom is disappearing fast.
I don't want to be ruled by hypocrites, whores, and war criminals.
What about you? Time to push back against the corporate oligarchy.
And its multitude of minions and lackeys.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-13--U.S. Prepares For War in Outer Space, But Still No Cotton Swabs on Earth

`` Private equity firms do not give a damn about small businesses , OK ?
Private equity firms care about distressed medium and even large businesses .
They 're managing hundreds of billions of dollars .
Do you think Blackstone wants to buy up your corner deli ?
It 's idiotic .
The very phrasing offends my sensibilities , because it 's an insight to the level of stupidity of American politicians .
That they would be so moronic as to think that private equity would give a damn about buying a small business .
They 're going to buy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that 's in the most possible distress .
You idiots .
And the grandstanding around small business is so played out .
First of all , small business is not the engine of job growth anywhere .
New business - new business formation is the job growth creator .
And yes , statistically , most new businesses are small .
So people then perceive small businesses to be the job creator , but that is not the case .
New business formation is the job creator in any economy ever .
In order @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to have an educational system that works , a health care system that works , optimism in the economy , and some amount of money available to human beings .
And the rate of new business formation in America has been in a free fall since Barack Obama ( inaudible ) the financial crisis , OK ?
`` And so , this no M and A thing ( mergers and acquisitions ) from Warren and AOC , as if they 're going to gobble up small businesses ( 1 ) reveals how stupid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) reveals how craven and hypocritical they are , that they then vote for a bill that empowers private equity to buy distressed assets while they shut down an economy that should n't be shut down , because they should have been prepared for the damn pandemic months ago , years ago , and then they want credit for looking out for the little guy .
Fuck them !
`` There 's a known risk of a pandemic .
They refused to prepare for the pandemic .
They then grossly mismanage the pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if it 's only his fault .
After Harvey Singer attacks money for a decade and is failing to prepare for the pandemic , blaming the village moron , they then use the pandemic to give the money to the vultures and then walk out after the whole thing is done and pretend that they give a damn .
`` I prefer Republicans .
Republicans come right up to your face and say , ' I think you should be dead , and I want all your money . '
.
.
.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) .
.
.
Pretending .
.
.
.
`` It 's like the women that pretended to care about sexual assault , so that they could advance their careers .
And in the process made women more vulnerable to sexual assault .
.
.. '' The very premise ( of the Warren-AOC plan ) is idiotic .
If you are in the business of getting a return on $ 10 billion , and I give you the opportunity to buy the local dry cleaner for $ 85,000 and that dry cleaner after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and you 've more than doubled your money , you just made a hundred grand on your $ 85,000 , the cost of the accounting , and tax services of dealing with the nightmare of that small business , relative to the return on your $ 10 billion fund , is the most preposterous concept I 've ever heard in my life .
If you have a lot of money and are paid to make money on that money , you know what you have to do ?
You 've got to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lot of money .
.
.
.
.
`` You 're going to see a lot of empty storefronts .
The drugstore [ will survive because it ] is a unique thing because it 's a universally and guaranteed customer base , [ a ] monopoly basically , right ?
You 're going to get your prescription , you 're going to buy soap and toothpaste , shampoo .
That 's a unique situation .
.
.. .
[ Apart from that , you 'll see ] empty storefronts .
Small towns across @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus risk , but all these small businesses have been shut down for months ?
What are these people going to do ?
`` And the reason they 're shut down is because the government that they pay taxes to refused to prepare for a pandemic ?
Forget whether we responded in time .
What 's the response ?
There is no response !
The response is to tell everybody to stay home .
That 's your plan ?
That 's what we paid for ?
You do n't have cotton swabs ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ And so because you do n't have cotton swabs and a test everybody 's got to stay home ?
FUCK YOU !
`` Nancy Pelosi is the same person that gave you the health care system that 's failed right now .
.
.
.
Her claim to fame is .
.
.
put her in the same room with Clinton , Obama , and Biden .
With a $ 4 trillion health care system charging double what the world pays for a health care system , that is useless to provide cotton @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government , multi-trillion dollar health care system , and they ca n't provide cotton swabs and a test ?
And so their alternative after collecting these trillions is to scorch the entire economy ?
And blame the village idiot .
`` And offer an alternative senile rapist ( to vote for ) .
No UBI ( universal basic income ) from him , no Medicare For All from him , no new business formation , no cotton swabs , no test , no working economy , nothing .
Just make fun of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how low on the totem pole you have to be if your only claim to fame is you make fun of the village idiot ?
We 've made a national industry of ridiculing the village idiot .
And then everybody feels better about themselves because they 're like , 'Look at the village idiot - he wants you to drink bleach . '
Well , of course he wants you to drink bleach , he 's the village idiot !
`` Righteous , sanctimonious , holier-than-thou .
Falsely defending the small business .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump 's fault because this entire national health care system , or whatever you want to call our health care system , and this entire political apparatus , refused to do anything to prepare for a known risk that is a pandemic ?
As we allocate trillions in Defense Department spending ?
And we 've launched a space force ?
We 're getting ready for war with aliens ?
But you ca n't get a cotton swab ? ''

Please make sure these dispatches reach as many readers as possible. Share with kin, friends and workmates and ask them to do likewise.
Editor's Note: The following material was kindly facilitated by our colleague and contributor Michael Smith. The delay in publishing occurred as a result of a series of hostile hacks on our main computers which liquidated two of these key machines and forced a relocation and reconstruction of significant amounts of archival data. We are just beginning to resume normal schedules. —PG
Puke if you must
This bloodsoaked monster is probably the most evil person on planet earth https://t.co/nGq2H1EPHt — Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) April 9, 2020


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-14--Trump wins! Completing Obama’s Pivot to Asia and the Confrontation with China

The Trump administration is determined to “ put China in its place , ” a white supremacist mindset that will inevitably lead to monumental errors of judgement .
Even before becoming the 45th president of the United States , Donald Trump had one consistent foreign enemy – China .
Partly fueled by his intrinsic white supremacy and his antipathy for the liberal elite “ globalists ” who evoked his personal inferiority complex , Trump has never wavered from his fierce opposition to what he saw as the “ yellow peril ” from China .
So when the Obama Administration announced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ a strategic pivot ” in its foreign policy to focus its military and political attention on the Asia-Pacific , particularly Southeast Asia , which meant China , it was one time that Trump supported Obama ’ s position – but for very different reasons .
For Trump , the problem was the cozy relationship between finance capital and the transnational corporations they funded during the neoliberal period of rapid and deepening globalization of production .
The result of that relationship was that much of the industrial base of the U.S. economy was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ China .
Altering that relationship and bringing those jobs “ back home ” as part of his “ America first ” position became a campaign issue and his intended first order of business once he assumed the presidency .
Shifting trade relations in favor of his capitalist base in the U.S. was a primary objective , with Chinese containment being a necessary but almost secondary objective .
“ It was one time that Trump supported Obama ’ s position.
” Trump ’ s opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership ( TPP ) , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to Hilary Clinton before she pretended to oppose the treaty during her 2016 campaign , was seen by the elite as the signature deal that would provide the leverage to contain China ’ s ambitions in the Asia-Pacific region and globally , while also ensuring the continuity of economic relationships for U.S. transnational capital to utilize China as a profitable zone for the production of goods and services for the U.S. and European markets .
Trump ’ s opposition to the TPP and his comments regarding the entire architecture of the global @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seen as reckless and made him a threat .
The financial and corporate transnational elite moved swiftly operating though the state and media to destabilize his administration , even before he took office .
That fraction couldn ’ t care less about his rhetoric on race , Muslims and immigration , in fact his theatrics became a very valuable distraction while they completed the strengthening of the national security state under Bush and Obama and plotted to either get rid of Trump or impose the discipline of their agenda on his administration .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ moved swiftly to destabilize his administration.
” As Trump saw it , completing the pivot to Asia required one strategic angle – reducing tensions with Russia with the intent to bring them into the fold of “ Europe ” in order for the U.S. and Europe to combine forces to discipline China .
What Trump hadn ’ t anticipated and was clearly unprepared for , was the ferocity of the efforts to make it impossible for him to govern .
Russiagate became the issue that would block his plan to reconcile with Russia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state against China .
But , today , after having survived the most unprecedented efforts by unelected power to undermine his presidency -- perhaps in the history of the U.S. nation/state short of actual assassination -- Trump has the support of a growing coalition of forces across the ruling class spectrum that represent a new and growing consensus that China is out of control and is a real threat to U.S. global hegemony .
Limiting China to a specific role in the international division of labor was always part of the plan even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ status ” in the 90s and membership in the World trade Organization .
“ Trump has the support of a growing consensus that China is out of control.
” The relationship between U.S. transnational capital and the Chinese state was seen as a win-win .
China served as platform to produce goods and services for U.S. markets providing jobs for Chinese labor and revenue for the state while providing price competitive products for U.S. consumers .
In the process it was assumed that China ’ s integration and participation in the global capitalist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” of their economy and political system and open up an enormous new market for U.S. capital .
The problem of course was that the Chinese had their own plans .
The new bipartisan , ruling class consensus that more aggressive measures were needed to contain China was captured in the now infamous “ pivot to Asia ” announced by Barack Obama in 2011 .
Today the growing ruling class consensus that has given new life to Trump ’ s anti-China campaign is reflected in the positions that say economic integration with China @ @ @ @ @ @ @ China into a “ regular ” capitalist nation .
And with the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative ( BRI ) introduced by Chinese president Xi Jinping , China is an existential threat that can only be countered by military means .
The psychopathology of white supremacy blinds U.S. policymakers to the political , economic , and geopolitical reality that the U.S. is in irreversible decline as a global power .
The deep structural contradictions of the U.S. economy and state were exposed by the weak and confused response to COVID-19 and the inability @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for its citizens and residents .
But even in decline , the U.S. has a vast military structure that it can use to threaten and cause massive death and destruction .
This makes the U.S. a threat to the planet and collective humanity because U.S policy-makers appear to be in the grip of a death-wish in which they are prepared to destroy the world before voluntarily relinquishing power , especially to a non-European power like China .
For example , when Secretary of State , Mike Pompeo declared in public that the United @ @ @ @ @ @ @ put China in “ its proper place , ” this represents a white supremacist mindset that inevitably will lead to monumental errors of judgement .
“ U.S .
policy-makers appear to be prepared to destroy the world before voluntarily relinquishing power.
” This white supremacist , colonialist mentality is unable to accept the full and equal humanity of non-Europeans and , therefore , are driven to an irrational obsession with preventing what is now inevitable – global hegemony passing to China .
To prevent this objective eventuality , U.S. policymakers are openly advocating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but a war that some of them argue must take place before 2025 !
And this is not some wild construction from the Trump Administration .
More than a decade ago military strategists war-gamed on how to defeat the Chinese concentrating on fuel supplies and trade routes .
The RAND Corporation described during the Obama Administration how the U.S. could defeat China in a conventional war and in 2011 , the Council of Foreign Relations began to urge the U.S. to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces ( INF ) Treaty which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ redeploy intermediate range missiles off the coast of China .
COVID-19 , that the Trump Administration constantly refers to as the Chinese virus , and the blame game being played , is preparing the public to support conflict with China .
However , The Chinese are aware of the dangerous turn of events with COVID-19 and are preparing accordingly .
And here is the real danger .
Forces within the Chinese Communist Party and military are warning that the nation must prepare itself for all contingencies , including armed conflict .
“ The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to support conflict with China.
” For African Americans we must resist all efforts to draw us into a conflict that has nothing to do with us .
We must be clear that we are not going to allow our sons and daughters to be sacrificed in yet another war of aggression on behalf of white capitalist/colonial power .
We must reject anti-China propaganda being directed at our communities using lurid stories of Chinese anti-black racism in China and the alleged attempts by the Chinese to “ colonize ” Africa , a position @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how it trivializing the brutal reality of European colonization that the continent has yet to recovery from .
Trump is winning the propaganda war on the Chinese issue because at its core the U.S. is susceptible to appeals to cross-class white racial solidarity against the uncivilized hordes .
Samuel Huntington “ Clash of Civilizations ” did not just resonate with right-wing audiences but was an acceptable commentary on the challenges of Western modernity .
However , we must remain clear about who our enemy is .
It is not the Chinese who are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not social distancing , who have denied us medical care , imprisoned us , killed us , poisoned our water , and forced us to face death on a job just to survive .
We got a historical beef , but it ain ’ t with China , Russia , or any of the enemies of the U.S .
Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report 's Facebook page at http : //facebook.com/blackagendareport Or , you can comment by emailing us at comments @ blackagendareport.com

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Trump administration is determined to “put China in its place,” a white supremacist mindset that will inevitably lead to monumental errors of judgement.
“U.S. policymakers are openly advocating war with China.”
Even before becoming the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump had one consistent foreign enemy – China. Partly fueled by his intrinsic white supremacy and his antipathy for the liberal elite “globalists” who evoked his personal inferiority complex, Trump has never wavered from his fierce opposition to what he saw as the “yellow peril” from China.
So when the Obama Administration announced in 2011 that the US would make “a strategic pivot” in its foreign policy to focus its military and political attention on the Asia-Pacific, particularly Southeast Asia, which meant China, it was one time that Trump supported Obama’s position – but for very different reasons.
For Trump, the problem was the cozy relationship between finance capital and the transnational corporations they funded during the neoliberal period of rapid and deepening globalization of production. The result of that relationship was that much of the industrial base of the U.S. economy was transferred first to Mexico and then mainland China. Altering that relationship and bringing those jobs “back home” as part of his “America first” position became a campaign issue and his intended first order of business once he assumed the presidency. Shifting trade relations in favor of his capitalist base in the U.S. was a primary objective, with Chinese containment being a necessary but almost secondary objective.
“It was one time that Trump supported Obama’s position.”
Trump’s opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the “gold standard of trade deals” according to Hilary Clinton before she pretended to oppose the treaty during her 2016 campaign, was seen by the elite as the signature deal that would provide the leverage to contain China’s ambitions in the Asia-Pacific region and globally, while also ensuring the continuity of economic relationships for U.S. transnational capital to utilize China as a profitable zone for the production of goods and services for the U.S. and European markets.
Trump’s opposition to the TPP and his comments regarding the entire architecture of the global neoliberal project of the last forty was seen as reckless and made him a threat. The financial and corporate transnational elite moved swiftly operating though the state and media to destabilize his administration, even before he took office. That fraction couldn’t care less about his rhetoric on race, Muslims and immigration, in fact his theatrics became a very valuable distraction while they completed the strengthening of the national security state under Bush and Obama and plotted to either get rid of Trump or impose the discipline of their agenda on his administration.
“The financial and corporate transnational elite moved swiftly to destabilize his administration.”
As Trump saw it, completing the pivot to Asia required one strategic angle – reducing tensions with Russia with the intent to bring them into the fold of “Europe” in order for the U.S. and Europe to combine forces to discipline China. What Trump hadn’t anticipated and was clearly unprepared for, was the ferocity of the efforts to make it impossible for him to govern. Russiagate became the issue that would block his plan to reconcile with Russia and bring the full force of the state against China.
But, today, after having survived the most unprecedented efforts by unelected power to undermine his presidency -- perhaps in the history of the U.S. nation/state short of actual assassination -- Trump has the support of a growing coalition of forces across the ruling class spectrum that represent a new and growing consensus that China is out of control and is a real threat to U.S. global hegemony.
What changed?
Limiting China to a specific role in the international division of labor was always part of the plan even when China received “most favored Nations status” in the 90s and membership in the World trade Organization.
“Trump has the support of a growing consensus that China is out of control.”
The relationship between U.S. transnational capital and the Chinese state was seen as a win-win. China served as platform to produce goods and services for U.S. markets providing jobs for Chinese labor and revenue for the state while providing price competitive products for U.S. consumers. In the process it was assumed that China’s integration and participation in the global capitalist order would result in the “liberalization” of their economy and political system and open up an enormous new market for U.S. capital.
The problem of course was that the Chinese had their own plans.
The new bipartisan, ruling class consensus that more aggressive measures were needed to contain China was captured in the now infamous “pivot to Asia” announced by Barack Obama in 2011.
Today the growing ruling class consensus that has given new life to Trump’s anti-China campaign is reflected in the positions that say economic integration with China did not result in any transformation of China into a “regular” capitalist nation. And with the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) introduced by Chinese president Xi Jinping, China is an existential threat that can only be countered by military means.
War Against China, COVID-19, and Black Working-Class Position
The psychopathology of white supremacy blinds U.S. policymakers to the political, economic, and geopolitical reality that the U.S. is in irreversible decline as a global power. The deep structural contradictions of the U.S. economy and state were exposed by the weak and confused response to COVID-19 and the inability of the state to provide minimum protections for its citizens and residents. But even in decline, the U.S. has a vast military structure that it can use to threaten and cause massive death and destruction.
This makes the U.S. a threat to the planet and collective humanity because U.S policy-makers appear to be in the grip of a death-wish in which they are prepared to destroy the world before voluntarily relinquishing power, especially to a non-European power like China.
For example, when Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo declared in public that the United States and its Western European allies must put China in “its proper place,” this represents a white supremacist mindset that inevitably will lead to monumental errors of judgement.
“U.S. policy-makers appear to be prepared to destroy the world before voluntarily relinquishing power.”
This white supremacist, colonialist mentality is unable to accept the full and equal humanity of non-Europeans and, therefore, are driven to an irrational obsession with preventing what is now inevitable – global hegemony passing to China.
To prevent this objective eventuality, U.S. policymakers are openly advocating war with China. Not only war, but a war that some of them argue must take place before 2025!
And this is not some wild construction from the Trump Administration.
More than a decade ago military strategists war-gamed on how to defeat the Chinese concentrating on fuel supplies and trade routes. The RAND Corporation described during the Obama Administration how the U.S. could defeat China in a conventional war and in 2011, the Council of Foreign Relations began to urge the U.S. to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF )Treaty which it did in 2019 in order to redeploy intermediate range missiles off the coast of China.
COVID-19, that the Trump Administration constantly refers to as the Chinese virus, and the blame game being played, is preparing the public to support conflict with China.
However, The Chinese are aware of the dangerous turn of events with COVID-19 and are preparing accordingly. And here is the real danger. Forces within the Chinese Communist Party and military are warning that the nation must prepare itself for all contingencies, including armed conflict.
“The COVID-19 blame game is preparing the public to support conflict with China.”
For African Americans we must resist all efforts to draw us into a conflict that has nothing to do with us. We must be clear that we are not going to allow our sons and daughters to be sacrificed in yet another war of aggression on behalf of white capitalist/colonial power.
We must reject anti-China propaganda being directed at our communities using lurid stories of Chinese anti-black racism in China and the alleged attempts by the Chinese to “colonize” Africa, a position that is both absurd and insulting in how it trivializing the brutal reality of European colonization that the continent has yet to recovery from.
Trump is winning the propaganda war on the Chinese issue because at its core the U.S. is susceptible to appeals to cross-class white racial solidarity against the uncivilized hordes. Samuel Huntington “Clash of Civilizations” did not just resonate with right-wing audiences but was an acceptable commentary on the challenges of Western modernity.
However, we must remain clear about who our enemy is. It is not the Chinese who are beating us down in the streets for not social distancing, who have denied us medical care, imprisoned us, killed us, poisoned our water, and forced us to face death on a job just to survive. We got a historical beef, but it ain’t with China, Russia, or any of the enemies of the U.S.
COMMENTS?
Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport
Or, you can comment by emailing us at comments@blackagendareport.com


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-14--The mind-blowing history at Fort Detrick

Since the Trump administration declared national emergency in mid-march over the rapid spread of COVID-19 , the task of developing a vaccine has fallen on the U.S. Army 's top virus research lab in Fort Detrick , located in suburban Maryland some 50 miles outside of Washington , D.C.. Over the past decades , leading researches on a wide range of viruses and bacteria were conducted inside the sprawling complex .
Its state-of-the-art facilities also store some of the most dangerous toxins known to mankind , including Ebola , anthrax and the SARS coronavirus .
The obscure army base came @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of its scientists was suspected to have perpetrated the 2001 anthrax attack , where several letters containing the deadly germ was mailed to American media and government offices .
Last year , one of the most prominent high-security labs inside the campus was shut down by health authorities due to safety violations .
Besides a few incidents here and there , Fort Detrick seems like an ordinary place for modern medical science .
Dialing back to history a little further , however , a period of purely freakish history begins to emerge .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ became a site of horrifying scientific experiments conducted under a top-secret CIA quest to control the human mind , known as Project MK Ultra .
After more than 20 years , the project ended in abysmal failure and led to an unknown number of deaths , including a scientist who participated in the project , and at least hundreds of American and Canadian victims subjected to mental and physical torture .
The experiments not only violated international law , but also the agency 's own charter which forbids domestic activity .
Project MK @ @ @ @ @ @ @ godfather of America 's intelligence empire – CIA Director Allen Dulles , whose ever-fiery rhetoric about Soviet threat helped him prop up an omnipotent national security apparatus that would come to define American politics .
In 1953 , after capturing American pilots who admitted to deploying anthrax during the Korean War , Dulles began touting theories that they had been brainwashed by then communists of the Democratic People 's Republic of Korea .
To ensure national security , he argued , the U.S. must devise its own brainwashing program .
Dulles ' claim @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than pure Cold War fantasy as a report he later commissioned rejected the communist brainwashing claims .
Yet , the cunning spymaster Dulles who was known to have actively rescued several top Nazi officials against the will of his own government , continued the program for a far more nefarious reason .
As explained by David Talbot in his book The Devil 's Chessboard , many spies recruited in the early days of the Cold War were sketchy , undependable characters motivated by inner vulnerabilities such as greed , lust or revenge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for ways to rule out these psychological variables by creating human machines that would act on command , even against his own conscience .
To master mind control , a cadre of rogue scientists freely tested extreme methods on humans that would land anyone in prison had it not been inside the parameters of Fort Detrick .
These include forced administration of psychoactive drugs , forced electroshocks , physical and sexual abuses , as well as a myriad of other torments all silently carried out behind the high walls of `` national security @ @ @ @ @ @ @ finding out if hallucinogens like LSD could induce selected individuals to carry out `` acts of substantial sabotage or acts of violence , including murder , '' recalled the agency 's top poisons expert Sidney Gottlieb who spearheaded the program .
Declassified documents reviewed by CGTN showed the premises being investigated under the program ranged from the bizarre to the extremes of science fiction : Drugs that would `` cause mental confusion ; '' `` provide a maximum of amnesia ; '' `` produce pure euphoria with no subsequent let-down ; '' `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of men ; '' and many others .
Throughout its two-decade lifespan , MK Ultra was executed in extreme secrecy as the agency had expected significant political backlash had it become public knowledge .
It was so secretive , in fact , that only a few top agency officials were aware of its existence .
Unbeknownst to neither the White House nor Congress , people of the forgotten corner of America – the prisoners , prostitutes and the homeless – were picked off the streets as unwitting participants in the mad science at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not fight back , '' in the words of Gottlieb .
However , the program also relied on people who could , including American soldiers and unsuspecting patients who inadvertently stumbled into MK Ultra-associated hospitals and clinics across North America .
In July 1954 , airman Jimmy Shaver at the Lackland Air Force Base was accused of raping and killing a three-year-old girl in San Antonio .
Throughout the incident , he was often reported to be in a `` dazed '' and `` trance-like '' state .
While under arrest , Shaver @ @ @ @ @ @ @ amount of his memory , including those involving his wife .
Four years later , he was executed on his 33rd birthday .
It was n't until later the public learned that Shaver , who had no previous criminal record , was one of the guinea pigs used by MK Ultra .
The mind-control project had played a significant role in sending Shaver to the electric chair , according to The Intercept .
Others who survived the brutal experiments revealed the horrendous aftereffects of the CIA-sanctioned brainwashing .
Linda McDonald , a 25-year-old @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that she had essentially turned into an infant after going through the notorious Sleep Room experiments , which she was told would treat her non-existent acute schizophrenia .
For 86 days , McDonald was in a coma induced by rounds of powerful narcotics and electroshocks that fried her brains 102 times .
Yet , of all the 180 doctors and researchers who took part in these illegal experiments , few had expressed any suspicion or remorse .
The one who did turned up dead .
Frank Olson was a biochemist and father of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Warfare Laboratories at Fort Detrick .
He was one of the MK Ultra scientists who regularly traveled between `` black sites '' in Europe to observe different human experiments .
After a 1952 visit to the Camp King , a notorious CIA safe house in Germany , he was particularly shaken by the cruelty to which Soviet prisoners were subjected to , according to Talbot .
`` He had a tough time after Germany … drugs , torture , brainwashing , '' Olson 's former colleague at Detrick , researcher Norman Cournoyer was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he returned from Germany , Olson had suffered a `` moral crisis '' and was ready to give up his science career to become a dentist , according to Olson 's family .
Yet , before he could change his life , the scientist himself had unknowingly become one of many unwitting victims of MK Ultra .
A week before Thanksgiving , Olson was invited to a weekend retreat in a secluded CIA facility at Deep Creek Lake in Maryland .
One night after dinner , Olson and other unsuspecting scientists were given @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to hallucinate wildly .
The ordeal ended a week later , when he crashed through the 10th floor window at the Statler Hotel in Manhattan .
The scientist 's death was hastily classified by CIA officials as suicide .
However , Olson 's children could hardly accept the `` narrative '' and began their own investigation into the tragic end of their father .
After decades back and forth with the U.S. government and investigation by Frank 's son Eric and Nils , including an exhumation autopsy , substantial evidence have weighted toward @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
After examining Olson 's remains , Forensic pathologist James Starrs pointed out several key inconsistencies that contradicted with the official narrative suicide .
Despite having landed on his back , the skull above Olson 's eye had cracked , suggesting a blunt force to the head prior to crashing through the window .
`` The death of Frank Olson on 28 November 1953 was a murder , not a suicide , '' Eric Olson declared .
`` This is not an LSD drug-experiment story , as it was represented in 1975 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Frank Olson did not die because he was an experimental guinea pig who experienced a 'bad trip . '
He died because of concern that he would divulge information concerning a highly classified CIA interrogation program in the early 1950s , and concerning the use of biological weapons by the United States in the Korean War . ''

[dropcap]S[/dropcap]ince the Trump administration declared national emergency in mid-march over the rapid spread of COVID-19, the task of developing a vaccine has fallen on the U.S. Army's top virus research lab in Fort Detrick, located in suburban Maryland some 50 miles outside of Washington, D.C.. Over the past decades, leading researches on a wide range of viruses and bacteria were conducted inside the sprawling complex. Its state-of-the-art facilities also store some of the most dangerous toxins known to mankind, including Ebola, anthrax and the SARS coronavirus. The obscure army base came under the spotlight in 2008 after one of its scientists was suspected to have perpetrated the 2001 anthrax attack, where several letters containing the deadly germ was mailed to American media and government offices. Last year, one of the most prominent high-security labs inside the campus was shut down by health authorities due to safety violations. Besides a few incidents here and there, Fort Detrick seems like an ordinary place for modern medical science. Dialing back to history a little further, however, a period of purely freakish history begins to emerge. After World War II, Fort Detrick became a site of horrifying scientific experiments conducted under a top-secret CIA quest to control the human mind, known as Project MK Ultra. After more than 20 years, the project ended in abysmal failure and led to an unknown number of deaths, including a scientist who participated in the project, and at least hundreds of American and Canadian victims subjected to mental and physical torture. The experiments not only violated international law, but also the agency's own charter which forbids domestic activity. Project MK Ultra was brought to life by the godfather of America's intelligence empire – CIA Director Allen Dulles, whose ever-fiery rhetoric about Soviet threat helped him prop up an omnipotent national security apparatus that would come to define American politics. In 1953, after capturing American pilots who admitted to deploying anthrax during the Korean War, Dulles began touting theories that they had been brainwashed by then communists of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. To ensure national security, he argued, the U.S. must devise its own brainwashing program. Dulles' claim turned out to be based on nothing more than pure Cold War fantasy as a report he later commissioned rejected the communist brainwashing claims. Yet, the cunning spymaster Dulles who was known to have actively rescued several top Nazi officials against the will of his own government, continued the program for a far more nefarious reason. As explained by David Talbot in his book The Devil's Chessboard, many spies recruited in the early days of the Cold War were sketchy, undependable characters motivated by inner vulnerabilities such as greed, lust or revenge. Meanwhile, the agency was looking for ways to rule out these psychological variables by creating human machines that would act on command, even against his own conscience.
In official terms, the main goal of the program was "research and development of chemical, biological, and radiological materials capable of employment in clandestine operations to control human behavior," according to a declassified memo produced by the CIA Inspector General. It quickly ballooned in scale, branching into 149 sub-projects involving at least 80 institutions including universities, hospitals, prisons and drug companies across the United States and Canada.
To master mind control, a cadre of rogue scientists freely tested extreme methods on humans that would land anyone in prison had it not been inside the parameters of Fort Detrick. These include forced administration of psychoactive drugs, forced electroshocks, physical and sexual abuses, as well as a myriad of other torments all silently carried out behind the high walls of "national security." Dulles was especially keen on finding out if hallucinogens like LSD could induce selected individuals to carry out "acts of substantial sabotage or acts of violence, including murder," recalled the agency's top poisons expert Sidney Gottlieb who spearheaded the program. Declassified documents reviewed by CGTN showed the premises being investigated under the program ranged from the bizarre to the extremes of science fiction: Drugs that would "cause mental confusion;" "provide a maximum of amnesia;" "produce pure euphoria with no subsequent let-down;" "lower the ambition and general working efficiency of men;" and many others. Throughout its two-decade lifespan, MK Ultra was executed in extreme secrecy as the agency had expected significant political backlash had it become public knowledge. It was so secretive, in fact, that only a few top agency officials were aware of its existence. Unbeknownst to neither the White House nor Congress, people of the forgotten corner of America – the prisoners, prostitutes and the homeless – were picked off the streets as unwitting participants in the mad science at Fort Derrick: "People who could not fight back," in the words of Gottlieb. However, the program also relied on people who could, including American soldiers and unsuspecting patients who inadvertently stumbled into MK Ultra-associated hospitals and clinics across North America. In July 1954, airman Jimmy Shaver at the Lackland Air Force Base was accused of raping and killing a three-year-old girl in San Antonio. Throughout the incident, he was often reported to be in a "dazed" and "trance-like" state. While under arrest, Shaver also seemed to have lost a tremendous amount of his memory, including those involving his wife. Four years later, he was executed on his 33rd birthday. It wasn't until later the public learned that Shaver, who had no previous criminal record, was one of the guinea pigs used by MK Ultra. The mind-control project had played a significant role in sending Shaver to the electric chair, according to The Intercept. Others who survived the brutal experiments revealed the horrendous aftereffects of the CIA-sanctioned brainwashing. Linda McDonald, a 25-year-old mother of five young children, reported that she had essentially turned into an infant after going through the notorious Sleep Room experiments, which she was told would treat her non-existent acute schizophrenia. For 86 days, McDonald was in a coma induced by rounds of powerful narcotics and electroshocks that fried her brains 102 times.
"I had to be toilet trained," McDonald said. "I was a vegetable. I had no identity, no memory. I had never existed in the world before. Like a baby."


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-15--Foreign Policy Sees ‘Repression’ in Vietnam’s Fight Against Coronavirus

A recent piece in Foreign Policy ( 5/12/20 ) is headed with a photograph of a placard that features an image of a nurse demonstrating the importance of wearing a face mask as both personal and interpersonal protection against the coronavirus .
But reader beware : It ’ s not public education , it ’ s a “ propaganda poster ” —because it ’ s not from New Jersey , but was “ seen on a wall in Hanoi.
” The message of the piece , headlined “ Vietnam ’ s Coronavirus Success Is Built on Repression , ” is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re not meant to look too carefully at the reasoning .
Vietnam , authors Bill Hayton and Tro Ly Ngheo tell readers , is a country where…wait for it…the state “ knows your mobile phone number.
” Yes , they ’ re receiving praise for limiting infections from Covid-19 , reporting zero deaths so far , but the praise isn ’ t warranted , because “ the disease control mechanisms that have been effective are the same mechanisms that facilitate and protect the country ’ s one-party rule.
” OK , so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
First , it ’ s explained , Vietnam has “ neighborhood wardens and public security officers who keep constant watch over city blocks.
” Sounds scary .
Would those be anything like the police officers in Kentucky who shot Breonna Taylor to death while storming her home , on a no-knock warrant for a man who ’ d already been arrested 10 miles away ?
Or the ones who beat a man and sat on his head in New York City , while enforcing social-distancing protocols ?
I guess not .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ epidemics are the same ones that control public expressions of dissent.
” Good thing we don ’ t have any of that dissent-controlling here , right ?
Although the mayor of New York City did just declare public protest illegal , and cops did just arrest writer Jill Nelson for writing “ Trump = Plague ” in chalk on an abandoned building .
But in Vietnam , you can “ barricade government critics inside their houses to prevent them meeting journalists.
” That would be nothing like Steven Donziger , under house arrest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case against Chevron in Ecuador , the company having stated explicitly that its long-term strategy was to “ demonize ” him .
In Vietnam , though , “ The enforcers can be quite sure that their behavior is not going to be challenged by an independent judiciary , because the Communist Party decides what the law is.
” That sounds bad ; should we get a weigh-in from US Attorney General Bill Barr , who just got through saying that it didn ’ t matter that the Justice Department dropped charges against former @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in 2017 ) , because “ history is written by the winners ” ?
And while other countries have used phone-tracking and surveillance to trace infected people , Foreign Policy explains , Vietnam is different and blameworthy , because they ’ re able to do so “ without the need to submit to legal or parliamentary oversight.
” Worlds away , we are to understand , from the US—except that the US Senate just now voted down an amendment to the Patriot Act that would have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ history data from secret and warrantless surveillance by law enforcement .
The piece is clearly trying to say : Don ’ t envy another country ’ s pandemic response , because it comes at too high a cost .
That might be food for thought , except that Foreign Policy doesn ’ t seem to want you to bother thinking very much at all .
ACTION ALERT : You can send a message to the editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy at jonathan.tepperman @ foreignpolicy.com ( or via Twitter : @ ForeignPolicy ) .
Please @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effective .
Feel free to leave a copy of your message in comments .

Foreign Policy ( [dropcap]A[/dropcap] recent piece in 5/12/20 ) is headed with a photograph of a placard that features an image of a nurse demonstrating the importance of wearing a face mask as both personal and interpersonal protection against the coronavirus. But reader beware: It’s not public education, it’s a “propaganda poster”—because it’s not from New Jersey, but was “seen on a wall in Hanoi.”
The message of the piece, headlined “Vietnam’s Coronavirus Success Is Built on Repression,” is exactly that subtle, and apparently you’re not meant to look too carefully at the reasoning. Vietnam, authors Bill Hayton and Tro Ly Ngheo tell readers, is a country where…wait for it…the state “knows your mobile phone number.”
Yes, they’re receiving praise for limiting infections from Covid-19, reporting zero deaths so far, but the praise isn’t warranted, because “the disease control mechanisms that have been effective are the same mechanisms that facilitate and protect the country’s one-party rule.”
OK, so what are the elements of this horror? First, it’s explained, Vietnam has “neighborhood wardens and public security officers who keep constant watch over city blocks.” Sounds scary. Would those be anything like the police officers in Kentucky who shot Breonna Taylor to death while storming her home, on a no-knock warrant for a man who’d already been arrested 10 miles away? Or the ones who beat a man and sat on his head in New York City, while enforcing social-distancing protocols? I guess not.
In Vietnam, “the structures that control epidemics are the same ones that control public expressions of dissent.” Good thing we don’t have any of that dissent-controlling here, right? Although the mayor of New York City did just declare public protest illegal, and cops did just arrest writer Jill Nelson for writing “Trump = Plague” in chalk on an abandoned building.
But in Vietnam, you can “barricade government critics inside their houses to prevent them meeting journalists.” That would be nothing like Steven Donziger, under house arrest in New York since prosecuting an environmental case against Chevron in Ecuador, the company having stated explicitly that its long-term strategy was to “demonize” him.
In Vietnam, though, “The enforcers can be quite sure that their behavior is not going to be challenged by an independent judiciary, because the Communist Party decides what the law is.” That sounds bad; should we get a weigh-in from US Attorney General Bill Barr, who just got through saying that it didn’t matter that the Justice Department dropped charges against former national security advisor Michael Flynn (who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in 2017), because “history is written by the winners”?
And while other countries have used phone-tracking and surveillance to trace infected people, Foreign Policy explains, Vietnam is different and blameworthy, because they’re able to do so “without the need to submit to legal or parliamentary oversight.” Worlds away, we are to understand, from the US—except that the US Senate just now voted down an amendment to the Patriot Act that would have protected Americans’ internet browsing and search history data from secret and warrantless surveillance by law enforcement.
The piece is clearly trying to say: Don’t envy another country’s pandemic response, because it comes at too high a cost. That might be food for thought, except that Foreign Policy doesn’t seem to want you to bother thinking very much at all.
ACTION ALERT: You can send a message to the editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy at jonathan.tepperman@foreignpolicy.com (or via Twitter: @ForeignPolicy). Please remember that respectful communication is the most effective. Feel free to leave a copy of your message in comments.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-15--THE DEEP STATE IS CLOSING IN—subscribe to TGP today (it’s free!)

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