thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-06--SITREP: A Venezuelan Bay of Pigs while the planet is under lockdown (enhanced and annotated)

In the early morning of the 3rd of May 2020 , an illegal foreign invasion was intended and aborted in the Caribbean small town named Chuao , in the Aragua State in Venezuela .
According to the available information , the invasion was successfully contained by Venezuelan Militias together with the regular armed forces in a joint operative .
At the moment , there is not a lot of information available , but it is clear that two US citizens and the son of a high ranked ex-officer of the Venezuelan Army were captured together with six more mercenaries , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attempt to topple the government of Nicolas Maduro is apparently linked to the operation that failed on Sunday May 3rd , executed on the coast near Caracas , Macuto which ended with a green beret imprisoned by the government agents .
The operation was carried out by a CIA/Pentagon connected American mercenary outfit , Silvercorp , based in Florida .
Juan Guaido ’ s fingerprints are all over the place and were verified by the confession of none other than Silvercorp 's own head , Jordan Goudreau , testifying to the existence of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As if this confession were not enough , we also have his plea for respect of the human rights of Silvercorp 's mercenaries involved .
Meanwhile in the Imperial mainland , many more were or made aware of the operations leaving as well all sorts of fingerprints , not difficult to elucidate even for starved and untrained imperial vassals .
We have the trail of tweets that preceded the apparently very secret operations of the Silvercorp commands .
1.- Silvercorp itself tweets to The Donald about the readiness and high efficiency of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
2.- Marianella Salazar , former Venezuelan journalist exiled in Miami tweets as well the night before the events As well a video showing Goudreau and Nieto , was aired some hours before the attempted invasion .
Also involved and captured is Josnars Adolfo Baduel , son of General Baduel who was a former close collaborator of Hugo Chavez who later betrayed him and who joined the coup attempt of April 2002 .
While all events keep unfolding and more information is breaking through , we have a contemporary Pontius Pilate washing his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ succeeded he would be claiming credit . )
Here are some photos of the folks who wanted to invade Venezuela : Seems like this guy was close to Trump , at least on one photo , maybe a bodyguard or security ?
This is a mercenary from the Silvercorp PMC .
Here the caption says “ expectations ” and “ reality ” : Here is another one of those “ invincible ” Hollywood special operators ( the star is John Krasinski , following in the steps of `` 24 '' star Keith Sutherland @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happy to present empire 's propaganda apparatus as sexy , heroic and necessary ) : and here is what they look like in reality : they sure don ’ t look as cocky now : proof of nationality ?
Sure , these “ experts ” took their passports with them ( !
! )
As usual the American media , easily the worst and most cynical information system in the world , is providing scanty and twisted reports on this botched attempt at `` regime change '' in Venezuela , but other channels @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Washington , have come up with pieces that resemble journalism .
Here 's Al Jazeera 's take : Those lucky enough to be fluent in Spanish can watch this account by the Venezuelan president himself , Nicolas Maduro : The sheer arrogance and indecency of the US government is showing everywhere one cares to look .
The fact the captured men are now talking and throwing even Donald Trump under the bus , is quite typical : these men are simply mercenaries , ignorant and seduced by imperial hubris and money , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which they became involved .
They just want to save their asses and go home .

In the early morning of the 3rd of May 2020, an illegal foreign invasion was intended and aborted in the Caribbean small town named Chuao, in the Aragua State in Venezuela. According to the available information, the invasion was successfully contained by Venezuelan Militias together with the regular armed forces in a joint operative.
At the moment, there is not a lot of information available, but it is clear that two US citizens and the son of a high ranked ex-officer of the Venezuelan Army were captured together with six more mercenaries, as informed by TeleSur
https://twitter.com/camilateleSUR/status/1257545708716113920
This failed new attempt to topple the government of Nicolas Maduro is apparently linked to the operation that failed on Sunday May 3rd, executed on the coast near Caracas, Macuto which ended with a green beret imprisoned by the government agents. The operation was carried out by a CIA/Pentagon connected American mercenary outfit, Silvercorp, based in Florida.
Juan Guaido’s fingerprints are all over the place and were verified by the confession of none other than Silvercorp's own head, Jordan Goudreau, testifying to the existence of a contract between himself and Guaido. As if this confession were not enough, we also have his plea for respect of the human rights of Silvercorp's mercenaries involved.
Photo: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EXPIdBfXYAEnJDC?format=jpg&name=small
Meanwhile in the Imperial mainland, many more were or made aware of the operations leaving as well all sorts of fingerprints, not difficult to elucidate even for starved and untrained imperial vassals. We have the trail of tweets that preceded the apparently very secret operations of the Silvercorp commands.
1.- Silvercorp itself tweets to The Donald about the readiness and high efficiency of the, at that time still future operation.
2.- Marianella Salazar, former Venezuelan journalist exiled in Miami tweets as well the night before the events
https://twitter.com/AliasMalula/status/1256771384807751680
La noche promete... no será fácil conciliar el sueño — Marianella Salazar (@AliasMalula) May 3, 2020
As well a video showing Goudreau and Nieto, was aired some hours before the attempted invasion.
https://www.facebook.com/MisionVerdadEnVzla/videos/1888201781313396/
https://www.facebook.com/MisionVerdadEnVzla/videos/1888201781313396/
Also involved and captured is Josnars Adolfo Baduel, son of General Baduel who was a former close collaborator of Hugo Chavez who later betrayed him and who joined the coup attempt of April 2002.
While all events keep unfolding and more information is breaking through, we have a contemporary Pontius Pilate washing his hands. (If the operation had succeeded he would be claiming credit.)
Trump on U.S. mercenaries captured in Venezuela, “I just got information. Nothing to do with our government.." (11am on the White House South Lawn) pic.twitter.com/5XcwW5RHZX — Camila (@camilateleSUR) May 5, 2020
Here are some photos of the folks who wanted to invade Venezuela:
Seems like this guy was close to Trump, at least on one photo, maybe a bodyguard or security?
This is a mercenary from the Silvercorp PMC.
Here the caption says “expectations” and “reality”:
Here is another one of those “invincible” Hollywood special operators (the star is John Krasinski, following in the steps of "24" star Keith Sutherland, one of those imbecilic Hollywood actors happy to present empire's propaganda apparatus as sexy, heroic and necessary):
and here is what they look like in reality:
they sure don’t look as cocky now:
proof of nationality? Sure, these “experts” took their passports with them (!!)


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-06--New Details Emerge Linking US to Latest Coup Attempt in Venezuela

The Daily Mail succeeds in poisoning the waters only so much .
The truth is too obvious even for these professional disinformers to hide .
Observe their headlines and intro lines below : EXCLUSIVE : 'He deserves to come home . '
Brother of one of the American 'mercenaries ' captured during a failed attempt to overthrow Venezuela 's Nicolás Maduro pleads with the U.S. government to save his life • Luke Denman , 34 , and Airan Berry , 41 , were arrested Monday , Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said • The men are former U.S. special forces soldiers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ men captured by the security forces of the ruling Maduro regime • The arrests came a day after an attempted military coup was launched to overthrow the socialist Venezuelan government he government of Venezuela is celebrating after thwarting another foreign-backed coup attempt Sunday , just two days after self-declared another coup attempt by “ Interim President ” Juan Guaidó ended in total failure .
A flotilla of small speed boats filled with up to 300 paramilitary units , sailed from their training ground in Colombia heading for a port near the country ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were aiming to kickstart an insurrection .
They confidently predicted they would be in the Miraflores presidential palace within 96 hours .
However , the mission went spectacularly wrong almost immediately , as they were intercepted by the Venezuelan Navy , who reportedly killed at least eight in the fighting at sea , capturing many others .
Interior Minister Nestor Reverol appeared on television to inform the public that in the early hours of Sunday , “ A maritime invasion was attempted by a group of terrorist mercenaries coming from Colombia with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country , assassinating leaders of the revolutionary government , increase the spiral of violence , generate chaos and confusion among the public , and from that , spark a new attempt at a coup d ’ etat.
” Reverol praised the quick response of the armed forces and police in repelling the invasion .
“ It would seem that the foiled imperialists ’ attempts to overthrow the legitimately constituted government led by Nicolas Maduro has pushed them to formulate excessive actions that , without any doubt , deserve the forceful repudiation of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” he concluded .
Both Guaidó and the U.S. State Department denied any involvement in the embarrassing affair , the latter releasing a statement reading “ The Maduro regime has been consistent in its use of misinformation in order to shift focus from its mismanagement of Venezuela.
” On Friday , Guaidó attempted his own coup d ’ etat , apparently with U.S. input , but it went so poorly that few , even inside Venezuela , noticed .
However , there is extremely strong evidence to suggest that both Guaidó and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ botched insurrection from the start , and it is not clear that Friday ’ s attempt was distinct from Sunday ’ s .
Firstly , Jordan Goudreau , an ex-Green Beret and the owner of a large private mercenary organization in Florida came forward to reveal that he organized the coup attempt – and he had the receipts to prove it .
Goudreau produced a signed $ 212 million contract drawn up between him and Guaidó , where the Venezuelan would pay his company nearly a quarter-billion dollars for “ strategic planning ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Goudreau said he had also been in contact with the U.S. government .
Furthermore , in an interview , one of the captured coup-plotters confirmed that two American citizens have also been detained and that they are connected to President Trump ’ s security team .
It should also be understood that Goudreau is not a whistleblower .
Far from it ; he is proud of his actions , despite their failure .
“ Nothing I ’ m doing is illegal , ” he dubiously asserted , “ There are other people in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
They just need a catalyst , ” he added , just as questionably .
His social media accounts show him to be a strong supporter of President Trump and the “ Make America Great Again ” Movement .
The only reason he produced the documents , he revealed , is that Guaidó stiffed him for the money , refusing to pay even a $ 1.5 million retainer fee .
“ They kept promising to pay , week after week , ” he revealed in an interview with a Spanish-language TV station .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ unexpected coming from a politician who promised Mike Pence that he controlled half the Venezuelan military and is widely accused of embezzling over $ 90 million of U.S. public money .
A December poll found him to have a favorability rating of 10 percent and an unfavorability rating of 69 percent .
That was before he was removed by his allies from his role of head of the Venezuelan National Assembly and even removed as a member of his own party .
Goudreau ’ s company , Silvercorp , is a private entity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ does across Latin America without the aid of the United States .
In recent decades , the practice of regime change has been outsourced from the government itself to semi-private corporations , giving the White House some form of plausible deniability to its operations .
National Endowment for Democracy founder Allen Weinstein helpfully explained to The Washington Post what his organization ’ s role was : “ A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA , ” he said .
However , when it comes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ far from successful .
The weekend ’ s coup attempts were the latest in a long line of botched U.S.-backed regime change attempts .
In 2019 , Juan Guaidó tried four times – in January , April and twice in November – to overthrow Maduro and force his way into power , despite never having even run for the nation ’ s top office .
The attempt in April consisted mostly of him posing on a bridge above a military base , insisting to the nation that he had captured it and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The charade became increasingly hard to sustain after state TV began broadcasting from inside the base , revealing how small his group of supporters were .
The November coups went so poorly that most Venezuelans did not even realize they had happened .
Meanwhile , his co-conspirators from the January event fled to the U.S. , where they thought they would be treated as heroes .
Instead , they were arrested and incarcerated in an ICE concentration camp for illegally crossing the border , and have remained there ever since .
In 2018 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ using a drone bomb while he was giving a public speech .
In 2014 and 2017 it unleashed a deadly wave of terror , bombing subway stations , buses , grain stores , pre-schools and universities , and lynching and burning Afro-Venezuelans in the street .
This was largely presented as a peaceful protest in Western media .
Meanwhile , in 2013 and 2018 they refused to accept their electoral defeats , instead urging their supporters to “ vent their anger ” on the streets , leading to many deaths .
Going further @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to have former President Hugo Chavez sectioned under the mental health clause in the new constitution , claiming he was insane .
Throughout this , the United States has provided crucial help , spending hundreds of millions of dollars funding any group opposing the socialists .
In recent years it has also inflicted deadly sanctions on the country , responsible for economic collapse and over 100,000 deaths , according to an American UN Special Rapporteur who visited the country .
All this in the name of democracy promotion .
“ What do you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one of Sunday ’ s coup leaders .
“ It may take five , even ten failed attempts , but we will get rid of this government.
” What a strange dictatorship Venezuela is , where world-renowned pro-democracy activists can wage decade-long campaigns of terrorism , assassinations and coups , free to travel the country and the world promoting their cause with virtually no consequences from the tyrannical government .
Feature photo | Security forces patrol near the shore in the port city of La Guaira , Venezuela , May 3 , 2020 @ @ @ @ @

The Daily Mail succeeds in poisoning the waters only so much. The truth is too obvious even for these professional disinformers to hide. Observe their headlines and intro lines below:
EXCLUSIVE: 'He deserves to come home.' Brother of one of the American 'mercenaries' captured during a failed attempt to overthrow Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro pleads with the U.S. government to save his life
Luke Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41, were arrested Monday, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said
The men are former U.S. special forces soldiers and are believed to be among eight men captured by the security forces of the ruling Maduro regime
The arrests came a day after an attempted military coup was launched to overthrow the socialist Venezuelan government
END OF SIDEBAR
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he government of Venezuela is celebrating after thwarting another foreign-backed coup attempt Sunday, just two days after self-declared another coup attempt by “Interim President” Juan Guaidó ended in total failure . A flotilla of small speed boats filled with up to 300 paramilitary units , sailed from their training ground in Colombia heading for a port near the country’s capital Caracas, from where they were aiming to kickstart an insurrection. They confidently predicted they would be in the Miraflores presidential palace within 96 hours. However, the mission went spectacularly wrong almost immediately, as they were intercepted by the Venezuelan Navy, who reportedly killed at least eight in the fighting at sea, capturing many others.
Interior Minister Nestor Reverol appeared on television to inform the public that in the early hours of Sunday, “A maritime invasion was attempted by a group of terrorist mercenaries coming from Colombia with the intent of committing acts of terrorism in the country, assassinating leaders of the revolutionary government, increase the spiral of violence, generate chaos and confusion among the public, and from that, spark a new attempt at a coup d’etat.” Reverol praised the quick response of the armed forces and police in repelling the invasion. “It would seem that the foiled imperialists’ attempts to overthrow the legitimately constituted government led by Nicolas Maduro has pushed them to formulate excessive actions that, without any doubt, deserve the forceful repudiation of our people and the international community,” he concluded.
[English subtitles] Statements by Venezuela's Minister of Interior @NestorLReverol on this morning's foiled mercenary terrorist incursion on the coast of La Guaira (via @camilateleSUR) https://t.co/BfW9QrHqey pic.twitter.com/bxhlNkguT1 — Hands Off Venezuela (@HOVcampaign) May 3, 2020
The American connection
Both Guaidó and the U.S. State Department denied any involvement in the embarrassing affair, the latter releasing a statement reading “The Maduro regime has been consistent in its use of misinformation in order to shift focus from its mismanagement of Venezuela.” On Friday, Guaidó attempted his own coup d’etat, apparently with U.S. input, but it went so poorly that few, even inside Venezuela, noticed.
However, there is extremely strong evidence to suggest that both Guaidó and the U.S. government were intimately involved in the botched insurrection from the start, and it is not clear that Friday’s attempt was distinct from Sunday’s. Firstly, Jordan Goudreau, an ex-Green Beret and the owner of a large private mercenary organization in Florida came forward to reveal that he organized the coup attempt – and he had the receipts to prove it. Goudreau produced a signed $212 million contract drawn up between him and Guaidó, where the Venezuelan would pay his company nearly a quarter-billion dollars for “strategic planning” and “project execution” services. Goudreau said he had also been in contact with the U.S. government. Furthermore, in an interview, one of the captured coup-plotters confirmed that two American citizens have also been detained and that they are connected to President Trump’s security team.
It should also be understood that Goudreau is not a whistleblower. Far from it; he is proud of his actions, despite their failure. “Nothing I’m doing is illegal,” he dubiously asserted, “There are other people in the country who are ready to flip. They just need a catalyst,” he added, just as questionably. His social media accounts show him to be a strong supporter of President Trump and the “Make America Great Again” Movement. The only reason he produced the documents, he revealed, is that Guaidó stiffed him for the money, refusing to pay even a $1.5 million retainer fee. “They kept promising to pay, week after week,” he revealed in an interview with a Spanish-language TV station. This sort of behavior is perhaps not unexpected coming from a politician who promised Mike Pence that he controlled half the Venezuelan military and is widely accused of embezzling over $90 million of U.S. public money. A December poll found him to have a favorability rating of 10 percent and an unfavorability rating of 69 percent. That was before he was removed by his allies from his role of head of the Venezuelan National Assembly and even removed as a member of his own party.
Goudreau’s company, Silvercorp, is a private entity, but could not do what it does across Latin America without the aid of the United States. In recent decades, the practice of regime change has been outsourced from the government itself to semi-private corporations, giving the White House some form of plausible deniability to its operations. National Endowment for Democracy founder Allen Weinstein helpfully explained to The Washington Post what his organization’s role was: “A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA,” he said. However, when it comes to Venezuela, the U.S. has been far from successful.
A timeline of incompetence
The weekend’s coup attempts were the latest in a long line of botched U.S.-backed regime change attempts. In 2019, Juan Guaidó tried four times – in January, April and twice in November – to overthrow Maduro and force his way into power, despite never having even run for the nation’s top office. The attempt in April consisted mostly of him posing on a bridge above a military base, insisting to the nation that he had captured it and the armed forces were rebelling against Maduro. The charade became increasingly hard to sustain after state TV began broadcasting from inside the base, revealing how small his group of supporters were. The November coups went so poorly that most Venezuelans did not even realize they had happened. Meanwhile, his co-conspirators from the January event fled to the U.S., where they thought they would be treated as heroes. Instead, they were arrested and incarcerated in an ICE concentration camp for illegally crossing the border, and have remained there ever since.
In 2018, the opposition attempted to assassinate Maduro using a drone bomb while he was giving a public speech. In 2014 and 2017 it unleashed a deadly wave of terror, bombing subway stations, buses, grain stores, pre-schools and universities, and lynching and burning Afro-Venezuelans in the street. This was largely presented as a peaceful protest in Western media. Meanwhile, in 2013 and 2018 they refused to accept their electoral defeats, instead urging their supporters to “vent their anger” on the streets, leading to many deaths. Going further back, in 2001, they attempted to have former President Hugo Chavez sectioned under the mental health clause in the new constitution, claiming he was insane. Throughout this, the United States has provided crucial help, spending hundreds of millions of dollars funding any group opposing the socialists. In recent years it has also inflicted deadly sanctions on the country, responsible for economic collapse and over 100,000 deaths, according to an American UN Special Rapporteur who visited the country. All this in the name of democracy promotion.
“What do you want us to do?” asked one of Sunday’s coup leaders. “It may take five, even ten failed attempts, but we will get rid of this government.” What a strange dictatorship Venezuela is, where world-renowned pro-democracy activists can wage decade-long campaigns of terrorism, assassinations and coups, free to travel the country and the world promoting their cause with virtually no consequences from the tyrannical government.
Feature photo | Security forces patrol near the shore in the port city of La Guaira, Venezuela, May 3, 2020. Matias Delacroix | AP


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-06--As Death Toll Increases Blame China Campaign Intensifies

Please make sure these dispatches reach as many readers as possible .
Share with kin , friends and workmates and ask them to do likewise .
DISPATCHES FROM MOON OF ALABAMA , BY `` B '' This article is part of an ongoing series of dispatches from Moon of Alabama The Trump administration will continue its efforts to blame China for the novel Coronavirus because the epidemic situation in U.S. will soon become worse : As President Trump presses for states to reopen their economies , his administration is privately projecting a steady rise in the number of cases and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weeks , reaching about 3,000 daily deaths on June 1 , according to an internal document obtained by The New York Times , nearly double from the current level of about 1,750 .
The projections , based on modeling by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and pulled together in chart form by the Federal Emergency Management Agency , forecast about 200,000 new cases each day by the end of the month , up from about 25,000 cases now .
There continues to be some infighting between the Trump administration and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ administration wanted the U.S. intelligence services to claim that the virus was probably manmade or escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan .
The intelligence services disagree with the administration on both points .
The administration then penned a paper from open sources that contains those and other allegations and pushed it to friendly media .
Wuhan lab 'most likely ' coronavirus source , U.S. government analysis finds - Washington Times , Apr 28 A Wuhan laboratory is the “ most likely ” source of the COVID-19 outbreak now ravaging the globe , according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the evidence and concludes that other explanations for the origin of the coronavirus are less credible .
The document , compiled from open sources and not a finished product , says there is no smoking gun to blame the virus on either the Wuhan Institute of Virology or the Wuhan branch of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention , both located in the city where the first outbreaks were reported .
But “ there is circumstantial evidence to suggest such may be the case , ” the paper says .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ origin have been proven to be highly unlikely , ” the document concludes .
A copy of the report , compiled this month , was obtained by The Washington Times .
A ' U.S .
government analysis ' based on open sources is not an intelligence product but a writeup on Google searches by some intern .
But there was pressure to make it into an official intelligence judgment .
Trump Officials Are Said to Press Spies to Link Virus and Wuhan Labs- NY Times , Apr 30 That this leaked at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intelligence services were resisting the push from their higher ups .
More push back followed with an official statement .
“ The entire Intelligence Community has been consistently providing critical support to U.S. policymakers and those responding to the COVID-19 virus , which originated in China .
The Intelligence Community also concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified .
“ As we do in all crises , the Community ’ s experts respond by surging resources and producing critical intelligence on issues vital to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ continue to rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence to determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan.
” That was not good enough for the `` We lied , we stole , we cheated '' Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ( vid ) .
RADDATZ : And , Mr. Secretary , have you seen anything that gives you high confidence that it originated in that Wuhan lab ?
POMPEO : Martha , there 's enormous evidence that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I can tell you that there is a significant amount of evidence that this came from that laboratory in Wuhan .
RADDATZ : Do you believe it was manmade or genetically modified ?
POMPEO : Look , the best experts so far seem to think it was manmade .
I have no reason to disbelieve that at this point .
RADDATZ : Your -- your Office of the DNI says the consensus , the scientific consensus was not manmade or genetically modified .
POMPEO : That 's right .
I -- I -- @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I 've -- I 've seen their analysis .
I 've seen the summary that you saw that was released publicly .
I have no reason to doubt that that is accurate at this point .
Then the same dodgy paper that was shopped to the Washington Times a week earlier appeared in an Australian broadsheet .
Coronavirus NSW : Dossier lays out case against China bat virus program - Daily Telegraph , May 4 A `` research document '' prepared by `` concerned Western governments '' is not an intelligence product .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ made the paper into one .
Leaked Western intel dossier reveals how China deceived the world about coronavirus - Foxnews , Apr 4 The Australian Telegraph never claimed that the dossier was a `` Five Eyes '' product .
That is a Foxnews invention .
The five eyes countries share intelligence but they do not produce common dossiers or analyses .
Each service does that separately for its own government .
Only a few hours after the Telegraph had published the above the Australian intelligence services shot the nonsense down .
Senior members @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sydney Morning Herald and The Age a research document shared in political circles under the Five Eyes intelligence arrangement was mostly based on news reports and contained no material from intelligence gathering .
A 15-page `` dossier '' has been widely quoted by local and international media about China 's alleged cover-up of the virus .
Australian intelligence officials have since identified a research report which was based entirely on open source material .
The officials said it was likely the reports were the same .
...
Multiple senior intelligence sources who spoke @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Age in recent days have confirmed that Australia has still not been provided with any evidence that strongly suggests the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the source of the outbreak .
Intelligence agencies have not been able to rule out the Wuhan lab , but the more likely cause of the virus is still the city 's Huanan Seafood Market where environmental samples of the virus were found .
The WHO also said that its had received no evidence from the U.S. about the 'speculative ' Wuhan laboratory claim .
The Trump administration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the intelligence services will hopefully continue to resist the pressure they are under .
As the U.S. will soon have as many death per day from covid-19 as it had casualties on 9/11 the risk of a ( military ? )
escalation against China based on false claims will soon become exceptionally high .
Posted by b on May 4 , 2020 at 18:20 UTC | Permalink '' b '' is Moon of Alabama 's founding ( and chief ) editor .
This site 's purpose is to discuss politics , economics , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 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 a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License .

Please make sure these dispatches reach as many readers as possible. Share with kin, friends and workmates and ask them to do likewise.
DISPATCHES FROM MOON OF ALABAMA, BY "B"
This article is part of an ongoing series of dispatches from Moon of Alabama
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Trump administration will continue its efforts to blame China for the novel Coronavirus because the epidemic situation in U.S. will soon become worse:
As President Trump presses for states to reopen their economies, his administration is privately projecting a steady rise in the number of cases and deaths from coronavirus over the next several weeks, reaching about 3,000 daily deaths on June 1, according to an internal document obtained by The New York Times, nearly double from the current level of about 1,750. The projections, based on modeling by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and pulled together in chart form by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, forecast about 200,000 new cases each day by the end of the month, up from about 25,000 cases now.
There continues to be some infighting between the Trump administration and the intelligence services about blaming China. The administration wanted the U.S. intelligence services to claim that the virus was probably manmade or escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan. The intelligence services disagree with the administration on both points.
The administration then penned a paper from open sources that contains those and other allegations and pushed it to friendly media.
Wuhan lab 'most likely' coronavirus source, U.S. government analysis finds - Washington Times, Apr 28
A Wuhan laboratory is the “most likely” source of the COVID-19 outbreak now ravaging the globe, according to a U.S. government analysis that catalogs the evidence and concludes that other explanations for the origin of the coronavirus are less credible. The document, compiled from open sources and not a finished product, says there is no smoking gun to blame the virus on either the Wuhan Institute of Virology or the Wuhan branch of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, both located in the city where the first outbreaks were reported. But “there is circumstantial evidence to suggest such may be the case,” the paper says. “All other possible places of the virus’ origin have been proven to be highly unlikely,” the document concludes. A copy of the report, compiled this month, was obtained by The Washington Times.
A 'U.S. government analysis' based on open sources is not an intelligence product but a writeup on Google searches by some intern. But there was pressure to make it into an official intelligence judgment.
Trump Officials Are Said to Press Spies to Link Virus and Wuhan Labs- NY Times, Apr 30
Senior Trump administration officials have pushed American spy agencies to hunt for evidence to support an unsubstantiated theory that a government laboratory in Wuhan, China, was the origin of the coronavirus outbreak, according to current and former American officials.
...
Most intelligence agencies remain skeptical that conclusive evidence of a link to a lab can be found, and scientists who have studied the genetics of the coronavirus say that the overwhelming probability is that it leapt from animal to human in a nonlaboratory setting, as was the case with H.I.V., Ebola and SARS.
That this leaked at all was the first sign that the intelligence services were resisting the push from their higher ups. More push back followed with an official statement.
Intelligence Community Statement on Origins of COVID-19 - ODNI, Apr 30
“The entire Intelligence Community has been consistently providing critical support to U.S. policymakers and those responding to the COVID-19 virus, which originated in China. The Intelligence Community also concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified. “As we do in all crises, the Community’s experts respond by surging resources and producing critical intelligence on issues vital to U.S. national security. The IC will continue to rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence to determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan.”
That was not good enough for the "We lied, we stole, we cheated" Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (vid).
ABCNews 'This Week' Transcript 5-3-20
RADDATZ: And, Mr. Secretary, have you seen anything that gives you high confidence that it originated in that Wuhan lab? POMPEO: Martha, there's enormous evidence that that's where this began. ... I can tell you that there is a significant amount of evidence that this came from that laboratory in Wuhan. RADDATZ: Do you believe it was manmade or genetically modified? POMPEO: Look, the best experts so far seem to think it was manmade. I have no reason to disbelieve that at this point. RADDATZ: Your -- your Office of the DNI says the consensus, the scientific consensus was not manmade or genetically modified. POMPEO: That's right. I -- I -- I agree with that. Yes. I've -- I've seen their analysis. I've seen the summary that you saw that was released publicly. I have no reason to doubt that that is accurate at this point.
Then the same dodgy paper that was shopped to the Washington Times a week earlier appeared in an Australian broadsheet.
Coronavirus NSW: Dossier lays out case against China bat virus program - Daily Telegraph, May 4
China deliberately suppressed or destroyed evidence of the coronavirus outbreak in an “assault on international transparency’’ that cost tens of thousands of lives, according to a dossier prepared by concerned Western governments on the COVID-19 contagion. The 15-page research document, obtained by The Saturday Telegraph, lays the foundation for the case of negligence being mounted against China It states that to the “endangerment of other countries” the Chinese government covered-up news of the virus by silencing or “disappearing” doctors who spoke out, destroying evidence of it in laboratories and refusing to provide live samples to international scientists who were working on a vaccine.
A "research document" prepared by "concerned Western governments" is not an intelligence product.
But Foxnews picked up from there and made the paper into one.
Leaked Western intel dossier reveals how China deceived the world about coronavirus - Foxnews, Apr 4
A research dossier compiled by the so-called "Five Eyes" intelligence alliance states that China intentionally hid or destroyed evidence of the coronavirus outbreak, leading to the loss of tens of thousands of lives around the world The 15-page document from the intelligence agencies of the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand, was obtained by Australia's Saturday Telegraph newspaper and states that China's secrecy amounted to an “assault on international transparency."
The Australian Telegraph never claimed that the dossier was a "Five Eyes" product. That is a Foxnews invention. The five eyes countries share intelligence but they do not produce common dossiers or analyses. Each service does that separately for its own government.
Only a few hours after the Telegraph had published the above the Australian intelligence services shot the nonsense down.
Australian intelligence knocks back US government's Wuhan lab virus claim, Sydney Morning Herald, May 4
Senior members of the Australian intelligence community told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age a research document shared in political circles under the Five Eyes intelligence arrangement was mostly based on news reports and contained no material from intelligence gathering. A 15-page "dossier" has been widely quoted by local and international media about China's alleged cover-up of the virus. Australian intelligence officials have since identified a research report which was based entirely on open source material. The officials said it was likely the reports were the same.
...
Multiple senior intelligence sources who spoke to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in recent days have confirmed that Australia has still not been provided with any evidence that strongly suggests the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the source of the outbreak. Intelligence agencies have not been able to rule out the Wuhan lab, but the more likely cause of the virus is still the city's Huanan Seafood Market where environmental samples of the virus were found.
The WHO also said that its had received no evidence from the U.S. about the 'speculative' Wuhan laboratory claim.
The Trump administration is likely to continue this game and the intelligence services will hopefully continue to resist the pressure they are under.
As the U.S. will soon have as many death per day from covid-19 as it had casualties on 9/11 the risk of a (military?) escalation against China based on false claims will soon become exceptionally high.
Posted by b on May 4, 2020 at 18:20 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--2020-05-06--Five Things That Are Revealed By Democrats’ Rehabilitation Of Bush

“ Let us remember how small our differences are in the face of this shared threat , ” Bush is heard saying .
“ We are not partisan combatants .
We are human beings , equally vulnerable and equally wonderful in the sight of God.
” And , needless to say , Democrats are all over social media orgasming in their pants about it .
“ In a million years I never thought I ’ d be crying watching this , thinking how much better we ’ d all feel if Bush were president today , ” tweeted former Democratic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Intercept ‘ s Mehdi Hasan spent all day on Twitter defending his position that Dubya is superior to Trump , at one point even arguing “ You can be a sane warmonger .
You can be a warmonger but be an ok human being to your friends and family .
You can be a warmonger and be able to handle a domestic public health crisis.
” 1 .
It shows how little Democrats care about the lives of human beings overseas .
By the end of his first term Bush had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a million Iraqis , destabilized an entire region in a way that would shortly give rise to ISIS , and ushered in a whole new level of unprecedented US military expansionism and imperialism .
Trump has done none of these things .
He has inflicted many evils upon our world and , like Obama , has continued and expanded the warmongering of his predecessors .
But he has done nothing that rises to the level of depravity of Bush ’ s wars .
The fact that Democrats see Trump ’ s evils as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ excess of Bush ’ s reveals as plain as day that , for all their supposed bleeding heart liberal sensibilities , they simply do not place much value on the lives of foreigners .
Sure they might enjoy a little masturbatory melodrama over kids in cages when it shows up on their doorstep , but kids getting ripped to shreds by cluster bombs and being born severely disabled from depleted uranium munitions simply does not register for them , because they don ’ t have to look at it .
They do not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worse than institutionalized mass murder for them , because they have to look at one but not the other .
2 .
It shows that Trump-era Democrats are Bush-era Republicans .
“ Dems have no choice but to rehabilitate George Bush because their core narrative is the US was a fundamentally good and decent land before Trump vandalized it , ” journalist Glenn Greenwald tweeted in response to Democrats ’ fawning over Bush , adding , “ How do you join with Bill Kristol , Nicole Wallace , Rick Wilson , David Frum @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s crimes ?
” Indeed , Bush-era neocons have been able to fully ingratiate themselves to and integrate themselves with Democrats in the age of Trump by posing as moral opposition longing for a more civilized time when presidents would politely butcher humans by the hundreds of thousands without using offensive language like “ shit hole ” .
A gentlemanly time for gentlemanly presidents to unfold gentlemanly torture and surveillance policies all around the world without posting rude tweets about celebrities they don ’ t like .
Trump-era Democrats are Bush-era Republicans .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ authoritarian right the party has moved in the last few years on important matters like foreign policy .
You can see this by the shrieking , hysterical response they had to Tulsi Gabbard calling for what more or less amounted to a simple reversion back to pre-9/11 US foreign policy .
It has been necessary for Democrats to gaslight themselves into this position because for three presidential campaigns in a row–Obama 2012 , Clinton 2016 , and now Biden 2020–they ’ ve had to find ways of convincing themselves that a politician who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agendas would make a good commander-in-chief .
3 .
It shows how the amnesia-inducing effects of the mass media news churn make it difficult to retain perspective .
Russiagate alone did so much to distort people ’ s perceptions in mainstream liberal circles .
Having the baseless narrative breathlessly promoted year after year after year that the Kremlin had literally seized control of the highest levels of the US government left rank-and-file Democrats who subscribed to it without any sense of scale or proportion , because they were constantly being told that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happen .
How can you hold perspective on a million dead Iraqis when you ’ re being told day after day , year after year in myriad ways that Russian Hitler was controlling your country but Super Mueller is going to swoop in to the rescue any minute now ?
It would be very difficult .
4 .
It shows the glaring difference between fact and narrative .
Most of the mass media reporting on Trump has been factual , it ’ s just had a ton of narrative spin attached to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump frequently says and does dumb , obnoxious and horrible things .
It is a fact that many racists think he ’ s the cat ’ s pajamas .
It is a fact that there was an impeachment and a collusion investigation .
But the narrative overlay that has been heaped upon those facts while they ’ re being reported–the urgency , the alarmism , the hyperbole–leaves viewers with the distinct impression that this US president is awful in a way that is unique and historically unprecedented , and he simply isn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bush , the mass media just yell about him a lot more .
If the narratives matched the facts , mass media consumers would be aware that nothing Trump has done is as evil as Bush ’ s invasion of Iraq alone .
In reality Trump didn ’ t wind up being another Hitler , he wound up being another Obama ( not a compliment ) .
And if the narrative spin matched the factual reality , people would understand that .
5 .
It shows that this simply is not working .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ woods with a friend you trust in the dark .
You know there ’ s a horrible monster out there stalking you , and suddenly you hear it in the distance coming crashing towards you .
It has picked up your scent and it will be upon you in moments .
You turn to run , but your friend grabs you and won ’ t let you move .
He falls to the ground grabbing your legs screaming “ No !
No !
We must stay here !
We mustn ’ t move @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need to fight first ?
The monster ?
Or your “ friend ” ?
That ’ s why I focus so much of my criticism on the Democratic Party instead of the Republicans .
Ultimately they ’ re the party which could actually allow for positive changes to be made to the world , but instead they keep moving further and further into the warmongering totalitarianism they once purported to despise in George W Bush .
Relying on either head of the two-headed one-party system to make meaningful changes simply is not working @ @ @ @ @ @ @ No institution that would so warmly rehabilitate and welcome a bloodthirsty monster like Bush is going to help humanity one iota .
In fact , its sole purpose is to do the exact opposite .

“Let us remember how small our differences are in the face of this shared threat,” Bush is heard saying. “We are not partisan combatants. We are human beings, equally vulnerable and equally wonderful in the sight of God.”
And, needless to say, Democrats are all over social media orgasming in their pants about it.
“This video made me ugly cry,” tweeted actress-turned-McResistance pundit Alyssa Milano.
“A REAL president,” tweeted the other Alyssa Milano, Debra Messing.
“In a million years I never thought I’d be crying watching this, thinking how much better we’d all feel if Bush were president today,” tweeted former Democratic congresswoman Katie Hill to thunderous online applause.
The Intercept‘s Mehdi Hasan spent all day on Twitter defending his position that Dubya is superior to Trump, at one point even arguing “You can be a sane warmonger. You can be a warmonger but be an ok human being to your friends and family. You can be a warmonger and be able to handle a domestic public health crisis.”
In a million years I never thought I’d be crying watching this, thinking how much better we’d all feel if Bush were president today. Wtf. https://t.co/SSR3ieZEFP — Katie Hill (@KatieHill4CA) May 2, 2020 For years rank-and-file Democrats have been giving the true Butcher of Baghdad a majority approval rating , running with the common narrative that while Bush perhaps made some “mistakes”, Trump is spectacularly worse. Here are five things that are highlighted by that common perspective:
1. It shows how little Democrats care about the lives of human beings overseas.
By the end of his first term Bush had launched two full-scale ground invasions, murdered a million Iraqis, destabilized an entire region in a way that would shortly give rise to ISIS, and ushered in a whole new level of unprecedented US military expansionism and imperialism. Trump has done none of these things. He has inflicted many evils upon our world and, like Obama, has continued and expanded the warmongering of his predecessors. But he has done nothing that rises to the level of depravity of Bush’s wars.
The fact that Democrats see Trump’s evils as not only equal to but far in excess of Bush’s reveals as plain as day that, for all their supposed bleeding heart liberal sensibilities, they simply do not place much value on the lives of foreigners. Sure they might enjoy a little masturbatory melodrama over kids in cages when it shows up on their doorstep, but kids getting ripped to shreds by cluster bombs and being born severely disabled from depleted uranium munitions simply does not register for them, because they don’t have to look at it.
They do not care. Rude tweets and racism are worse than institutionalized mass murder for them, because they have to look at one but not the other.
2. It shows that Trump-era Democrats are Bush-era Republicans.
The problem is that Bush and Cheney’s operatives, speechwriters, policy advisers, propagandistas and top aides are the close friends and colleagues of media liberals and DC Democrats and their beloved pundits, so they have to whitewash Bush’s evil to justify themselves: https://t.co/Z1C3CB7JQn — Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 3, 2020
“Dems have no choice but to rehabilitate George Bush because their core narrative is the US was a fundamentally good and decent land before Trump vandalized it,” journalist Glenn Greenwald tweeted in response to Democrats’ fawning over Bush, adding, “How do you join with Bill Kristol, Nicole Wallace, Rick Wilson, David Frum and the CIA without whitewashing Bush’s crimes?”
Indeed, Bush-era neocons have been able to fully ingratiate themselves to and integrate themselves with Democrats in the age of Trump by posing as moral opposition longing for a more civilized time when presidents would politely butcher humans by the hundreds of thousands without using offensive language like “shit hole”. A gentlemanly time for gentlemanly presidents to unfold gentlemanly torture and surveillance policies all around the world without posting rude tweets about celebrities they don’t like.
Trump-era Democrats are Bush-era Republicans. That’s how far to the authoritarian right the party has moved in the last few years on important matters like foreign policy. You can see this by the shrieking, hysterical response they had to Tulsi Gabbard calling for what more or less amounted to a simple reversion back to pre-9/11 US foreign policy. It has been necessary for Democrats to gaslight themselves into this position because for three presidential campaigns in a row–Obama 2012, Clinton 2016, and now Biden 2020–they’ve had to find ways of convincing themselves that a politician who has facilitated Bush’s foreign policy agendas would make a good commander-in-chief.
3. It shows how the amnesia-inducing effects of the mass media news churn make it difficult to retain perspective.
The problem is that Bush and Cheney’s operatives, speechwriters, policy advisers, propagandistas and top aides are the close friends and colleagues of media liberals and DC Democrats and their beloved pundits, so they have to whitewash Bush’s evil to justify themselves: https://t.co/Z1C3CB7JQn — Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 3, 2020
Mass media propagandists are able to distort perception even while telling the truth using the news churn memory hole . Even when forced to report on uncomfortable truths like not finding any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq or the fact that the occupation of Afghanistan has been justified by an entire generation of lies, the memory of that reporting can be made to fade into the background by frantically reporting on what’s happening right now without referring back to the previous revelations.
Russiagate alone did so much to distort people’s perceptions in mainstream liberal circles. Having the baseless narrative breathlessly promoted year after year after year that the Kremlin had literally seized control of the highest levels of the US government left rank-and-file Democrats who subscribed to it without any sense of scale or proportion, because they were constantly being told that the Most Important Thing Ever was about to happen. How can you hold perspective on a million dead Iraqis when you’re being told day after day, year after year in myriad ways that Russian Hitler was controlling your country but Super Mueller is going to swoop in to the rescue any minute now? It would be very difficult.
4. It shows the glaring difference between fact and narrative.
Most of the mass media reporting on Trump has been factual, it’s just had a ton of narrative spin attached to the facts. It is a fact that Trump frequently says and does dumb, obnoxious and horrible things. It is a fact that many racists think he’s the cat’s pajamas. It is a fact that there was an impeachment and a collusion investigation. But the narrative overlay that has been heaped upon those facts while they’re being reported–the urgency, the alarmism, the hyperbole–leaves viewers with the distinct impression that this US president is awful in a way that is unique and historically unprecedented, and he simply isn’t.
Trump is not worse than Bush, the mass media just yell about him a lot more. If the narratives matched the facts, mass media consumers would be aware that nothing Trump has done is as evil as Bush’s invasion of Iraq alone. In reality Trump didn’t wind up being another Hitler, he wound up being another Obama (not a compliment). And if the narrative spin matched the factual reality, people would understand that.
liberals have the baffling ability to simultaneously believe both that George W. Bush was a good president whom they love and miss dearly AND that Ralph Nader is a piece of shit who's going to burn in hell for supposedly getting George W. Bush elected — i bless the rains down in castamere (@Chinchillazllla) May 3, 2020
5. It shows that this simply is not working.
Imagine you’re out in the woods with a friend you trust in the dark. You know there’s a horrible monster out there stalking you, and suddenly you hear it in the distance coming crashing towards you. It has picked up your scent and it will be upon you in moments.
You turn to run, but your friend grabs you and won’t let you move. He falls to the ground grabbing your legs screaming “No! No! We must stay here! We mustn’t move an inch!”
Who do you need to fight first? The monster? Or your “friend”?
That’s why I focus so much of my criticism on the Democratic Party instead of the Republicans. Ultimately they’re the party which could actually allow for positive changes to be made to the world, but instead they keep moving further and further into the warmongering totalitarianism they once purported to despise in George W Bush.
Relying on either head of the two-headed one-party system to make meaningful changes simply is not working, and will not ever work. No institution that would so warmly rehabilitate and welcome a bloodthirsty monster like Bush is going to help humanity one iota. In fact, its sole purpose is to do the exact opposite.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-05--Why You Should Oppose The Censorship Of David Icke (Hint: It’s Got Nothing To Do With Icke)

Within 48 hours both Facebook and then Youtube have deleted the accounts of David Icke for posting “ content that disputes the existence and transmission of Covid-19 as described by the WHO and the NHS.
” Other platforms may soon fall in suit , as they did with Alex Jones in 2018 .
This article is not about David Icke .
I will say it again in italics for the especially dense : this article is not about David Icke .
This article is about why we shouldn ’ t be okay with monopolistic billionaire-owned Silicon Valley tech giants with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ human communication .
I know next to nothing about David Icke , and I have done exactly zero research into his views for this article ; for all I know he ’ s every bit the raving lunatic the narrative managers say he is .
It doesn ’ t matter .
What matters is that we ’ re seeing a consistent and accelerating pattern of powerful plutocratic institutions collaborating with the US-centralized empire to control what ideas people around the world are permitted to share with each other , and it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conversation about Icke and his views distracts from the very important topic we need to actually focus on discussing .
Journalist Matt Taibbi recently wrote an excellent essay about the dangers inherent in the increased demand we ’ ve been seeing for more censorship and deplatforming during the coronavirus pandemic , correctly arguing that more authoritarian control over the ideas people are allowed to discuss is vastly more dangerous than the ideas themselves .
“ The people who want to add a censorship regime to a health crisis are more dangerous and more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president who tells people to inject disinfectant , ” Taibbi writes .
“ It ’ s astonishing that they don ’ t see this.
” “ Instead of asking calmly if hydroxychloroquine works , or if the less restrictive Swedish crisis response has merit , or questioning why certain statistical assumptions about the seriousness of the crisis might have been off , we ’ re denouncing the questions themselves as infamous , ” says Taibbi .
Taibbi argues against the increasingly normalized trend of elevating “ authoritative ” content while silencing content which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an attempt to fight disinformation .
If you examine which content is considered “ authoritative ” , you ’ ll find a bunch of outlets who have consistently lied to the world about war after war , who spent years promoting the baseless conspiracy theory that Vladimir Putin had infiltrated and secured control over the executive branch of the US government , who consistently normalize a status quo which is wholly incompatible with the surviving and thriving of life on this planet .

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]ithin 48 hours both Facebook and then Youtube have deleted the accounts of David Icke for posting “content that disputes the existence and transmission of Covid-19 as described by the WHO and the NHS.” Other platforms may soon fall in suit, as they did with Alex Jones in 2018. This article is not about David Icke. I will say it again in italics for the especially dense: this article is not about David Icke. This article is about why we shouldn’t be okay with monopolistic billionaire-owned Silicon Valley tech giants with extensive ties to US government agencies controlling human communication. I know next to nothing about David Icke, and I have done exactly zero research into his views for this article; for all I know he’s every bit the raving lunatic the narrative managers say he is. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that we’re seeing a consistent and accelerating pattern of powerful plutocratic institutions collaborating with the US-centralized empire to control what ideas people around the world are permitted to share with each other, and it’s a very unsafe trajectory. Making this conversation about Icke and his views distracts from the very important topic we need to actually focus on discussing. “The people who want to add a censorship regime to a health crisis are more dangerous and more stupid by leaps and bounds than a president who tells people to inject disinfectant.” https://t.co/KFA8jC6XiY — Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) April 30, 2020 Journalist Matt Taibbi recently wrote an excellent essay about the dangers inherent in the increased demand we’ve been seeing for more censorship and deplatforming during the coronavirus pandemic, correctly arguing that more authoritarian control over the ideas people are allowed to discuss is vastly more dangerous than the ideas themselves. “The people who want to add a censorship regime to a health crisis are more dangerous and more stupid by leaps and bounds than a president who tells people to inject disinfectant,” Taibbi writes. “It’s astonishing that they don’t see this.” “Instead of asking calmly if hydroxychloroquine works, or if the less restrictive Swedish crisis response has merit, or questioning why certain statistical assumptions about the seriousness of the crisis might have been off, we’re denouncing the questions themselves as infamous,” says Taibbi. Taibbi argues against the increasingly normalized trend of elevating “authoritative” content while silencing content which does not wear that magical label in an attempt to fight disinformation. If you examine which content is considered “authoritative”, you’ll find a bunch of outlets who have consistently lied to the world about war after war, who spent years promoting the baseless conspiracy theory that Vladimir Putin had infiltrated and secured control over the executive branch of the US government, who consistently normalize a status quo which is wholly incompatible with the surviving and thriving of life on this planet.
Two weeks after the Atlantic Council explained to us that we need to be propagandized for our own good, Facebook announces a new partnership with the Atlantic Council to make sure we're getting the right kinds of information.https://t.co/aXwHvxdREXhttps://t.co/3CkVtvBs0s pic.twitter.com/sEz52VjNTe — Caitlin Johnstone ⏳ (@caitoz) May 17, 2018


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-08--Slaughter of the Innocents: COVID-19 & the Future of Agriculture

It ’ s early days yet , but the COVID-19 pandemic has already proven to be revelatory , exposing much that is ugly about the “ normal ” functioning of the US : the sorry state of health care , the unresponsiveness of corporate-owned government , the hyper individuality of the populace , the high levels of ignorance among the same , and the racism of the entire system .
Regarding that lattermost point : This nation was founded by white Europeans who stole the land from the Indigenous and then built wealth with African slaves , and guess who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic ?
The Native Americans and the Blacks .
And look who ’ s protesting the loudest to get things “ back to normal ” : Whites , many of them with Confederate flags .
Let that sink in .
Agriculture was at the heart of the settler colonialism : The land was seized for farming and the people were kidnapped to work the fields .
From brutal beginnings , the situation has only worsened , especially in the last few decades .
Small-scale , family-farming à la Old MacDonald is the stuff @ @ @ @ @ @ @ precious few exceptions .
Pesticide use is up , ground-water levels are down , top soil is blowing away , wildlife biodiversity is shrinking , and human workers are abused .
Corporate ownership of the means of food production has led to concentrated ownership , de-localization , and supply chains that are brittle in response to stress .
A handful of corporate giants ( in fact , only four ) have gobbled up most of the US meat industry .
These corporations have set up “ economies of scale ” that utilize mass @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before seen—and not seen enough , thanks in part to “ Ag Gag ” laws that forbid photographic or video documentation of what goes on in such places .
One could be forgiven for assuming these companies don ’ t want their customers to know the details of how their meat is processed .
Especially when the results are things like fecal matter in 100 % of the ground beef ( as found in a food-safety test conducted by Consumer Reports in 2015 ) .
Jim Hightower went so far as to say @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but “ concentration camps for animals.
” A tremendous number of animals have been slaughtered in the US each year : over 35 million cows , 123 million pigs , 226 million turkeys , and nearly 8 billion—that ’ s billion with a “ b ” —chickens .
Shockingly , about 30 % of this goes to waste .
This stat bears repeating : nearly 1/3 of the meat produced every year in the US is thrown away .
It ’ s so bad that even industry cheerleader , Beef Magazine , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the issue .
All of this cruelty and waste has been “ normal ” up until now .
But it just got worse with the COVID-19 pandemic .
The latest heinous act has been the “ depopulating ” of farm animals , a rather colorless euphemism for killing them and disposing of the bodies without processing them for food .
• None because with 50 % of the human workforce out due to the pandemic , there weren ’ t enough people to “ harvest ” and process them , and they were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two million chickens were “ destroyed ” in Delaware because with 50 % of the human workforce out due to the pandemic , there weren ’ t enough people to “ harvest ” and process them , and they were going to outgrow their facility .
• None , an Iowa farmer gave his pigs injections so they would abort their fetuses—about 7500 piglets total—due to a lack of space for them : adult pigs he planned to send away for slaughter were no longer wanted by the processor .
According to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his pigs injections so they would abort their fetuses—about 7500 piglets total—due to a lack of space for them : adult pigs he planned to send away for slaughter were no longer wanted by the processor .
• None The same article mentioned that in Minnesota , 61,000 egg-laying chickens were euthanized because the market for their eggs dried up .
• None “ a single chicken processor is smashing 750,000 unhatched eggs every week.
” The New York Times reports that “ a single chicken processor is smashing 750,000 unhatched eggs every @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New York Daily News states that “ about 700,000 hogs are being killed every week across the nation because barns are overcrowded , many plants are either closed or short-staffed and not enough animals can be processed for meat.
” What all these incidents have in common is that they result from a system that , like a moving assembly line , only functions smoothly if every single step is operating consistently .
There is little-to-no margin for error .
Unlike an assembly line , break-downs result not merely in a misplaced part @ @ @ @ @ @ @ death .
Doubtless these are not the only incidents , either .
Farmers are loathe to publicize such things because they look bad , especially when so many citizens are lining up at food banks .
Such incidents will also be repeated , both sooner and later , as the current pandemic undergoes waves , and as other disruptions strike civilization , which is inevitable in a world marked increasingly by chaos .
The COVID-19 crisis is an opportunity to dispense with what ’ s “ normal.
” Given that “ normal ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the planet , fundamental change is absolutely necessary .
This has been necessary the whole time , but given the system ’ s immense scale and seemingly unstoppable inertia , it seemed impossible to even start .
But now , with the current suspension of the status quo , we have a real opportunity .
We shouldn ’ t squander it .
Here ’ s what needs to change about farming in general , not just animal agriculture , in the interest of being kinder to the planet and providing a healthier @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should be well compensated for their labor , but it should not depend on the vagaries of the market or the crony-controlled policies of the corporate state .
We must disconnect food production from the profit motive .
De-corporatization : This would perhaps naturally follow demonetization , but we need to make it explicit anyway .
The food supply should be in the hands of people , not faceless business entities .
De-mechanization : The severing of food growing from human hands has been a disaster .
Contamination and disease have accompanied mechanization @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quality and flavors of foods ( both plant and animal ) as they are bred primarily for processing .
Using fewer machines means we ’ ll need more humans , but the joys of working outdoors , closer to nature , would appeal to many if they were given the option .
Re-localization : The distance from farm to fork must be reduced as much as possible .
True , not every region of the country can raise every kind of food for simple reasons of climate , so Florida and California will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ England and the Pacific Northwest for apples , but the days of Fujis from New Zealand and the 1500 mile salad have to end .
Re-Seasonalization : This would largely be a consequence of relocalization and what it means is that all food will not be available year-round anymore .
Fresh tomatoes , sweet corn and watermelons will be a summer treat .
The colder months will be the time of winter squash , roots and hardy greens .
Rather than considering this arrangement a hardship , it can be the start of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rootlessness as a culture is exacerbated by our disconnection from the cycles of the seasons where we live .
Once we rediscover the rich scrumptiousness of vine-ripened heirloom tomatoes , warm from the sun , we won ’ t want the pale , firm , mealy abominations they peddle in January .
This appeal of the authentic eventually dulls the appetite for the fake , and applying that to living at large , not just our diets , would be beneficial to us not only as individuals but as a society .
Re-naturalization @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the chemical inputs , genetic modification , and monocropping .
Our practices must return to regenerative methods that work with natural processes , instead of against them .
We ’ ve knocked things so far out of balance that the road back to health will be challenging , but the sooner we get to it , the better .
Ultimately , this path leads to re-wilding and to pre-agricultural wildtending practices but that ’ s a whole ‘ nother subject .
The callous killing of animals , the wholesale wastage of food , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ethics—these things must stop .
We must stop them .
Making demands of our institutions is part of that , but so is building alternative systems to replace them .
We have a real opportunity to create a new society based on legitimate community and actual sustainability through mutual aid .
And , we can not remain human-centered ; we must view the heartless killing of animals in its true context : as an injury to one that is an injury to all .

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It’s early days yet, but the COVID-19 pandemic has already proven to be revelatory, exposing much that is ugly about the “normal” functioning of the US: the sorry state of health care, the unresponsiveness of corporate-owned government, the hyper individuality of the populace, the high levels of ignorance among the same, and the racism of the entire system.
Regarding that lattermost point: This nation was founded by white Europeans who stole the land from the Indigenous and then built wealth with African slaves, and guess who’s doing the worst in this pandemic? The Native Americans and the Blacks. And look who’s protesting the loudest to get things “back to normal”: Whites, many of them with Confederate flags. Let that sink in.
Agriculture was at the heart of the settler colonialism: The land was seized for farming and the people were kidnapped to work the fields. From brutal beginnings, the situation has only worsened, especially in the last few decades. Small-scale, family-farming à la Old MacDonald is the stuff of myth at this point, with precious few exceptions. Pesticide use is up, ground-water levels are down, top soil is blowing away, wildlife biodiversity is shrinking, and human workers are abused.
Corporate ownership of the means of food production has led to concentrated ownership, de-localization, and supply chains that are brittle in response to stress. A handful of corporate giants (in fact, only four) have gobbled up most of the US meat industry.
These corporations have set up “economies of scale” that utilize mass mechanization and impose horrific living conditions never before seen—and not seen enough, thanks in part to “Ag Gag” laws that forbid photographic or video documentation of what goes on in such places. One could be forgiven for assuming these companies don’t want their customers to know the details of how their meat is processed. Especially when the results are things like fecal matter in 100% of the ground beef (as found in a food-safety test conducted by Consumer Reports in 2015). Jim Hightower went so far as to say that factory farms aren’t farms, but “concentration camps for animals.”
A tremendous number of animals have been slaughtered in the US each year: over 35 million cows, 123 million pigs, 226 million turkeys, and nearly 8 billion—that’s billion with a “b”—chickens. Shockingly, about 30% of this goes to waste. This stat bears repeating: nearly 1/3 of the meat produced every year in the US is thrown away. It’s so bad that even industry cheerleader, Beef Magazine, felt the need to call attention to the issue.
All of this cruelty and waste has been “normal” up until now. But it just got worse with the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest heinous act has been the “depopulating” of farm animals, a rather colorless euphemism for killing them and disposing of the bodies without processing them for food.
Nearly two million chickens were “destroyed” in Delaware because with 50% of the human workforce out due to the pandemic, there weren’t enough people to “harvest” and process them, and they were going to outgrow their facility.
According to the Huffington Post , an Iowa farmer gave his pigs injections so they would abort their fetuses—about 7500 piglets total—due to a lack of space for them: adult pigs he planned to send away for slaughter were no longer wanted by the processor.
The same article mentioned that in Minnesota, 61,000 egg-laying chickens were euthanized because the market for their eggs dried up.
The New York Times reports that “a single chicken processor is smashing 750,000 unhatched eggs every week.”
Finally, the New York Daily News states that “about 700,000 hogs are being killed every week across the nation because barns are overcrowded, many plants are either closed or short-staffed and not enough animals can be processed for meat.”
What all these incidents have in common is that they result from a system that, like a moving assembly line, only functions smoothly if every single step is operating consistently. There is little-to-no margin for error. Unlike an assembly line, break-downs result not merely in a misplaced part or a delay, but in pointless death.
Doubtless these are not the only incidents, either. Farmers are loathe to publicize such things because they look bad, especially when so many citizens are lining up at food banks.
Such incidents will also be repeated, both sooner and later, as the current pandemic undergoes waves, and as other disruptions strike civilization, which is inevitable in a world marked increasingly by chaos.
The COVID-19 crisis is an opportunity to dispense with what’s “normal.” Given that “normal” is generally unhealthy for people and unsustainable for the planet, fundamental change is absolutely necessary. This has been necessary the whole time, but given the system’s immense scale and seemingly unstoppable inertia, it seemed impossible to even start. But now, with the current suspension of the status quo, we have a real opportunity. We shouldn’t squander it.
Here’s what needs to change about farming in general, not just animal agriculture, in the interest of being kinder to the planet and providing a healthier diet for humans:
De-monetization:
Farmers should be well compensated for their labor, but it should not depend on the vagaries of the market or the crony-controlled policies of the corporate state. We must disconnect food production from the profit motive.
De-corporatization:
This would perhaps naturally follow demonetization, but we need to make it explicit anyway. The food supply should be in the hands of people, not faceless business entities.
De-mechanization:
The severing of food growing from human hands has been a disaster. Contamination and disease have accompanied mechanization, as has a decline in the quality and flavors of foods (both plant and animal) as they are bred primarily for processing. Using fewer machines means we’ll need more humans, but the joys of working outdoors, closer to nature, would appeal to many if they were given the option.
Re-localization:
The distance from farm to fork must be reduced as much as possible. True, not every region of the country can raise every kind of food for simple reasons of climate, so Florida and California will always need to trade citrus to New England and the Pacific Northwest for apples, but the days of Fujis from New Zealand and the 1500 mile salad have to end.
Re-Seasonalization:
This would largely be a consequence of relocalization and what it means is that all food will not be available year-round anymore. Fresh tomatoes, sweet corn and watermelons will be a summer treat. The colder months will be the time of winter squash, roots and hardy greens. Rather than considering this arrangement a hardship, it can be the start of a re-engaged place-based consciousness. Our unhappy rootlessness as a culture is exacerbated by our disconnection from the cycles of the seasons where we live. Once we rediscover the rich scrumptiousness of vine-ripened heirloom tomatoes, warm from the sun, we won’t want the pale, firm, mealy abominations they peddle in January. This appeal of the authentic eventually dulls the appetite for the fake, and applying that to living at large, not just our diets, would be beneficial to us not only as individuals but as a society.
Re-naturalization:
It’s time to drop the chemical inputs, genetic modification, and monocropping. Our practices must return to regenerative methods that work with natural processes, instead of against them. We’ve knocked things so far out of balance that the road back to health will be challenging, but the sooner we get to it, the better. Ultimately, this path leads to re-wilding and to pre-agricultural wildtending practices but that’s a whole ‘nother subject.
The callous killing of animals, the wholesale wastage of food, the elevation of profits over sustenance and ethics—these things must stop. We must stop them. Making demands of our institutions is part of that, but so is building alternative systems to replace them. We have a real opportunity to create a new society based on legitimate community and actual sustainability through mutual aid.
And, we cannot remain human-centered; we must view the heartless killing of animals in its true context: as an injury to one that is an injury to all.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-08--Trump-Linked Mercenaries Implicate Themselves in Failed Venezuela Coup

In what has been labeled a new “ Keystone Kops Bay of Pigs , ” the latest attempt to overthrow the government of Nicolas Maduro failed spectacularly , as both American and Venezuelan paramilitaries were immediately overwhelmed when they came into contact with the navy , or even with armed local fishermen ’ s collectives .
Last Wednesday , Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that his plans for “ restoring democracy ” in Venezuela were “ gaining momentum ” and that he had already made plans to reopen the American embassy in Caracas .
The next day , Washington @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cryptically announced that “ morning is coming to Venezuela again ” soon .
By Sunday , the coup plotters were lying face down on the concrete , zip-tied , some appearing to have wet themselves in terror when coming into contact with the employees of the “ house of socialist fisherman ” in the sleepy coastal village of Chuao .
The Trump administration immediately denied all involvement , “ it has nothing to do with our government , ” the president said yesterday .
But as the dust settled , the mercenaries immediately @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S .
Asked why there were two “ gringos ” with him , one detainee responded that they were the “ security chiefs of the president of the United States ; of Donald Trump.
” The “ gringos ” were later confirmed as former Special Forces operators Luke Denman and Aaron Berry , who helpfully brought their passports and even their VA discount cards to the insurrection .
The mastermind behind the plan , John Goudreau , also confirmed their identities .
Goudreau is a former Green Beret who founded private Florida-based mercenary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Instagram page even featured now-deleted posts showing Goudreau and his men posing with MAGA hats and running private security for Trump at campaign events .
C-SPAN footage of a Trump rally in October 2018 does indeed show them close to the president , patrolling the event .
The company ’ s ( since deleted ) twitter account was even live-tweeting their secret mission , tagging Trump in a post .
Silvercorp describes itself as “ providing governments and corporations with realistic and timely solutions to irregular problems.
” Apart from coup services @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( $ 2,499 for six hours ) , “ motivation and mindset ” talks ( $ 3,999 for six hours ) and a $ 4,999 course on what they call “ advanced urban sniper tactics , ” Goudrau claiming that he has “ hunted the most dangerous game my entire adult life .
I ’ m going to teach you the tools of the trade.
” Thus , Silvercorp promises to teach anyone with enough money how to survive – or commit – mass shootings .
A February poll found that American actions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 83 percent of respondents opposed to an invasion and over 80 percent against the current sanctions .
Why , then , did Silvercorp and others believe it could overthrow the entire country with 300 poorly trained volunteers ?
One reason could be the decades of pop culture propaganda aimed at the country .
Parks and Recreation presented the country as a joke dictatorship where virtually anything results in an arrest , the plot of The Expendables revolves around a crack team of mercenaries easily taking out a corrupt South American dictator , while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the CIA agent helping to bring democracy to Venezuela .
Unfortunately for Washington , reality bit and Goudreau was less Jack Ryan and more Jim from The Office .
[ US-owned ] Social media has also played its part , deleting hundreds of accounts belonging to or supporting the Venezuelan left .
Indeed , Twitter deleted the accounts of Venezuela ’ s state-owned electricity company just before an attack on the power grid on Monday .
In the midst of a global pandemic , Washington is prioritizing punishing its enemies and pursuing regime @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expense of saving its own citizens ’ lives .
However , due to the enormous power imbalance and the long history of demonizing Venezuela , it is unlikely that there will be serious consequences for the administration for overseeing a second Bay of Pigs fiasco .
Feature photo | Employees of Silvercorp are arrested by Venezuelan authorities after a failed coup attempt .
Photo | Twitter

In what has been labeled a new “Keystone Kops Bay of Pigs,” the latest attempt to overthrow the government of Nicolas Maduro failed spectacularly, as both American and Venezuelan paramilitaries were immediately overwhelmed when they came into contact with the navy, or even with armed local fishermen’s collectives. Last Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that his plans for “restoring democracy” in Venezuela were “gaining momentum” and that he had already made plans to reopen the American embassy in Caracas. The next day, Washington’s regime change specialist John Bolton cryptically announced that “morning is coming to Venezuela again” soon.
By Sunday, the coup plotters were lying face down on the concrete, zip-tied, some appearing to have wet themselves in terror when coming into contact with the employees of the “house of socialist fisherman” in the sleepy coastal village of Chuao. The Trump administration immediately denied all involvement, “it has nothing to do with our government,” the president said yesterday. But as the dust settled, the mercenaries immediately began implicating each other – and the U.S.
Asked why there were two “gringos” with him, one detainee responded that they were the “security chiefs of the president of the United States; of Donald Trump.” The “gringos” were later confirmed as former Special Forces operators Luke Denman and Aaron Berry, who helpfully brought their passports and even their VA discount cards to the insurrection. The mastermind behind the plan, John Goudreau, also confirmed their identities. Goudreau is a former Green Beret who founded private Florida-based mercenary force Silvercorp in 2018. Silvercorp’s Instagram page even featured now-deleted posts showing Goudreau and his men posing with MAGA hats and running private security for Trump at campaign events. C-SPAN footage of a Trump rally in October 2018 does indeed show them close to the president, patrolling the event. The company’s (since deleted) twitter account was even live-tweeting their secret mission, tagging Trump in a post.
The mastermind of the foiled coup invasion of #Venezuela just so happens to work security for Trump. https://t.co/Ep8TGbDKwY — Jeb Sprague (@JebSprague) May 5, 2020
Apparently unaware he was confessing to a capital offense, Goudreau appeared on a Venezuelan show from his home in Florida, insisting that the mission was “still ongoing, absolutely,” even as his employees were being overpowered by disgruntled lobstermen. “These guys want to fight!” he added. Goudreau also shared an eight-page document signed by Juan Guaidó, where the self-declared “interim president” promised to pay him $212 million to overthrow Maduro, seemingly oblivious to how bad it made them both look. He claims that Guaidó, notorious for fraud , had refused to pay even the $1.5 million retainer fee. “I’m out a lot of money. A LOT. But the bottom line is a lot of us came together to do this. I’ve been a freedom fighter my whole life,” he said, as an explanation as to why he continued with the plan.
Silvercorp describes itself as “providing governments and corporations with realistic and timely solutions to irregular problems.” Apart from coup services, they also offer school shooting seminars ($2,499 for six hours), “motivation and mindset” talks ($3,999 for six hours) and a $4,999 course on what they call “advanced urban sniper tactics,” Goudrau claiming that he has “hunted the most dangerous game my entire adult life. I’m going to teach you the tools of the trade.” Thus, Silvercorp promises to teach anyone with enough money how to survive – or commit – mass shootings.
A February poll found that American actions are highly unpopular inside Venezuela, with 83 percent of respondents opposed to an invasion and over 80 percent against the current sanctions. Why, then, did Silvercorp and others believe it could overthrow the entire country with 300 poorly trained volunteers? One reason could be the decades of pop culture propaganda aimed at the country. Parks and Recreation presented the country as a joke dictatorship where virtually anything results in an arrest, the plot of The Expendables revolves around a crack team of mercenaries easily taking out a corrupt South American dictator, while a whole series of Jack Ryan follows the CIA agent helping to bring democracy to Venezuela. Unfortunately for Washington, reality bit and Goudreau was less Jack Ryan and more Jim from The Office.
[US-owned] Social media has also played its part, deleting hundreds of accounts belonging to or supporting the Venezuelan left. Indeed, Twitter deleted the accounts of Venezuela’s state-owned electricity company just before an attack on the power grid on Monday.
In the midst of a global pandemic, Washington is prioritizing punishing its enemies and pursuing regime change around the world, at the expense of saving its own citizens’ lives. However, due to the enormous power imbalance and the long history of demonizing Venezuela, it is unlikely that there will be serious consequences for the administration for overseeing a second Bay of Pigs fiasco.
Feature photo | Employees of Silvercorp are arrested by Venezuelan authorities after a failed coup attempt. Photo | Twitter