thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-02--Memorable: Sen. Mike Gravel tries to shame the Democrat top tier warmongers, and is treated like a j

Memorable: Sen. Mike Gravel tries to shame the Democrat top tier warmongers, and is treated like a joke by panelists and media

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He called Biden , Obama and Clinton warmongers to their faces in 2008 .
They laughed , but he was n't joking .
atch this clip from a 2008 election debate closely , and see how fellow presidential candidates with the thinly-veiled help of the whore media neutralize the spot on criticism of US foreign policy by Sen. Mike Gravel .
The political whores on the panel , including Hillary Clinton , Joe Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gravel accuses them of warmongering against Iraq , Iran and other nations .
Gravel , a dove on Vietnam and a genuine populist , for good measure also denounces America 's utterly criminal `` first strike '' policy on nuclear weapons .
The audience , again , fails to grasp the seriousness of the charge .
It 's clear they are totally unaccustomed to hearing the truth about this subject , so they squirm and laugh , not knowing where to place it , while presstitute Brian Williams , sensing the opportunity to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , jumps in to deflate the impact of Sen. Gravel 's words by seeking `` clarification '' , an old tactic signifying disbelief .
Job done .
The truth is defanged and buried .
Let 's move on to the usual jingoist sanctimony , which the rest of the candidates are obviously happy to deliver .
Here 's a longer clip of the same debate .
Patrice Greanville is a media critic and political analyst serving as editor in chief of this journal .
Greanville set up Cyrano 's Journal in 1982 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and founded The Greanville Post in 2003 , as an experiment in radical digital journalism .

Please make sure these dispatches reach as many readers as possible. Share with kin, friends and workmates and ask them to do likewise.
Commentary by Patrice Greanville
He called Biden, Obama and Clinton warmongers to their faces in 2008. They laughed, but he wasn't joking.
W
atch this clip from a 2008 election debate closely, and see how fellow presidential candidates with the thinly-veiled help of the whore media neutralize the spot on criticism of US foreign policy by Sen. Mike Gravel. The political whores on the panel, including Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Barack Obama laugh nervously as Mike Gravel accuses them of warmongering against Iraq, Iran and other nations. Gravel, a dove on Vietnam and a genuine populist, for good measure also denounces America's utterly criminal "first strike" policy on nuclear weapons. The audience, again, fails to grasp the seriousness of the charge. It's clear they are totally unaccustomed to hearing the truth about this subject, so they squirm and laugh, not knowing where to place it, while presstitute Brian Williams, sensing the opportunity to be of service to his plutocratic employers, jumps in to deflate the impact of Sen. Gravel's words by seeking "clarification", an old tactic signifying disbelief. Job done. The truth is defanged and buried. Let's move on to the usual jingoist sanctimony, which the rest of the candidates are obviously happy to deliver.
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Here's a longer clip of the same debate.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-03--Lee Camp: How the Media Used the Bounty Scandal to Stop the ‘Threat’ of Peace in Afghanistan

This is not a column defending Donald Trump .
Across my career , I have said more positive words about the scolex family of intestinal tapeworms than I have said about Donald Trump .
( Scolex have been shown to read more . )
No , this is a column about context .
When The New York Times reports anonymous sources from the intelligence community say Russia paid Taliban fighters to kill American soldiers , context is very important .
Some of that context is that Mike Pompeo said , “ I was the CIA director – We lied , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had entire training courses.
” So we know for certain that U.S. intelligence agencies lie to you and me .
We saw it with WMD , and we might be seeing it again now .
But that ’ s not the context I ’ m referring to .
We could talk about the context of the fact that the Taliban does not need to be paid to kill American soldiers because their entire goal for the past twenty years has been to kill American soldiers .
Paying them a bounty would be like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ twenty bucks to sleep with your wife .
But that ’ s not the context I ’ m referring to .
We could talk about the fact that the U.S. has been funding the Taliban for years !
Yes , we fund them , sometimes arm them , and then fight them .
This is barely a secret .
So for all intents and purposes , the U.S. does the same thing our corporate media is now accusing Russia of doing ( with no proof ) .
But that ’ s not the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ No , the context I ’ m referring to is how our military industrial complex ( with the help of our ruling elite and our corporate media ) have stopped Trump from pushing us toward the brink of peace .
…Yes , the brink of peace .
Now , I ’ m not implying Trump is some kind of hippy peacenik .
( He would look atrocious with no bra and flowers in his hair . )
No , the military under Trump has dropped more bombs than under Obama , and that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bombs than ever before .
However , in certain areas of the world , Trump has threatened to create peace .
Sure , he ’ s doing it for his own ego and because he thinks his base wants it , but whatever the reason , he has put forward plans or policies that go against the military industrial complex and the establishment war-hawks ( which is 95 percent of the establishment ) .
And each time this has happened , he is quickly thwarted , usually with hilarious propaganda .
( Well @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Apparently believable to people at The New York Times and former CIA intern Anderson Cooper . )
I know four things for sure in life .
Paper beats rock .
Rock beats scissors .
Scissors beat paper .
And propaganda beats peace .
All one has to do is look at a calendar .
Trump has essentially threatened to create peace or pull U.S. troops out of a war zone in three countries – North Korea , Afghanistan , and Syria .
Let ’ s start with Syria .
April 4 , 2018 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria .
This can not be allowed because it goes against the U.S. imperial plan .
So what happens within days of Trump ’ s order ?
What are the odds that within days of Trump telling the Pentagon to withdraw , Bashar al-Assad decides to use the one weapon that will guarantee American forces continue attacking him ?
Assad may not be a chess player , but I also don ’ t think he ate that many paint chips as a kid .
And sure enough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ve now heard from four whistleblowers at the Organization for The Prohibition of Chemical Weapons ( OPCW ) saying the so-called chemical attack didn ’ t happen .
( Notice that the number “ four ” is even bigger than the numbers “ one , ” “ two , ” and “ three.
” ) But establishment propaganda beats peace any day and twice on Sunday .
The false story succeeded in keeping America entrenched in Syria .
Let ’ s move on to North Korea .
As you surely know , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ peace with the hermetic country .
Simply saying he would attempt such a thing sent weapons contractor stocks tumbling—one of the many reasons peace had to be stopped .
The summit fails , and reports begin emerging that Mike Pompeo and John Bolton succeeded in napalming any progress .
From The Nation , “ There were reports from South Korea that the presence at the talks of John Bolton , Trump ’ s aggressively hawkish national-security adviser , helped torpedo the talks.
“ But just destroying the peace talks wasn ’ t enough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , solid propaganda to reassert the idea that Kim Jung Un was a dastardly bloodthirsty dictator .
March 30 , 2019 : The New York Times reports North Korea executed and purged their top nuclear negotiators .
Yes , apparently Kim Jung Un must ’ ve fed his top diplomats to his top alligators .
Then , two months later we learn… June 4 , 2019 : The fate of the North Korean negotiator “ executed ” after the failed summit “ grows murkier ” with new reports that he ’ s still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that his being alive does indeed make the report that he ’ s dead “ murkier.
” Within the next day or two it becomes quite clear the diplomat is very much in the land of the living .
But the propaganda put forward by The New York Times and many other outlets has already done its job .
Far more people saw the reports that the man had been murdered than saw the later retraction .
And to this day , the Times has not removed the initial article saying he was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have to be , to warrant an online deletion ?
Dead versus alive is a pretty binary designation .
And now we get to the outrage du jour , and it ’ s a bombshell !
May 26 , 2020 : Pentagon commanders begin drawing up options for an early Afghanistan troop withdrawal , following Trump ’ s request .
June 16 , 2020 : “ President Donald Trump confirmed in public for the first time his administration ’ s plans to cut the U.S. military troop presence in Germany from its current @ @ @ @ @ @ @ force of 25,000.
” – ForeignPolicy.com June 26 , 2020 : The New York Times reports Russia paid the Taliban to attack U.S. troops .
( According to anonymous sources from an intelligence community that proudly admits they lie to us all the time , sometimes just to amuse themselves . )
So when this story first came out , I thought , “ You know , Trump has been stopped from withdrawing troops in the past by ridiculous propaganda that seems to land like a giant turd right after he announces his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what happened in the days preceding this jaw-dropping story.
” So just days after Trump goes against the military industrial complex and against the ruling establishment by announcing he ’ ll be withdrawing about a third of our troops from Germany , and just weeks after announcing an early withdrawal from Afghanistan , a seemingly mind-blowing story drops about Russia paying the Taliban to kill American troops .
This serves to remind everyone what a threat Russia is ( so we better put more troops in Germany ! )
and serves to keep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Russian-funded Taliban ! )
.
Look , I ’ m not saying Trump is a hero or a great guy or even a man who wants peace .
I ’ m not even saying he ’ s a man .
He very well may be a giant blood-sucking leech in a human skin suit .
( A poorly tailored human skin suit . )
All I ’ m saying is the timing doesn ’ t add up .
Either these landmark stories that destroy every chance of peace are false ( in fact @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of three of them are false ) , or peace has exceedingly , ridiculously , laughably bad timing .
Feature photo | Abdullah Abdullah , right , President Ashraf Ghani ’ s fellow leader under a recently signed power-sharing agreement , holds a meeting with U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad aimed at resuscitating a U.S.-Taliban peace deal signed in February , at the presidential palace , in Kabul , Afghanistan , May 20 , 2020. Credit | Sapidar Palace via AP

This is not a column defending Donald Trump.
Across my career, I have said more positive words about the scolex family of intestinal tapeworms than I have said about Donald Trump. (Scolex have been shown to read more.)
No, this is a column about context. When The New York Times reports anonymous sources from the intelligence community say Russia paid Taliban fighters to kill American soldiers, context is very important.
Some of that context is that Mike Pompeo said, “I was the CIA director – We lied, we cheated, we stole. We had entire training courses.” So we know for certain that U.S. intelligence agencies lie to you and me. We saw it with WMD, and we might be seeing it again now.
But that’s not the context I’m referring to.
We could talk about the context of the fact that the Taliban does not need to be paid to kill American soldiers because their entire goal for the past twenty years has been to kill American soldiers. Paying them a bounty would be like offering the guy sleeping with your wife twenty bucks to sleep with your wife.
But that’s not the context I’m referring to.
We could talk about the fact that the U.S. has been funding the Taliban for years! Yes, we fund them, sometimes arm them, and then fight them. This is barely a secret. So for all intents and purposes, the U.S. does the same thing our corporate media is now accusing Russia of doing (with no proof).
But that’s not the context I’m referring to.
No, the context I’m referring to is how our military industrial complex (with the help of our ruling elite and our corporate media) have stopped Trump from pushing us toward the brink of peace. …Yes, the brink of peace.
Now, I’m not implying Trump is some kind of hippy peacenik. (He would look atrocious with no bra and flowers in his hair.) No, the military under Trump has dropped more bombs than under Obama, and that’s impressive since Obama dropped more bombs than ever before.
However, in certain areas of the world, Trump has threatened to create peace. Sure, he’s doing it for his own ego and because he thinks his base wants it, but whatever the reason, he has put forward plans or policies that go against the military industrial complex and the establishment war-hawks (which is 95 percent of the establishment).
And each time this has happened, he is quickly thwarted, usually with hilarious propaganda. (Well, hilarious to you and me. Apparently believable to people at The New York Times and former CIA intern Anderson Cooper.)
I know four things for sure in life. Paper beats rock. Rock beats scissors. Scissors beat paper. And propaganda beats peace. All one has to do is look at a calendar.
Trump has essentially threatened to create peace or pull U.S. troops out of a war zone in three countries – North Korea, Afghanistan, and Syria. Let’s start with Syria.
April 4, 2018: President Trump orders the Pentagon to plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria.
This cannot be allowed because it goes against the U.S. imperial plan. So what happens within days of Trump’s order?
April 7, 2018: Reports surface of a major chemical weapons attack in Douma, Syria.
What are the odds that within days of Trump telling the Pentagon to withdraw, Bashar al-Assad decides to use the one weapon that will guarantee American forces continue attacking him? Assad may not be a chess player, but I also don’t think he ate that many paint chips as a kid. And sure enough, over the past two years we’ve now heard from four whistleblowers at the Organization for The Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) saying the so-called chemical attack didn’t happen. (Notice that the number “four” is even bigger than the numbers “one,” “two,” and “three.”)
But establishment propaganda beats peace any day and twice on Sunday. The false story succeeded in keeping America entrenched in Syria.
The DPRK
Let’s move on to North Korea. As you surely know, Donald Trump “threatened” to create peace with the hermetic country. Simply saying he would attempt such a thing sent weapons contractor stocks tumbling—one of the many reasons peace had to be stopped.
Feb 27, 2019: Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un meet in Vietnam.
The summit fails, and reports begin emerging that Mike Pompeo and John Bolton succeeded in napalming any progress.
March 15, 2019: Pompeo and Bolton deny derailing North Korea nuclear talks.
From The Nation, “There were reports from South Korea that the presence at the talks of John Bolton, Trump’s aggressively hawkish national-security adviser, helped torpedo the talks.“
But just destroying the peace talks wasn’t enough. The American people needed some good, solid propaganda to reassert the idea that Kim Jung Un was a dastardly bloodthirsty dictator.
March 30, 2019: The New York Times reports North Korea executed and purged their top nuclear negotiators.
Yes, apparently Kim Jung Un must’ve fed his top diplomats to his top alligators. Then, two months later we learn…
June 4, 2019: The fate of the North Korean negotiator “executed” after the failed summit “grows murkier” with new reports that he’s still alive.
One would have to say that his being alive does indeed make the report that he’s dead “murkier.” Within the next day or two it becomes quite clear the diplomat is very much in the land of the living. But the propaganda put forward by The New York Times and many other outlets has already done its job.
Far more people saw the reports that the man had been murdered than saw the later retraction. And to this day, the Times has not removed the initial article saying he was executed. Exactly how wrong does propaganda have to be, to warrant an online deletion? Dead versus alive is a pretty binary designation.
And now we get to the outrage du jour, and it’s a bombshell!
Bounties!
May 26, 2020: Pentagon commanders begin drawing up options for an early Afghanistan troop withdrawal, following Trump’s request.
June 16, 2020: “President Donald Trump confirmed in public for the first time his administration’s plans to cut the U.S. military troop presence in Germany from its current level of roughly 35,000 to a reduced force of 25,000.” – ForeignPolicy.com
June 26, 2020: The New York Times reports Russia paid the Taliban to attack U.S. troops. (According to anonymous sources from an intelligence community that proudly admits they lie to us all the time, sometimes just to amuse themselves.)
So when this story first came out, I thought, “You know, Trump has been stopped from withdrawing troops in the past by ridiculous propaganda that seems to land like a giant turd right after he announces his intentions. Maybe I’ll check what happened in the days preceding this jaw-dropping story.”
So just days after Trump goes against the military industrial complex and against the ruling establishment by announcing he’ll be withdrawing about a third of our troops from Germany, and just weeks after announcing an early withdrawal from Afghanistan, a seemingly mind-blowing story drops about Russia paying the Taliban to kill American troops.
This serves to remind everyone what a threat Russia is (so we better put more troops in Germany!) and serves to keep us in Afghanistan (because screw those Russian-funded Taliban!).
Look, I’m not saying Trump is a hero or a great guy or even a man who wants peace. I’m not even saying he’s a man. He very well may be a giant blood-sucking leech in a human skin suit. (A poorly tailored human skin suit.)
All I’m saying is the timing doesn’t add up. Either these landmark stories that destroy every chance of peace are false (in fact we’ve already proven two out of three of them are false), or peace has exceedingly, ridiculously, laughably bad timing.
Feature photo | Abdullah Abdullah, right, President Ashraf Ghani’s fellow leader under a recently signed power-sharing agreement, holds a meeting with U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad aimed at resuscitating a U.S.-Taliban peace deal signed in February, at the presidential palace, in Kabul, Afghanistan, May 20, 2020. Credit | Sapidar Palace via AP


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-03--Seriously, Get The Hell Out Of Afghanistan

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Seriously , Get The Hell Out Of Afghanistan With overwhelming bipartisan support , the House Armed Services Committee has added a Liz Cheney-spearheaded amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act ( NDAA ) which throws severe roadblocks in the Trump administration ’ s proposed scale-down of US military presence in Afghanistan and Germany .
As The Intercept ‘ s Glenn Greenwald notes , both parties advancing the amendment cited in their arguments the completely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by credulous mass media reporters alleging that Russia has paid bounties to Taliban fighters for killing the occupying forces in Afghanistan .
Yet another western imperialist agenda once again facilitated by unforgivably egregious journalistic malpractice in the mass media .
Every aspect of this development is enraging .
The mass media have continued to add to their mountain of Gish gallop fallacies promoting this narrative with a new Daily Beast report citing former senior Taliban figure Mullah Manan Niazi who asserts that “ The Taliban have been paid by Russian intelligence for attacks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from 2014 up to the present.
” The Beast ’ s own article admits that its source has severe conflicts of interest and is believed to be a CIA asset by Taliban leadership , and that Niazi provided no evidence of any kind for his claim or any further details whatsoever .
These flimsy , poorly-sourced allegations are being hammered into mainstream liberal consciousness on a daily basis now in the exact same way the discredited Russiagate psyop was , and just like with Russiagate the narrative they are being used to shape @ @ @ @ @ @ @ war escalations which just so happen to fit perfectly into pre-existing geostrategic agendas of planetary domination .
The way mainstream news outlets consistently refuse to account for a fact so obvious and indisputable as intelligence agencies being known liars should by itself be enough to discredit the entire institution of mass news reporting .
Yet here we are with these reports being treated as established fact throughout the entire political/media class and down through the entire population of propagandized rank-and-file citizenry .
The Afghanistan Papers established conclusively that the occupation has been unwinnable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ winning would even look like from the very beginning , and that this fact has been hidden from the world by systematic deceit for two decades .
The revelation was in the news for a day and then quickly memory holed without having any meaningful impact on the dominant narrative about Afghanistan , and now the mainstream consensus is that even trying to reduce the number of troops there is a hazardous and outlandish notion .
This is because the mainstream consensus is shaped not by facts , but by narrative .
We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Afghanistan Papers have played no role in shaping the dominant narrative about what should be done about the nineteen-year occupation , and we see it in the way the fact-free “ bounty ” narrative is shaping public opinion and determining US foreign policy .
The propagandists who manufacture consent for imperialist agendas understand that truth and facts play far less of a role in what the propagandized consider important than does mindless repetition and emotion .
The Empire Files has an absolutely phenomenal mini-documentary on the Afghanistan occupation which came out the other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Abby Martin quickly breaks down the geostrategic , resource control , and military-industrial complex agendas which are advanced by this interminable war , the deceit and depravity which went into initiating and maintaining it , and the devastating toll it has taken on the Afghan people .
I strongly encourage my readers to give it a view when you get the chance .
The continued Afghanistan occupation is like if the police stormed a house , shot a bunch of people , realized they got the wrong house and they ’ d @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for by staying there , stayed anyway , moved in , and then years later said they can ’ t move out because they heard a rumor that the neighbors are trying to make them leave .
In a sane world it would be the violent invasion and occupation of sovereign nations which elicits outrage and opposition from elected officials and intense skepticism and critical reporting from prominent journalists .
In today ’ s propaganda-maddened society we get the exact opposite : the invasions and occupations are treated as the normal default position @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regarded as outlandish .
This can not continue .
We must find a way to awaken from the brainwashing and force it to end .
Anyone who works to prevent this from happening is an enemy of human progress .
This is a dispatch from our ongoing series by Caitlin Johnstone NOTE : ALL CAPTIONS AND PULL QUOTES BY THE EDITORS , NOT 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
Seriously, Get The Hell Out Of Afghanistan
With overwhelming bipartisan support, the House Armed Services Committee has added a Liz Cheney-spearheaded amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which throws severe roadblocks in the Trump administration’s proposed scale-down of US military presence in Afghanistan and Germany.
As The Intercept‘s Glenn Greenwald notes, both parties advancing the amendment cited in their arguments the completely unsubstantiated intelligence leak that was recently published by credulous mass media reporters alleging that Russia has paid bounties to Taliban fighters for killing the occupying forces in Afghanistan. Yet another western imperialist agenda once again facilitated by unforgivably egregious journalistic malpractice in the mass media.
House Democrats, working with Liz Cheney, restrict Trump's planned withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Germany https://t.co/WZEjALgJHH — Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 2, 2020
Every aspect of this development is enraging.
The mass media have continued to add to their mountain of Gish gallop fallacies promoting this narrative with a new Daily Beast report citing former senior Taliban figure Mullah Manan Niazi who asserts that “The Taliban have been paid by Russian intelligence for attacks on U.S. forces—and on ISIS forces—in Afghanistan from 2014 up to the present.” The Beast’s own article admits that its source has severe conflicts of interest and is believed to be a CIA asset by Taliban leadership, and that Niazi provided no evidence of any kind for his claim or any further details whatsoever.
These flimsy, poorly-sourced allegations are being hammered into mainstream liberal consciousness on a daily basis now in the exact same way the discredited Russiagate psyop was, and just like with Russiagate the narrative they are being used to shape helps advance military expansionism and new cold war escalations which just so happen to fit perfectly into pre-existing geostrategic agendas of planetary domination.
The way mainstream news outlets consistently refuse to account for a fact so obvious and indisputable as intelligence agencies being known liars should by itself be enough to discredit the entire institution of mass news reporting. Yet here we are with these reports being treated as established fact throughout the entire political/media class and down through the entire population of propagandized rank-and-file citizenry.
The Afghanistan Papers established conclusively that the occupation has been unwinnable and without a clear picture of what winning would even look like from the very beginning, and that this fact has been hidden from the world by systematic deceit for two decades. The revelation was in the news for a day and then quickly memory holed without having any meaningful impact on the dominant narrative about Afghanistan, and now the mainstream consensus is that even trying to reduce the number of troops there is a hazardous and outlandish notion.
This is because the mainstream consensus is shaped not by facts, but by narrative. We see this in the way the fact-filled Afghanistan Papers have played no role in shaping the dominant narrative about what should be done about the nineteen-year occupation, and we see it in the way the fact-free “bounty” narrative is shaping public opinion and determining US foreign policy. The propagandists who manufacture consent for imperialist agendas understand that truth and facts play far less of a role in what the propagandized consider important than does mindless repetition and emotion.
The Empire Files has an absolutely phenomenal mini-documentary on the Afghanistan occupation which came out the other day, and everyone should watch it. Abby Martin quickly breaks down the geostrategic, resource control, and military-industrial complex agendas which are advanced by this interminable war, the deceit and depravity which went into initiating and maintaining it, and the devastating toll it has taken on the Afghan people. I strongly encourage my readers to give it a view when you get the chance.
The continued Afghanistan occupation is like if the police stormed a house, shot a bunch of people, realized they got the wrong house and they’d never find the guy they were looking for by staying there, stayed anyway, moved in, and then years later said they can’t move out because they heard a rumor that the neighbors are trying to make them leave.
In a sane world it would be the violent invasion and occupation of sovereign nations which elicits outrage and opposition from elected officials and intense skepticism and critical reporting from prominent journalists. In today’s propaganda-maddened society we get the exact opposite: the invasions and occupations are treated as the normal default position and any attempt to end them is regarded as outlandish.
This cannot continue. We must find a way to awaken from the brainwashing and force it to end. Anyone who works to prevent this from happening is an enemy of human progress.
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.
[post-views]
NOTE : ALL CAPTIONS AND PULL QUOTES BY THE EDITORS, NOT THE AUTHORS.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-03--This Russia-Afghanistan Story Is Western Propaganda At Its Most Vile

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All western mass media outlets are now shrieking about the story The New York Times first reported , citing zero evidence and naming zero sources , claiming intelligence says Russia paid out bounties to Taliban-linked fighters in Afghanistan for attacking the occupying forces of the US and its allies in Afghanistan .
As of this writing , and probably forevermore , there have still been zero intelligence sources named and zero evidence provided for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the only correct response to unsubstantiated claims by anonymous spooks in a post-Iraq invasion world is to assume that they are lying until you ’ ve been provided with a mountain of hard , independently verifiable evidence to the contrary .
The fact that The New York Times instead chose to uncritically parrot these evidence-free claims made by operatives within intelligence agencies with a known track record of lying about exactly these things is nothing short of journalistic malpractice .
The fact that western media outlets are now unanimously regurgitating these still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of state propaganda .
The consensus-manufacturing , Overton window-shrinking western propaganda apparatus has been in full swing with mass media outlets claiming on literally no basis whatsoever that they have confirmed one another ’ s “ great reporting ” on this completely unsubstantiated story .
`` All parties involved in spreading this malignant psyop are absolutely vile , but a special disdain should be reserved for the media class who have been entrusted by the public with the essential task of creating an informed populace and holding power to account ... '' “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Post have confirmed our reporting , ” the NYT story ’ s co-author Charlie Savage tweeted hours ago .
“ We have confirmed the New York Times ’ scoop : A Russian military spy unit offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to attack coalition forces in Afghanistan , ” tweeted The Washington Post ‘ s John Hudson .
“ We matched The New York Times ’ great reporting on how US intel has assessed that Russians paid Taliban to target US , coalition forces in Afg which is a pretty stunning development , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lubold .
All three of these men are lying .
John Hudson ’ s claim that the Washington Post article he co-authored “ confirmed the New York Times ’ scoop ” twice uses the words “ if confirmed ” with regard to his central claim , saying “ Russian involvement in operations targeting Americans , if confirmed , ” and “ The attempt to stoke violence against Americans , if confirmed “ .
This is of course an acknowledgement that these things have not , in fact , been confirmed .
The Wall @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cites only anonymous “ people ” , who we have no reason to believe are different people than NYT ’ s sources , repeating the same unsubstantiated assertions about an intelligence report .
The article cites no evidence that Lubold ’ s “ stunning development ” actually occurred beyond “ people familiar with the report said ” and “ a person familiar with it said “ .
The fact that both Hudson and Lubold were lying about having confirmed the New York Times ‘ reporting means that Savage was also lying when he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the report has been “ confirmed ” , what they really mean is that it has been agreed upon .
All the three of them actually did was use their profoundly influential outlets to uncritically parrot something nameless spooks want the public to believe , which is the same as just publishing a CIA press release free of charge .
It is unprincipled stenography for opaque and unaccountable intelligence agencies , and it is disgusting .
None of this should be happening .
The New York Times has admitted itself that it was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ claims which led to the Iraq invasion , as has The Washington Post .
There is no reason to believe Taliban fighters would require any bounty to attack an illegitimate occupying force .
The Russian government has denied these allegations .
The Taliban has denied these allegations .
The Trump administration has denied that the president or the vice president had any knowledge of the spook report in question , denouncing the central allegation that liberals who are promoting this story have been fixated on .
Yet this story is being magically transmuted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being based on literally zero factual evidence .
Outlets like CNN are running the story with the headline “ Russia offered bounties to Afghan militants to kill US troops “ , deceitfully presenting this as a verified fact .
Such dishonest headlines are joined by UK outlets like The Guardian who informs headline-skimmers that “ Russia offered bounty to kill UK soldiers “ , and the Murdoch-owned Sky News which went with “ Russia paid Taliban fighters to attack British troops in Afghanistan ” after “ confirming ” the story with anonymous British @ @ @ @ @ @ @ completely empty story into the mainstream consensus , not with facts , not with evidence , and certainly not with journalism , but with sheer brute force of narrative control .
And now you ’ ve got Joe Biden once again attacking Trump for being insufficiently warlike , this time because “ he failed to sanction or impose any kind of consequences on Russia for this egregious violation of international law ” .
You ’ ve also got former George W Bush lackey Richard Haas promoting “ a proportionate response ” to these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out covert wars vs US troops in Afghanistan and our democracy here at home , ” Haas tweeted with a link to the New York Times story .
“ A proportionate response would increase the costs to Russia of its military presence in Ukraine and Syria and , using sanctions and cyber , to challenge Putin at home.
” Haas is the president of the Council on Foreign Relations , a wildly influential think tank with its fingers in most major US news outlets .
And indeed , the unified campaign to shove @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in stark defiance of everything one learns in journalism school does appear to be geared toward advancing pre-existing foreign policy agendas which have nothing to do with any concern for the safety of US troops .
Analysts have pointed out that this new development arises just in time to sabotage the last of the nuclear treaties between the US and Russia , the scaling down of US military presence in Afghanistan , and , as Haas already openly admitted , any possibility of peace in Syria .
“ This story is published just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ talks , ” Antiwar ‘ s Dave DeCamp noted on Twitter .
“ As the US is preparing for a new arms race — and possibly even live nuclear tests — the New York Times provides a great excuse to let the New START lapse , making the world a much more dangerous place .
Russiagate has provided the cover for Trump to pull out of arms control agreements .
First the INF , then the Open Skies , and now possibly the New START .
Any talks or negotiations with Russia are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Times story will make things even worse.
” “ US ‘ intelligence ’ agencies ( ie , organized crime networks run by the state ) want to sabotage the ( admittedly very inadequate ) peace talks in Afghanistan , ” tweetedjournalist Ben Norton .
“ So they get best of both worlds : blame the Russian bogeyman , fueling the new cold war , while prolonging the military occupation .
It ’ s not a coincidence these dubious Western intelligence agency claims about Russia came just days after a breakthrough in peace talks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and trillions worth of minerals ) is too important to them.
” All parties involved in spreading this malignant psyop are absolutely vile , but a special disdain should be reserved for the media class who have been entrusted by the public with the essential task of creating an informed populace and holding power to account .
How much of an unprincipled whore do you have to be to call yourself a journalist and uncritically parrot the completely unsubstantiated assertions of spooks while protecting their anonymity ?
How much work did these empire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shred of their dignity ?
It boggles the mind .
It really is funny how the most influential news outlets in the western world will uncritically parrot whatever they ’ re told to say by the most powerful and depraved intelligence agencies on the planet , and then turn around and tell you without a hint of self-awareness that Russia and China are bad because they have state media .
Sometimes all you can do is laugh .
Seriously , Get The Hell Out Of Afghanistan With overwhelming bipartisan support , the House @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cheney-spearheaded amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act ( NDAA ) which throws severe roadblocks in the Trump administration ’ s proposed scale-down of US military presence in Afghanistan and Germany .
As The Intercept ‘ s Glenn Greenwald notes , both parties advancing the amendment cited in their arguments the completely unsubstantiated intelligence leak that was recently published by credulous mass media reporters alleging that Russia has paid bounties to Taliban fighters for killing the occupying forces in Afghanistan .
Yet another western imperialist agenda once again facilitated by unforgivably egregious journalistic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ aspect of this development is enraging .
The mass media have continued to add to their mountain of Gish gallop fallaciespromoting this narrative with a new Daily Beast report citing former senior Taliban figure Mullah Manan Niazi who asserts that “ The Taliban have been paid by Russian intelligence for attacks on U.S. forces—and on ISIS forces—in Afghanistan from 2014 up to the present.
” The Beast ’ s own article admits that its source has severe conflicts of interest and is believed to be a CIA asset by Taliban leadership , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kind for his claim or any further details whatsoever .
These flimsy , poorly-sourced allegations are being hammered into mainstream liberal consciousness on a daily basis now in the exact same way the discredited Russiagate psyop was , and just like with Russiagate the narrative they are being used to shape helps advance military expansionism and new cold war escalations which just so happen to fit perfectly into pre-existing geostrategic agendas of planetary domination .
The way mainstream news outlets consistently refuse to account for a fact so obvious and indisputable as intelligence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be enough to discredit the entire institution of mass news reporting .
Yet here we are with these reports being treated as established fact throughout the entire political/media class and down through the entire population of propagandized rank-and-file citizenry .
The Afghanistan Papers established conclusively that the occupation has been unwinnable and without a clear picture of what winning would even look like from the very beginning , and that this fact has been hidden from the world by systematic deceit for two decades .
The revelation was in the news for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ having any meaningful impact on the dominant narrative about Afghanistan , and now the mainstream consensus is that even trying to reduce the number of troops there is a hazardous and outlandish notion .
This is because the mainstream consensus is shaped not by facts , but by narrative .
We see this in the way the fact-filled Afghanistan Papers have played no role in shaping the dominant narrative about what should be done about the nineteen-year occupation , and we see it in the way the fact-free “ bounty ” narrative is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ policy .
The propagandists who manufacture consent for imperialist agendas understand that truth and facts play far less of a role in what the propagandized consider important than does mindless repetition and emotion .
The Empire Files has an absolutely phenomenal mini-documentary on the Afghanistan occupation which came out the other day , and everyone should watch it .
Abby Martin quickly breaks down the geostrategic , resource control , and military-industrial complex agendas which are advanced by this interminable war , the deceit and depravity which went into initiating and maintaining it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taken on the Afghan people .
I strongly encourage my readers to give it a view when you get the chance .
The continued Afghanistan occupation is like if the police stormed a house , shot a bunch of people , realized they got the wrong house and they ’ d never find the guy they were looking for by staying there , stayed anyway , moved in , and then years later said they can ’ t move out because they heard a rumor that the neighbors are trying to make them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would be the violent invasion and occupation of sovereign nations which elicits outrage and opposition from elected officials and intense skepticism and critical reporting from prominent journalists .
In today ’ s propaganda-maddened society we get the exact opposite : the invasions and occupations are treated as the normal default position and any attempt to end them is regarded as outlandish .
This can not continue .
We must find a way to awaken from the brainwashing and force it to end .
Anyone who works to prevent this from happening is an @ @ @ @ @

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Caitlin Johnstone
"There is no reason to believe Taliban fighters would require any bounty to attack an illegitimate occupying force...."
All western mass media outlets are now shrieking about the story The New York Times first reported, citing zero evidence and naming zero sources, claiming intelligence says Russia paid out bounties to Taliban-linked fighters in Afghanistan for attacking the occupying forces of the US and its allies in Afghanistan. As of this writing, and probably forevermore, there have still been zero intelligence sources named and zero evidence provided for this claim.
As we discussed yesterday, the only correct response to unsubstantiated claims by anonymous spooks in a post-Iraq invasion world is to assume that they are lying until you’ve been provided with a mountain of hard, independently verifiable evidence to the contrary. The fact that The New York Times instead chose to uncritically parrot these evidence-free claims made by operatives within intelligence agencies with a known track record of lying about exactly these things is nothing short of journalistic malpractice. The fact that western media outlets are now unanimously regurgitating these still 100 percent baseless assertions is nothing short of state propaganda.
The consensus-manufacturing, Overton window-shrinking western propaganda apparatus has been in full swing with mass media outlets claiming on literally no basis whatsoever that they have confirmed one another’s “great reporting” on this completely unsubstantiated story.
"All parties involved in spreading this malignant psyop are absolutely vile, but a special disdain should be reserved for the media class who have been entrusted by the public with the essential task of creating an informed populace and holding power to account..."
“The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post have confirmed our reporting,” the NYT story’s co-author Charlie Savage tweeted hours ago.
“We have confirmed the New York Times’ scoop: A Russian military spy unit offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to attack coalition forces in Afghanistan,” tweeted The Washington Post‘s John Hudson.
We have confirmed the @nytimes scoop: A Russian military spy unit offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to attack coalition forces in Afghanistan. From @nakashimae @missy_ryan me and @shaneharris https://t.co/R9tQf89L7G — John Hudson (@John_Hudson) June 27, 2020
“We matched The New York Times’ great reporting on how US intel has assessed that Russians paid Taliban to target US, coalition forces in Afg which is a pretty stunning development,” tweeted Wall Street Journal’s Gordon Lubold.
All three of these men are lying.
John Hudson’s claim that the Washington Post article he co-authored “confirmed the New York Times’ scoop” twice uses the words “if confirmed” with regard to his central claim, saying “Russian involvement in operations targeting Americans, if confirmed,” and “The attempt to stoke violence against Americans, if confirmed“. This is of course an acknowledgement that these things have not, in fact, been confirmed.
The Wall Street Journal article co-authored by Gordon Lubold cites only anonymous “people”, who we have no reason to believe are different people than NYT’s sources, repeating the same unsubstantiated assertions about an intelligence report. The article cites no evidence that Lubold’s “stunning development” actually occurred beyond “people familiar with the report said” and “a person familiar with it said“.
The fact that both Hudson and Lubold were lying about having confirmed the New York Times‘ reporting means that Savage was also lying when he said they did. When they say the report has been “confirmed”, what they really mean is that it has been agreed upon. All the three of them actually did was use their profoundly influential outlets to uncritically parrot something nameless spooks want the public to believe, which is the same as just publishing a CIA press release free of charge. It is unprincipled stenography for opaque and unaccountable intelligence agencies, and it is disgusting.
"The Washington Post and the WSJ were called up by the same unnamed 'officials' as we were.
They were told the same evidence free fairytale.
Their stenographers, like ours, wrote it dutifully down.
All of us proudly published it!"#confirmation https://t.co/bEZ2OYgsxb — Moon of Alabama (@MoonofA) June 27, 2020
None of this should be happening. The New York Times has admitted itself that it was wrong for uncritically parroting the unsubstantiated spook claims which led to the Iraq invasion, as has The Washington Post. There is no reason to believe Taliban fighters would require any bounty to attack an illegitimate occupying force. The Russian government has denied these allegations. The Taliban has denied these allegations. The Trump administration has denied that the president or the vice president had any knowledge of the spook report in question, denouncing the central allegation that liberals who are promoting this story have been fixated on.
Yet this story is being magically transmuted into an established fact, despite its being based on literally zero factual evidence.
Outlets like CNN are running the story with the headline “Russia offered bounties to Afghan militants to kill US troops“, deceitfully presenting this as a verified fact. Such dishonest headlines are joined by UK outlets like The Guardian who informs headline-skimmers that “Russia offered bounty to kill UK soldiers“, and the Murdoch-owned Sky News which went with “Russia paid Taliban fighters to attack British troops in Afghanistan” after “confirming” the story with anonymous British spooks.
Western propagandists are turning this completely empty story into the mainstream consensus, not with facts, not with evidence, and certainly not with journalism, but with sheer brute force of narrative control. And now you’ve got Joe Biden once again attacking Trump for being insufficiently warlike, this time because “he failed to sanction or impose any kind of consequences on Russia for this egregious violation of international law”.
You’ve also got former George W Bush lackey Richard Haas promoting “a proportionate response” to these baseless allegations.
Russia is carrying out covert wars vs US troops in Afghanistan and our democracy here at home. A proportionate response would increase the costs to Russia of its military presence in Ukraine & Syria and, using sanctions & cyber, to challenge Putin at home. https://t.co/c0Mc7sLriO — Richard N. Haass (@RichardHaass) June 27, 2020
“Russia is carrying out covert wars vs US troops in Afghanistan and our democracy here at home,” Haas tweeted with a link to the New York Times story. “A proportionate response would increase the costs to Russia of its military presence in Ukraine and Syria and, using sanctions and cyber, to challenge Putin at home.”
Haas is the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, a wildly influential think tank with its fingers in most major US news outlets.
And indeed, the unified campaign to shove this story down people’s throats in stark defiance of everything one learns in journalism school does appear to be geared toward advancing pre-existing foreign policy agendas which have nothing to do with any concern for the safety of US troops. Analysts have pointed out that this new development arises just in time to sabotage the last of the nuclear treaties between the US and Russia, the scaling down of US military presence in Afghanistan, and, as Haas already openly admitted, any possibility of peace in Syria.
“This story is published just in time to sabotage US-Russia arms control talks,” Antiwar‘s Dave DeCamp noted on Twitter. “As the US is preparing for a new arms race — and possibly even live nuclear tests — the New York Times provides a great excuse to let the New START lapse, making the world a much more dangerous place. Russiagate has provided the cover for Trump to pull out of arms control agreements. First the INF, then the Open Skies, and now possibly the New START. Any talks or negotiations with Russia are discouraged in this atmosphere, and this Times story will make things even worse.”
“US ‘intelligence’ agencies (ie, organized crime networks run by the state) want to sabotage the (admittedly very inadequate) peace talks in Afghanistan,” tweetedjournalist Ben Norton. “So they get best of both worlds: blame the Russian bogeyman, fueling the new cold war, while prolonging the military occupation. It’s not a coincidence these dubious Western intelligence agency claims about Russia came just days after a breakthrough in peace talks. Afghanistan’s geostrategic location (and trillions worth of minerals) is too important to them.”
We're seeing in real time how Western intelligence agencies are derailing peace talks aimed at ending the nearly 20-year war in Afghanistan. First anonymous US spies spread this rumor. Now anonymous European spies are doing the same. And the corporate media eats it up like candy https://t.co/l6Rze37MZx — Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) June 27, 2020
All parties involved in spreading this malignant psyop are absolutely vile, but a special disdain should be reserved for the media class who have been entrusted by the public with the essential task of creating an informed populace and holding power to account. How much of an unprincipled whore do you have to be to call yourself a journalist and uncritically parrot the completely unsubstantiated assertions of spooks while protecting their anonymity? How much work did these empire fluffers put into killing off every last shred of their dignity? It boggles the mind.
It really is funny how the most influential news outlets in the western world will uncritically parrot whatever they’re told to say by the most powerful and depraved intelligence agencies on the planet, and then turn around and tell you without a hint of self-awareness that Russia and China are bad because they have state media.
Sometimes all you can do is laugh.
Part 2 Seriously, Get The Hell Out Of Afghanistan
With overwhelming bipartisan support, the House Armed Services Committee has added a Liz Cheney-spearheaded amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which throws severe roadblocks in the Trump administration’s proposed scale-down of US military presence in Afghanistan and Germany.
As The Intercept‘s Glenn Greenwald notes, both parties advancing the amendment cited in their arguments the completely unsubstantiated intelligence leak that was recently published by credulous mass media reporters alleging that Russia has paid bounties to Taliban fighters for killing the occupying forces in Afghanistan. Yet another western imperialist agenda once again facilitated by unforgivably egregious journalistic malpractice in the mass media.
House Democrats, working with Liz Cheney, restrict Trump's planned withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Germany https://t.co/WZEjALgJHH — Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 2, 2020
Every aspect of this development is enraging.
The mass media have continued to add to their mountain of Gish gallop fallaciespromoting this narrative with a new Daily Beast report citing former senior Taliban figure Mullah Manan Niazi who asserts that “The Taliban have been paid by Russian intelligence for attacks on U.S. forces—and on ISIS forces—in Afghanistan from 2014 up to the present.” The Beast’s own article admits that its source has severe conflicts of interest and is believed to be a CIA asset by Taliban leadership, and that Niazi provided no evidence of any kind for his claim or any further details whatsoever.
These flimsy, poorly-sourced allegations are being hammered into mainstream liberal consciousness on a daily basis now in the exact same way the discredited Russiagate psyop was, and just like with Russiagate the narrative they are being used to shape helps advance military expansionism and new cold war escalations which just so happen to fit perfectly into pre-existing geostrategic agendas of planetary domination.
The way mainstream news outlets consistently refuse to account for a fact so obvious and indisputable as intelligence agencies being known liars should by itself be enough to discredit the entire institution of mass news reporting. Yet here we are with these reports being treated as established fact throughout the entire political/media class and down through the entire population of propagandized rank-and-file citizenry.
The Afghanistan Papers established conclusively that the occupation has been unwinnable and without a clear picture of what winning would even look like from the very beginning, and that this fact has been hidden from the world by systematic deceit for two decades. The revelation was in the news for a day and then quickly memory holed without having any meaningful impact on the dominant narrative about Afghanistan, and now the mainstream consensus is that even trying to reduce the number of troops there is a hazardous and outlandish notion.
This is because the mainstream consensus is shaped not by facts, but by narrative. We see this in the way the fact-filled Afghanistan Papers have played no role in shaping the dominant narrative about what should be done about the nineteen-year occupation, and we see it in the way the fact-free “bounty” narrative is shaping public opinion and determining US foreign policy. The propagandists who manufacture consent for imperialist agendas understand that truth and facts play far less of a role in what the propagandized consider important than does mindless repetition and emotion.
The Empire Files has an absolutely phenomenal mini-documentary on the Afghanistan occupation which came out the other day, and everyone should watch it. Abby Martin quickly breaks down the geostrategic, resource control, and military-industrial complex agendas which are advanced by this interminable war, the deceit and depravity which went into initiating and maintaining it, and the devastating toll it has taken on the Afghan people. I strongly encourage my readers to give it a view when you get the chance.
The continued Afghanistan occupation is like if the police stormed a house, shot a bunch of people, realized they got the wrong house and they’d never find the guy they were looking for by staying there, stayed anyway, moved in, and then years later said they can’t move out because they heard a rumor that the neighbors are trying to make them leave.
In a sane world it would be the violent invasion and occupation of sovereign nations which elicits outrage and opposition from elected officials and intense skepticism and critical reporting from prominent journalists. In today’s propaganda-maddened society we get the exact opposite: the invasions and occupations are treated as the normal default position and any attempt to end them is regarded as outlandish.
This cannot continue. We must find a way to awaken from the brainwashing and force it to end. Anyone who works to prevent this from happening is an enemy of human progress.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-03--Feline Miracle: Women find sealed boxes full of scared kittens

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Share with kin , friends and workmates and ask them to do likewise .
The backstory : Somebody left a few tightly sealed boxes in an alley , and by sheer luck a kindhearted passerby heard some anguished cries and took the boxes to a rescue group .
No one knows why the stranger —or strangers—who abandoned these animals did that instead of simply leaving the boxes right outside a shelter , and then calling to alert the staff .
It 's fairly elementary .
It 's also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fate of untold millions of young animals down the ages .
Surprisingly , the kittens were thirsty and demised , and covered in fleas , but otherwise in acceptable health .
Also , equally important for their future , they were not wild ; they had obviously had human contact .
Watch the video and ponder , how such things still happen in a civilized society .
My hat is off , as usual , to the dedication of these women .
People may not realize that up to 80 % of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is done by women around the world .
Women sometimes are at the helm of major Animalist organizations , such as PETA , but far more often they are anonymous soldiers , in the frontlines and the trenches , so to speak , doing the thankless tasks that prevent suffering for so many creatures .
Let us all salute and support their immense effort .
—PG Thank you for visiting our animal defence section .
Before leaving , please take a moment to reflect on these mind-numbing institutionalized cruelties .
The wheels of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reactionary creeds— are implacable and totally lacking in compassion .
This is a downed cow , badly hurt , but still being dragged to slaughter .
Click on this image to fully appreciate this horror repeated millions of times every day around the world .
With plentiful non-animal meat substitutes that fool the palate , there is no longer reason for this senseless suffering .
And meat consumption is a serious ecoanimal crime .
The tyranny of the palate must be broken .
Please consider changing your habits and those around you in @ @ @

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Intro note by Patrice Greanville
The backstory:
Somebody left a few tightly sealed boxes in an alley, and by sheer luck a kindhearted passerby heard some anguished cries and took the boxes to a rescue group. No one knows why the stranger —or strangers—who abandoned these animals did that instead of simply leaving the boxes right outside a shelter, and then calling to alert the staff. It's fairly elementary. It's also fortunate they were not killed outright, the fate of untold millions of young animals down the ages. Surprisingly, the kittens were thirsty and demised, and covered in fleas, but otherwise in acceptable health. Also, equally important for their future, they were not wild; they had obviously had human contact. Watch the video and ponder, how such things still happen in a civilized society. My hat is off, as usual, to the dedication of these women. People may not realize that up to 80% of the hard lifting on behalf of animals is done by women around the world. Women sometimes are at the helm of major Animalist organizations, such as PETA, but far more often they are anonymous soldiers, in the frontlines and the trenches, so to speak, doing the thankless tasks that prevent suffering for so many creatures. Let us all salute and support their immense effort. —PG
Thank you for visiting our animal defence section. Before leaving, please take a moment to reflect on these mind-numbing institutionalized cruelties.
The wheels of business and human food compulsions—often exacerbated by reactionary creeds— are implacable and totally lacking in compassion. This is a downed cow, badly hurt, but still being dragged to slaughter. Click on this image to fully appreciate this horror repeated millions of times every day around the world. With plentiful non-animal meat substitutes that fool the palate, there is no longer reason for this senseless suffering. And meat consumption is a serious ecoanimal crime. The tyranny of the palate must be broken. Please consider changing your habits and those around you in this regard.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-04--On Its Way Into Poverty Lebanon Is At The Crossroads

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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 Lebanon is drifting towards hyperinflation and armed strife .
The main reason is the deflating of a Ponzi scheme with which the governor of the Central Bank enriched Lebanese business banks and politicians .
Since December 1997 the rate of the Lebanese pound has been fixed at 1507.5 pounds per @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to import food , fuel for its electricity plants and pretty much everything else .
As Lebanon exported little but some hashish and ran a large budget deficit it needed other ways to continuously acquire dollar .
Tourism from the Gulf states brought some foreign currency and a large number of expatriates sent parts of their incomes home .
But neither was enough to pay for everything Lebanon imported .
The Central Bank started to increase its interest rate for dollar holdings to attract more of them .
The business banks set up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some of the highest rates around the globe .
Money came in .
The business banks lent those dollars to the Central Bank at ever higher interest rates .
Importing companies went to the Central Bank and exchanged their Lebanese pounds into dollars so they could pay for the goods from abroad .
Whenever their were too few dollars in its vault the Central Bank increased its interest rates to attract more of them .
It ended up offering above 20 % for U.S. dollar accounts .
In the normal economy it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the business banks .
In Lebanon the scheme reversed and insanely enriched the owners of the banks .
Meanwhile the local manufacturing and farming economy could not compete with the steady stream of cheap goods that came into the country .
It remains underdeveloped .
The war on Syria and Saudi discontent with Hizbullah 's role in Lebanon hit the tourism business .
Some people started to ask questions about the high interest rates .
In August 2019 the scheme broke down .
A parallel market rate developed .
Continuous financial pressures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trade deficit and deposit outflows had become too much .
Finally the truth came out .
There were no more dollars in the Central Bank 's vaults .
The dollar loans from the business banks to the Central Bank can not be paid back - at least not in dollars .
The dollar denominated saving accounts with the banks can only be paid out in Lebanese pounds .
The banks simply deny people access to their dollar accounts .
Their current worth is now some 15 % of their original value .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nominal assets in excess of 360 percent of Lebanon ’ s GDP .
Today hardly any are left .
The Lebanese pound has crashed to today 's exchange rate of 1 dollar for 9.500 pounds .
Hyperinflation has set in .
Today a chicken cost double as much as 10 days ago .
Many people are ruined .
Their life savings are gone .
Crime has already increased .
There will soon be hunger .
But the Lebanese bankers and politicians are still in denial : Lebanon has been in talks with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to overhaul its economy after its local currency lost some 80 % of its value on the black market .
The government drafted what it called a rescue plan that estimated losses incurred by the central bank and local lenders at 241 trillion pounds ( $ 69 billion ) , based on an exchange rate of 3,500 to the dollar , compared with the official peg of 1,507.50 .
But the currency reached 9,500 per greenback this week .
The central bank and the lenders , the government ’ s main creditors , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Banks put forward a proposal for state asset sales valued at $ 40 billion so that the government could repay what it owes .
The central bank , known as Banque Du Liban , argues that a different accounting approach shows a surplus rather than a loss .
Lawmakers then tried to consolidate the figures to a lesser number , also stalling talks with the IMF .
The disarray was exacerbated when two key economy officials resigned in protest over how politicians were handling the crisis .
Central bank Governor Riad Salameh , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the banking association met Thursday and discussed ways to agree on figures , a sign that officials and the main stakeholders have finally decided to reach a middle ground .
Riad Salameh , who has led the Central Bank since 1993 , needs to be fired .
The bank owners must be expropriated .
Together they ran a Ponzi scheme that has made millions dirt poor .
Those in the know about it got out before anyone else .
Their money is now safe in Switzerland or elsewhere .
Unfortunately the U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The government can not touch him .
It is also unable to reform .
Meanwhile no imports are coming in .
Electricity is available only 4 hours per day .
People are staring to kill themselves : The U.S. , Israel , the Saudis and their Sunni allies in Lebanon are using the situation to press for a new Lebanese government .
The Shia Hizbullah , which together with its allies has significant influence in the current one , is pressed to make room for Saudi and U.S. allies .
As many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crisis in Lebanon extends into Syria .
The U.S. also increased its sanctions on Syria .
The Syrian pound has fallen as much as the Lebanese one .
Fortunately Syria and Hizbullah have friends .
The Russian ambassador to Syria has said that his country is ready to provide help .
Iran has likewise offered support : Iran has agreed with the government of Damascus to put at its disposal goods worth one billion dollars , as Iran supplies the basic needs of its Syrian ally for food and fuel .
In response @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is prepared to open a line of credit to Lebanese companies similar to the one it provides Syria , worth one billion dollars .
Today Hezbollah has dozens of gasoline stations , under the name of al-Amana , and pharmacies , called al-Murtada , and other companies authorised and capable of receiving goods and shipments from Iran and sells them at much reduced price even to that part of the public that is not supportive of Hezbollah .
If Israel and the US believe they can stop this process , Hezbollah will not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a new Rule of Engagement .
Bombing targets in Israel may be necessary to ensure the arrival in Lebanon of fuel , foods and medicine .
Hizbullah will use the support from Iran to gain further goodwill and influence in Lebanon .
Unfortunately there are signs that the other side prepares for war : Tripoli , in the north of Lebanon , is a stronghold of Sunni Jihadis .
While these were previously under Saudi influence recent incidents have led some to believe that the Turkish secret service MIT is now involved with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ civil war the various Lebanese clans and sects are still ruled by the same old structures and by the same delusional people who are unwilling to consider any real change .
The economic crisis will be hard on the Lebanese people .
But the crisis is also a chance to for once eliminate the sectarian structures and to reform the now import dependent economy .
The current political system will either implode to be replaced with something sensible or it will explode into a new civil war .
Outside force seem to prefer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lebanon would be better off with choosing the first .
Posted by b on July 3 , 2020 at 17:03 UTC | Permalink '' 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 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 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 a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License .

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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
Lebanon is drifting towards hyperinflation and armed strife.
The main reason is the deflating of a Ponzi scheme with which the governor of the Central Bank enriched Lebanese business banks and politicians.
Since December 1997 the rate of the Lebanese pound has been fixed at 1507.5 pounds per U.S. dollar. The country needed dollars to import food, fuel for its electricity plants and pretty much everything else. As Lebanon exported little but some hashish and ran a large budget deficit it needed other ways to continuously acquire dollar. Tourism from the Gulf states brought some foreign currency and a large number of expatriates sent parts of their incomes home. But neither was enough to pay for everything Lebanon imported.
The Central Bank started to increase its interest rate for dollar holdings to attract more of them. The business banks set up dollar accounts for their customers and offered some of the highest rates around the globe. Money came in. The business banks lent those dollars to the Central Bank at ever higher interest rates.
Importing companies went to the Central Bank and exchanged their Lebanese pounds into dollars so they could pay for the goods from abroad. Whenever their were too few dollars in its vault the Central Bank increased its interest rates to attract more of them. It ended up offering above 20% for U.S. dollar accounts.
In the normal economy it is the Central Bank that is paid interest by the business banks. In Lebanon the scheme reversed and insanely enriched the owners of the banks. Meanwhile the local manufacturing and farming economy could not compete with the steady stream of cheap goods that came into the country. It remains underdeveloped.
The war on Syria and Saudi discontent with Hizbullah's role in Lebanon hit the tourism business. Some people started to ask questions about the high interest rates. In August 2019 the scheme broke down. A parallel market rate developed. Continuous financial pressures from unsustainable sovereign debt, a high trade deficit and deposit outflows had become too much.
Finally the truth came out. There were no more dollars in the Central Bank's vaults. The dollar loans from the business banks to the Central Bank can not be paid back - at least not in dollars. The dollar denominated saving accounts with the banks can only be paid out in Lebanese pounds. The banks simply deny people access to their dollar accounts. Their current worth is now some 15% of their original value.
In 2018 the much lauded Lebanese banks had nominal assets in excess of 360 percent of Lebanon’s GDP. Today hardly any are left.
The Lebanese pound has crashed to today's exchange rate of 1 dollar for 9.500 pounds. Hyperinflation has set in. Today a chicken cost double as much as 10 days ago. Many people are ruined. Their life savings are gone. Crime has already increased. There will soon be hunger.
But the Lebanese bankers and politicians are still in denial:
Lebanon has been in talks with the IMF for a $10 billion bailout to overhaul its economy after its local currency lost some 80% of its value on the black market. The government drafted what it called a rescue plan that estimated losses incurred by the central bank and local lenders at 241 trillion pounds ($69 billion), based on an exchange rate of 3,500 to the dollar, compared with the official peg of 1,507.50. But the currency reached 9,500 per greenback this week. The central bank and the lenders, the government’s main creditors, countered with estimates of their own. Banks put forward a proposal for state asset sales valued at $40 billion so that the government could repay what it owes. The central bank, known as Banque Du Liban, argues that a different accounting approach shows a surplus rather than a loss. Lawmakers then tried to consolidate the figures to a lesser number, also stalling talks with the IMF. The disarray was exacerbated when two key economy officials resigned in protest over how politicians were handling the crisis. Central bank Governor Riad Salameh, Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni and the head of the banking association met Thursday and discussed ways to agree on figures, a sign that officials and the main stakeholders have finally decided to reach a middle ground.
Riad Salameh, who has led the Central Bank since 1993, needs to be fired. The bank owners must be expropriated. Together they ran a Ponzi scheme that has made millions dirt poor. Those in the know about it got out before anyone else. Their money is now safe in Switzerland or elsewhere.
Unfortunately the U.S. embassy is protecting the Central Bank governor. The government can not touch him. It is also unable to reform.
Meanwhile no imports are coming in. Electricity is available only 4 hours per day. People are staring to kill themselves:
Two suicides in Lebanon on Friday, apparently linked to the country's deepening economic downturn, have sparked a new wave of criticism over the government's mishandling of the crisis. A 61-year-old man from the eastern region of Hermel shot himself on the sidewalk of a bustling Beirut shopping street in broad daylight, leaving a note and his clean criminal record at the scene. The note referenced a popular revolutionary song that mentions hunger, suggesting his suicide was linked to the economic crisis that has been ravaging livelihoods across the country. "He killed himself because of hunger," the man's cousin screamed as the security forces carried away the body.
The U.S., Israel, the Saudis and their Sunni allies in Lebanon are using the situation to press for a new Lebanese government. The Shia Hizbullah, which together with its allies has significant influence in the current one, is pressed to make room for Saudi and U.S. allies.
As many Syrians had money in Lebanese banks the crisis in Lebanon extends into Syria. The U.S. also increased its sanctions on Syria. The Syrian pound has fallen as much as the Lebanese one.
Fortunately Syria and Hizbullah have friends. The Russian ambassador to Syria has said that his country is ready to provide help. Iran has likewise offered support:
Iran has agreed with the government of Damascus to put at its disposal goods worth one billion dollars, as Iran supplies the basic needs of its Syrian ally for food and fuel. In response to the Lebanese current crisis, Iran is prepared to open a line of credit to Lebanese companies similar to the one it provides Syria, worth one billion dollars. Today Hezbollah has dozens of gasoline stations, under the name of al-Amana, and pharmacies, called al-Murtada, and other companies authorised and capable of receiving goods and shipments from Iran and sells them at much reduced price even to that part of the public that is not supportive of Hezbollah. If Israel and the US believe they can stop this process, Hezbollah will not hesitate to use military force, imposing a new Rule of Engagement. Bombing targets in Israel may be necessary to ensure the arrival in Lebanon of fuel, foods and medicine.
Hizbullah will use the support from Iran to gain further goodwill and influence in Lebanon. Unfortunately there are signs that the other side prepares for war:
Sam Heller @AbuJamajem - 15:07 UTC · Jul 2, 2020
.@AlakhbarNews: Syrian army interdicts truck of weapons at Homs border, while Lebanese military intel detains the Hermel-area arms dealer meant to deliver it to Tripoli. Separately, three men with military training arrested heading from Idlib to Tripoli.
Tripoli, in the north of Lebanon, is a stronghold of Sunni Jihadis. While these were previously under Saudi influence recent incidents have led some to believe that the Turkish secret service MIT is now involved with them.
Thirty years after their long civil war the various Lebanese clans and sects are still ruled by the same old structures and by the same delusional people who are unwilling to consider any real change.
The economic crisis will be hard on the Lebanese people. But the crisis is also a chance to for once eliminate the sectarian structures and to reform the now import dependent economy.
The current political system will either implode to be replaced with something sensible or it will explode into a new civil war. Outside force seem to prefer the latter option while the people of Lebanon would be better off with choosing the first.
Posted by b on July 3, 2020 at 17:03 UTC | Permalink
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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--2020-07-04--Overwhelming support for Putin’s constitution changes a wake-up call for Westerners who claim Russia

Overwhelming support for Putin’s constitution changes a wake-up call for Westerners who claim Russian system is bound to collapse

Please make sure these dispatches reach as many readers as possible .
Share with kin , friends and workmates and @ @ @ @ @ .
This essay is part of a series on cultural , scientific and esoteric matters @

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thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-04--MSM Coverage of Vladimir Putin, Russia, Has Dollops of McCarthyite Hysteria! (Prof. Richard Sakwa)

^5000The mainstream imperialist media lie CONSTANTLY .
Literally 24/7 .
And it 's getting worse .
All of them do @ @ @ @ @ , the newspapers , the movies .
The internet .
No exceptions .
The corporate @ @ @ @ @ totalitarian .
CBS does it .
NBC does it .
ABC does it .
CNN @ @ @ @ @ it .
NPR does it .
And of course the NYTimes and WaPo do it @ @ @ @ @ '' voices telling you the same lies .
Enough to convince anyone .

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.
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thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-07-04--“American Exceptionalism” is a Fact

“American Exceptionalism” is a Fact

Our culture of rugged individualism has privatized the idea of caring and minimized the emotional needs of others .
It allows for individual expressions of concern but brackets off any notion of social empathy .
This exemplifies what sociologists term “ feeling rules ” that are shaped by ideology and class and include the idea that thinking only about oneself is just “ common sense.
” We know that a chief function of the capitalist state and its minions is to desensitize the public ’ s empathic capacity ; eliminate any notion of the “ collective good ; ” and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ahead ” only through the pursuit of “ rational self-interest.
” Our culture of rugged individualism has privatized the idea of caring and minimized the emotional needs of others .
It allows for individual expressions of concern but brackets off any notion of social empathy .
This exemplifies what sociologists term “ feeling rules ” that are shaped by ideology and class and include the idea that thinking only about oneself is just “ common sense.
” We know that a chief function of the capitalist state and its minions is to desensitize @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eliminate any notion of the “ collective good ; ” and foster the belief that one “ gets ahead ” only through the pursuit of “ rational self-interest.
” This is facilitated by the neuronal plasticity of the brain which is culture-ready organ .
Although all brains are essentially the same , repeated cultural practices result in significantly different notions of the “ self ” and how emotions are regulated .
Over time , older working class values like solidarity and collective aspirations were destroyed , along with eradicating all thoughts in people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ improve their lives .
Our culture of rugged individualism has privatized the idea of caring and minimized the emotional needs of others .
It allows for individual expressions of concern but brackets off any notion of social empathy .
This exemplifies what sociologists term “ feeling rules ” that are shaped by ideology and class and include the idea that thinking only about oneself is just “ common sense.
” .
What is needed is to explain the origin of our culture , wherein the United States , powerful groups and their enablers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this case the genesis could not be more clear , as famed primate scientist Frans de Waal asserts , “ You need to indoctrinate empathy out of people in order to arrive at extreme capitalist positions.
” What we are seeing all around us is the feral neoliberal capitalist order having almost realized its penultimate goal .
However , it ’ s a mistake to privilege culture as the determining factor , as the explanation for our situation .
Empathy or the lack thereof doesn ’ t occur in a vacuum and our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ system ’ s ideology of unfettered greed and commodification of everything — even morals .
That is , cultural explanations are faulty because , as Michael Parenti has made clear , cultural explanations are closer to tautologies than to explanations.. What is needed is to explain the origin of our culture , wherein the United States , powerful groups and their enablers have created an empathy-devoid culture .
In this case the genesis could not be more clear , as famed primate scientist Frans de Waal asserts , “ You need to indoctrinate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arrive at extreme capitalist positions.
” What we are seeing all around us is the feral neoliberal capitalist order having almost realized its penultimate goal .
We have reached the point were large sectors of the population implicitly accept that the muting of empathic impulses is simply the human condition .
Society , as such , doesn ’ t exist in any meaningful sense and to act as if “ the common interest ” exists is not only futile and irrational but risks being an object of ridicule .

Our culture of rugged individualism has privatized the idea of caring and minimized the emotional needs of others. It allows for individual expressions of concern but brackets off any notion of social empathy. This exemplifies what sociologists term “feeling rules” that are shaped by ideology and class and include the idea that thinking only about oneself is just “common sense.” We know that a chief function of the capitalist state and its minions is to desensitize the public’s empathic capacity; eliminate any notion of the “collective good;” and foster the belief that one “gets ahead” only through the pursuit of “rational self-interest.”
This is facilitated by the neuronal plasticity of the brain which is culture-ready organ. Although all brains are essentially the same, repeated cultural practices result in significantly different notions of the “self” and how emotions are regulated. Over time, older working class values like solidarity and collective aspirations were destroyed, along with eradicating all thoughts in people’s heads that cooperative action can improve their lives.
Our culture of rugged individualism has privatized the idea of caring and minimized the emotional needs of others. It allows for individual expressions of concern but brackets off any notion of social empathy. This exemplifies what sociologists term “feeling rules” that are shaped by ideology and class and include the idea that thinking only about oneself is just “common sense.” . What is needed is to explain the origin of our culture, wherein the United States, powerful groups and their enablers have created an empathy-devoid culture. In this case the genesis could not be more clear, as famed primate scientist Frans de Waal asserts, “You need to indoctrinate empathy out of people in order to arrive at extreme capitalist positions.” What we are seeing all around us is the feral neoliberal capitalist order having almost realized its penultimate goal. However, it’s a mistake to privilege culture as the determining factor, as the explanation for our situation. Empathy or the lack thereof doesn’t occur in a vacuum and our culture is the legacy of the capitalist system’s ideology of unfettered greed and commodification of everything — even morals. That is, cultural explanations are faulty because, as Michael Parenti has made clear, cultural explanations are closer to tautologies than to explanations.. What is needed is to explain the origin of our culture, wherein the United States, powerful groups and their enablers have created an empathy-devoid culture. In this case the genesis could not be more clear, as famed primate scientist Frans de Waal asserts, “You need to indoctrinate empathy out of people in order to arrive at extreme capitalist positions.” What we are seeing all around us is the feral neoliberal capitalist order having almost realized its penultimate goal.
We have reached the point were large sectors of the population implicitly accept that the muting of empathic impulses is simply the human condition. Society, as such, doesn’t exist in any meaningful sense and to act as if “the common interest” exists is not only futile and irrational but risks being an object of ridicule.