mintpressnews--2020-11-20--How Joe Biden Plans to Make The American Empire Great Again

Throughout his campaign , Joe Biden railed against Donald Trump ’ s ‘ America First ’ foreign policy , claiming it weakened the United States and left the world in disarray .
He pledged to reverse this decline and recover the damage Trump did to America ’ s reputation .
While Donald Trump called to make America Great Again , Biden seeks to Make the American Empire Great Again .
Among the president-elect ’ s pledges is to end the so-called forever wars – the decades-long imperial projects in Afghanistan and Iraq that began under the Bush administration .
Yet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wars – will task ending them to the most neoconservative elements of the Democratic party and ideologues of permanent war .
Michele Flournoy and Tony Blinken sit atop Biden ’ s thousands-strong foreign policy brain trust and have played central roles in every U.S. war going back to the Clinton administration .
In the Trump era , they ’ ve cashed in , founding Westexec Advisors – a corporate consulting firm that has become home for Obama administration officials awaiting a return to government .
Flournoy is Biden ’ s leading pick for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be national security advisor .
Since the 1990s , Flournoy and Blinken have steadily risen through the ranks of the military-industrial complex , shuffling back and forth between the Pentagon and hawkish think-tanks funded by the U.S. government , weapons companies , and oil giants .
Under Bill Clinton , Flournoy was the principal author of the 1996 Quadrinellial Defense Review , the document that outlined the U.S. military ’ s doctrine of permanent war – what it called “ full spectrum dominance.
” Flournoy called for “ unilateral use of military @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to key markets , energy supplies , and strategic resources.
” As Bush administration officials lied to the world about Saddam Hussein ’ s supposed WMD ’ s , Flournoy remarked that “ In some cases , preemptive strikes against an adversary ’ s [ weapons of mass destruction ] capabilities may be the best or only option we have to avert a catastrophic attack against the United States.
” Tony Blinken was a top advisor to then-Senate foreign relations committee chair Joe Biden , who played a key role in shoring up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s illegal invasion of Iraq .
As Iraq was plunged into chaos and bloodshed , Flournoy was among the authors of a paper titled “ Progressive Internationalism ” that called for a “ smarter and better ” style of permanent war .
The paper chastised the anti-war left and stated that “ Democrats will maintain the world ’ s most capable and technologically advanced military , and we will not flinch from using it to defend our interests anywhere in the world.
” With Bush winning a second term , Flournoy advocated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In 2005 , Flournoy signed onto a letter from the neoconservative think tank Project for a New American Century , asking Congress to “ increase substantially the size of the active duty Army and Marine Corps ( by ) at least 25,000 troops each year over the next several years.
” In 2007 , she leveraged her Pentagon experience and contacts to found what would become one of the premier Washington think tanks advocating endless war across the globe : the Center for a New American Security ( CNAS ) .
CNAS @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arms manufacturers , oil giants , Silicon Valley tech giants , billionaire-funded foundations , and big banks .
Flournoy joined the Obama administration and was appointed as under secretary of defense for policy , the position considered the “ brains ” of the Pentagon .
She was keenly aware that the public was wary of more quagmires .
In the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review , she crafted a new concept of warfare that would expand the permanent war state while giving the appearance of a drawdown .
Flournoy wrote that “ unmanned systems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the CIA ’ s drone assassination program .
This was the Obama-era military doctrine of hybrid war .
It called for the U.S. to be able to simultaneously wage war on numerous fronts through secret warfare , clandestine weapons transfers to proxies , drone strikes , and cyber-attacks – all buttressed with propaganda campaigns targeting the American public through the internet and corporate news media .
Flournoy continued to champion the endless wars that began in the Bush-era and was a key architect of Obama ’ s disastrous troop surge in Afghanistan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bags and insurgent attacks and suicide bombings increased some 65 % from 2009 and 2010 , she deceived the Senate Armed Services Committee , claiming that the U.S. was beginning to turn the tide against the Taliban .
Even with her lie that the U.S. and Afghan government were starting to beat the Taliban back , Flournoy assured the senate that the U.S. would have to remain in Afghanistan long into the future .
Ten years later – as the Afghan death toll passed 150,000 – Flournoy continued to argue against a U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Joe Biden has tasked with ending the forever war in Afghanistan .
But in Biden ’ s own words , he ’ ll “ bring the vast majority of our troops home from Afghanistan ” implying some number of American troops will remain , and the forever war will be just that .
Michele Flournoy explained that even if a political settlement were reached , the U.S. would maintain a presence .
In 2011 , the Obama-era doctrine of smart and sophisticated warfare was unveiled in the NATO regime-change war on Libya .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ sought warm relations with the U.S. and had given up his nuclear weapons program – was deposed and sodomized with a bayonet .
Flournoy , Hillary Clinton ’ s State Department , and corporate media were in lockstep as they waged an extensive propaganda campaign to deceive the U.S. public that Gadaffi ’ s soldiers were on a Viagra-fueled rape and murder spree that demanded a U.S. intervention .
All of this was based on a report from Al Jazeera – the media outlet owned by the Qatari monarchy that was arming extremist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an investigation by the United Nations called the rape claims “ hysteria.
” Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch found no credible evidence of even a single rape .
Even after Libya was descended into strife and the deception of Gadaffi ’ s forces committing rape was debunked , Michele Flournoy stood by her support for the war .
Tony Blinken , then Obama ’ s deputy national security advisor , also pushed for regime change in Libya .
He became Obama ’ s point man on Syria , pushed to arm the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ alongside al-Qaeda and ISIS , and designed the red line strategy to trigger a full-on U.S. intervention .
Syria , he told the public , wasn ’ t anything like the other wars the U.S. had waging for more than a decade .
Despite Blinken ’ s promises that it would be a short affair , the war on Syria is now in its ninth year .
An estimated half a million people have been killed as a result and the country is facing famine , Largely thanks to the policy of using @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a recommendation of Flournoy and Blinken ’ s CNAS think tank .
When the Trump administration launched airstrikes on Syria based on mere accusations of a chemical attack , Tony Blinken praised the bombing , claiming Assad had used the weapon of mass destruction sarin .
Yet there was no evidence for this claim , something even then-secretary of Defense James Mattis admitted .
While jihadist mercenaries armed with U..S-supplied weapons took over large swaths of Syria , Tony Blinken played a central role in a coup d ’ etat in Ukraine that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S.-orchestrated color revolution with neo-fascist elements agitating on the ground .
At the time , he was ambivalent about sending lethal weapons to Ukraine , instead opting for economic pressure .
Since then , fascist militias have been incorporated into Ukraine ’ s armed forces .
And Tony Blinken urged Trump to send them deadly weapons – something Obama had declined to do .
While the U.S. fuelled wars in Syria and Ukraine , the Pentagon announced a major shift called the Third Offset strategy – a reference to the cold war era @ @ @ @ @ @ @ military supremacy over the Soviet Union .
The Third Offset strategy shifted the focus from counterinsurgency and the war on terror to great power competition against China and Russia , seeking to ensure that the U.S. could win a war against China in Asia .
It called for a technological revolution in warfighting capabilities , development of futuristic and autonomous weapons , swarms of undersea and airborne drones , hypersonic weapons , cyber warfare , machine-enhanced soldiers , and artificial intelligence making unimaginably complex battlefield decisions at speeds incomprehensible to the human mind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the Pentagon deepening its relationship with Silicon Valley giants that it birthed decades before : Google and Facebook .
The author of the Third Offset , former undersecretary of defense Robert Work , is a partner of Flournoy and Blinken ’ s at WestExec Advisors .
And Flournoy has been a leading proponent of this dangerous new escalation .
In June , Flournoy published a lengthy commentary laying out her strategy called “ Sharpening the U.S. Military ’ s Edge : Critical Steps for the Next Administration ” .
She warned that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ technological advantage and reversing that must be the Pentagon ’ s priority .
Without it , Flournoy warned that the U.S. might not be able to defeat China in Asia .
While Flournoy has called for ramping up U.S. military presence and exercises with allied forces in the region , she went so far as to call for the U.S. to increase its destructive capabilities so much that it could launch a blitzkrieg style-attack that would wipe out the entire Chinese navy and all civilian merchant ships in the South China Sea .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a direct attack on a nuclear power that would spell the third world war .
At the same time , Biden has announced he ’ ll take an even more aggressive and confrontational stance against Russia , a position Flournoy shares .
As for ending the forever wars , Tony Blinken says not so fast .
So Biden will end the forever wars , but not really end them .
Secret wars that the public doesn ’ t even know the U.S. is involved in – those are here to stay .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in place throughout the Middle East is part and parcel of the Pentagon ’ s shift away from counterinsurgency and towards great power competition .
The 2018 National Defense Strategy explains that “ Long-term strategic competitions with China and Russia are the principal priorities ” and the U.S. will “ consolidate gains in Iraq and Afghanistan while moving to a more resource-sustainable approach.
” As for the catastrophic war on Yemen , Biden has said he ’ ll end U.S. support , but in 2019 , Michele Flournoy argued against ending arms sales @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will rejoin the Iran deal as a starting point for new negotiations .
However , Trump ’ s withdrawal from the deal discredited the Iranian reformists who seek engagement with the west and empowered the principlists who see the JCPOA as a deal with the devil .
In Latin America , Biden will revive the so-called anti-corruption campaigns that were used as a cover to oust the popular social democrat Brazilian president Lula da Silva .
His Venezuela policy will be almost identical to Trump ’ s – sanctions and regime change .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a 4 billion dollar package to support corrupt right-wing governments and neoliberal privatization projects that create even more destabilization and send vulnerable masses fleeing north to the United States .
Behind their rhetoric , Biden , Flournoy , and Blinken will seek nothing less than global supremacy , escalating a new and even more dangerous arms race that risks the destruction of humanity .
That ’ s what Joe Biden calls “ decency ” and “ normalcy.
” Dan Cohen is a journalist and filmmaker .
He has produced widely distributed video reports @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dan is a correspondent at RT America and tweets at @ DanCohen3000 .

Throughout his campaign, Joe Biden railed against Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ foreign policy, claiming it weakened the United States and left the world in disarray.
He pledged to reverse this decline and recover the damage Trump did to America’s reputation. While Donald Trump called to make America Great Again, Biden seeks to Make the American Empire Great Again.
Among the president-elect’s pledges is to end the so-called forever wars – the decades-long imperial projects in Afghanistan and Iraq that began under the Bush administration.
Yet Biden – a fervent supporter of those wars – will task ending them to the most neoconservative elements of the Democratic party and ideologues of permanent war.
Michele Flournoy and Tony Blinken sit atop Biden’s thousands-strong foreign policy brain trust and have played central roles in every U.S. war going back to the Clinton administration.
In the Trump era, they’ve cashed in, founding Westexec Advisors – a corporate consulting firm that has become home for Obama administration officials awaiting a return to government.
Flournoy is Biden’s leading pick for secretary of defense and Blinken is expected to be national security advisor.
Biden’s foxes guard the henhouse
Since the 1990s, Flournoy and Blinken have steadily risen through the ranks of the military-industrial complex, shuffling back and forth between the Pentagon and hawkish think-tanks funded by the U.S. government, weapons companies, and oil giants.
Under Bill Clinton, Flournoy was the principal author of the 1996 Quadrinellial Defense Review, the document that outlined the U.S. military’s doctrine of permanent war – what it called “full spectrum dominance.”
Flournoy called for “unilateral use of military power” to ensure “uninhibited access to key markets, energy supplies, and strategic resources.”
As Bush administration officials lied to the world about Saddam Hussein’s supposed WMD’s, Flournoy remarked that “In some cases, preemptive strikes against an adversary’s [weapons of mass destruction] capabilities may be the best or only option we have to avert a catastrophic attack against the United States.”
Tony Blinken was a top advisor to then-Senate foreign relations committee chair Joe Biden, who played a key role in shoring up support among the Democrat-controlled Senate for Bush’s illegal invasion of Iraq.
As Iraq was plunged into chaos and bloodshed, Flournoy was among the authors of a paper titled “Progressive Internationalism” that called for a “smarter and better” style of permanent war. The paper chastised the anti-war left and stated that “Democrats will maintain the world’s most capable and technologically advanced military, and we will not flinch from using it to defend our interests anywhere in the world.”
With Bush winning a second term, Flournoy advocated for more troop deployments from the sidelines.
In 2005, Flournoy signed onto a letter from the neoconservative think tank Project for a New American Century, asking Congress to “increase substantially the size of the active duty Army and Marine Corps (by) at least 25,000 troops each year over the next several years.”
In 2007, she leveraged her Pentagon experience and contacts to found what would become one of the premier Washington think tanks advocating endless war across the globe: the Center for a New American Security (CNAS).
CNAS is funded by the U.S. government, arms manufacturers, oil giants, Silicon Valley tech giants, billionaire-funded foundations, and big banks.
Flournoy joined the Obama administration and was appointed as under secretary of defense for policy, the position considered the “brains” of the Pentagon.
She was keenly aware that the public was wary of more quagmires. In the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review, she crafted a new concept of warfare that would expand the permanent war state while giving the appearance of a drawdown.
Flournoy wrote that “unmanned systems hold great promise” – a reference to the CIA’s drone assassination program.
This was the Obama-era military doctrine of hybrid war. It called for the U.S. to be able to simultaneously wage war on numerous fronts through secret warfare, clandestine weapons transfers to proxies, drone strikes, and cyber-attacks – all buttressed with propaganda campaigns targeting the American public through the internet and corporate news media.
Architects of America’s Hybrid wars
Flournoy continued to champion the endless wars that began in the Bush-era and was a key architect of Obama’s disastrous troop surge in Afghanistan. As U.S. soldiers returned in body bags and insurgent attacks and suicide bombings increased some 65% from 2009 and 2010, she deceived the Senate Armed Services Committee, claiming that the U.S. was beginning to turn the tide against the Taliban.
Even with her lie that the U.S. and Afghan government were starting to beat the Taliban back, Flournoy assured the senate that the U.S. would have to remain in Afghanistan long into the future.
Ten years later – as the Afghan death toll passed 150,000 – Flournoy continued to argue against a U.S. withdrawal.
That’s the person Joe Biden has tasked with ending the forever war in Afghanistan. But in Biden’s own words, he’ll “bring the vast majority of our troops home from Afghanistan” implying some number of American troops will remain, and the forever war will be just that. Michele Flournoy explained that even if a political settlement were reached, the U.S. would maintain a presence.
In 2011, the Obama-era doctrine of smart and sophisticated warfare was unveiled in the NATO regime-change war on Libya.
Moammar Gaddafi – the former adversary who sought warm relations with the U.S. and had given up his nuclear weapons program – was deposed and sodomized with a bayonet.
Flournoy, Hillary Clinton’s State Department, and corporate media were in lockstep as they waged an extensive propaganda campaign to deceive the U.S. public that Gadaffi’s soldiers were on a Viagra-fueled rape and murder spree that demanded a U.S. intervention.
All of this was based on a report from Al Jazeera – the media outlet owned by the Qatari monarchy that was arming extremist militias to overthrow the government.
Yet an investigation by the United Nations called the rape claims “hysteria.” Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch found no credible evidence of even a single rape.
Even after Libya was descended into strife and the deception of Gadaffi’s forces committing rape was debunked, Michele Flournoy stood by her support for the war.
Tony Blinken, then Obama’s deputy national security advisor, also pushed for regime change in Libya. He became Obama’s point man on Syria, pushed to arm the so-called “moderate rebels” that fought alongside al-Qaeda and ISIS, and designed the red line strategy to trigger a full-on U.S. intervention. Syria, he told the public, wasn’t anything like the other wars the U.S. had waging for more than a decade.
Despite Blinken’s promises that it would be a short affair, the war on Syria is now in its ninth year. An estimated half a million people have been killed as a result and the country is facing famine,
Largely thanks to the policy of using “wheat to apply pressure” – a recommendation of Flournoy and Blinken’s CNAS think tank.
When the Trump administration launched airstrikes on Syria based on mere accusations of a chemical attack, Tony Blinken praised the bombing, claiming Assad had used the weapon of mass destruction sarin. Yet there was no evidence for this claim, something even then-secretary of Defense James Mattis admitted.
While jihadist mercenaries armed with U..S-supplied weapons took over large swaths of Syria, Tony Blinken played a central role in a coup d’etat in Ukraine that saw a pro-Russia government overthrown in a U.S.-orchestrated color revolution with neo-fascist elements agitating on the ground.
At the time, he was ambivalent about sending lethal weapons to Ukraine, instead opting for economic pressure.
Since then, fascist militias have been incorporated into Ukraine’s armed forces. And Tony Blinken urged Trump to send them deadly weapons – something Obama had declined to do.
Trump obliged.
The Third Offset
While the U.S. fuelled wars in Syria and Ukraine, the Pentagon announced a major shift called the Third Offset strategy – a reference to the cold war era strategies the U.S. used to maintain its military supremacy over the Soviet Union.
The Third Offset strategy shifted the focus from counterinsurgency and the war on terror to great power competition against China and Russia, seeking to ensure that the U.S. could win a war against China in Asia. It called for a technological revolution in warfighting capabilities, development of futuristic and autonomous weapons, swarms of undersea and airborne drones, hypersonic weapons, cyber warfare, machine-enhanced soldiers, and artificial intelligence making unimaginably complex battlefield decisions at speeds incomprehensible to the human mind. All of this would be predicated on the Pentagon deepening its relationship with Silicon Valley giants that it birthed decades before: Google and Facebook.
The author of the Third Offset, former undersecretary of defense Robert Work, is a partner of Flournoy and Blinken’s at WestExec Advisors. And Flournoy has been a leading proponent of this dangerous new escalation.
In June, Flournoy published a lengthy commentary laying out her strategy called “Sharpening the U.S. Military’s Edge: Critical Steps for the Next Administration”.
She warned that the United States is losing its military technological advantage and reversing that must be the Pentagon’s priority. Without it, Flournoy warned that the U.S. might not be able to defeat China in Asia.
While Flournoy has called for ramping up U.S. military presence and exercises with allied forces in the region, she went so far as to call for the U.S. to increase its destructive capabilities so much that it could launch a blitzkrieg style-attack that would wipe out the entire Chinese navy and all civilian merchant ships in the South China Sea. Not only a blatant war crime but a direct attack on a nuclear power that would spell the third world war.
At the same time, Biden has announced he’ll take an even more aggressive and confrontational stance against Russia, a position Flournoy shares.
As for ending the forever wars, Tony Blinken says not so fast.
The end of forever wars?
So Biden will end the forever wars, but not really end them. Secret wars that the public doesn’t even know the U.S. is involved in – those are here to stay.
In fact, leaving teams of special forces in place throughout the Middle East is part and parcel of the Pentagon’s shift away from counterinsurgency and towards great power competition.
The 2018 National Defense Strategy explains that “Long-term strategic competitions with China and Russia are the principal priorities” and the U.S. will “consolidate gains in Iraq and Afghanistan while moving to a more resource-sustainable approach.”
As for the catastrophic war on Yemen, Biden has said he’ll end U.S. support, but in 2019, Michele Flournoy argued against ending arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Biden pledged he will rejoin the Iran deal as a starting point for new negotiations. However, Trump’s withdrawal from the deal discredited the Iranian reformists who seek engagement with the west and empowered the principlists who see the JCPOA as a deal with the devil.
In Latin America, Biden will revive the so-called anti-corruption campaigns that were used as a cover to oust the popular social democrat Brazilian president Lula da Silva.
His Venezuela policy will be almost identical to Trump’s – sanctions and regime change.
In Central America, Biden has proposed a 4 billion dollar package to support corrupt right-wing governments and neoliberal privatization projects that create even more destabilization and send vulnerable masses fleeing north to the United States.
Behind their rhetoric, Biden, Flournoy, and Blinken will seek nothing less than global supremacy, escalating a new and even more dangerous arms race that risks the destruction of humanity. That’s what Joe Biden calls “decency” and “normalcy.”
Feature photo | Graphic by Antonio Cabrera for MintPress News
Dan Cohen is a journalist and filmmaker. He has produced widely distributed video reports and print dispatches from across Israel-Palestine. Dan is a correspondent at RT America and tweets at @DanCohen3000.


mintpressnews--2020-11-20--Predictive Programming? Israeli Publishers Have Been Writing About a COVID-Like Pandemic for Years

Life imitates art is a phrase we often hear when certain events are seemingly foretold in a painting , a song , or any number of the creative disciplines people engage in .
Books , in particular , are a generous source of such lore .
Sometimes , the separation between the work of art ’ s making and the foreshadowed event is eerily short , leading to speculation that more than simple creative genius was behind its production .
Drawing too close a link between an artist ’ s inspiration and a future event mirrored in their work is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ events depicted on the page or the screen parallel real life so closely , that questions of predictive programming arise – a concept many in academia dismiss as the ravings of “ conspiracy theorists ” in a familiar pattern of discrediting narratives that challenge authority .
Alan Watt , the man credited with postulating the notion of predictive programming , describes it as “ a subtle form of psychological conditioning provided by the media to acquaint the public with planned societal changes to be implemented by our leaders .
If and when these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will already be familiarized with them and will accept them as natural progressions , thus lessening possible public resistance and commotion.
” While scorned by sycophants of power and gatekeepers , predictive programming is not an especially farfetched idea .
Anyone who has ever put together an advertising campaign knows that conditioning public opinion is the name of the game and after nearly one century of television and a world awash in screens that relentlessly try to influence consumer behavior , predictive programming is just a small step beyond that .
Most people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ planned societal changes ” imposed from up on high by an earthly hierarchy of powerful overlords but have little resistance to ascribing such broad shifts in society to providential deities or invisible forces from another realm .
Our failure to recognize that we are the creators of our own societies has been fomented by consumer-driven capitalist enterprises controlled by a relative handful of plutocrats , who invest heavily in molding human imagination by supplanting authentic expressions of community and culture with their logos , taglines , and catchy jingles .
Of course , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by leaps and bounds since the advent of the Internet and big data , which allows for unprecedented levels of societal targeting , down to its individual members .
Never has this been more apparent than in the situation we all find ourselves at present during this curious pandemic crisis , where the synchronized actions on the part of organs of the establishment , such as government , the press , and academia , have imposed a standardized vision of reality and decreed rules for social interaction on a largely docile society , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resistance at all .
Many will recall the 1995 movie “ Outbreak ” , which marked the start of a slew of Hollywood and international productions of films with plotlines revolving around a killer virus .
Most of these movies had large marketing budgets that ran intense advertising campaigns .
The essence of movies like “ Pandemic , ” “ Contagion , ” “ 28 Days Later , ” and dozens more in this genre , reached millions if not billions of people around the world through trailers and other means of dissemination @ @ @ @ @ @ @ called “ Explained ” aired “ The Next Pandemic ; ” an episode in the documentary-style show that warns us about a looming pandemic featuring none other than Bill Gates as one of the “ experts ” walking viewers through the deliberately frightening setup , which begins with apocalyptic scenarios of humanity ’ s end and Gate ’ s opinion on which scenario is more likely .
Unsurprisingly , the former Microsoft CEO identifies zoonotic diseases as the main threat to the world .
An astonishing prediction by a man with no real @ @ @ @ @ @ @ words have nonetheless been anointed by corporate media as gospel .
Almost every point highlighted in the episode mirrors our present reality and the narrative about its source .
Wet markets , shutdowns , and the role of technology are all predictively examined as real possibilities just as news of the novel coronavirus was about to explode on the world scene .
An incredible coincidence , to say the least .
Or , is there more to this story ?
Are we witnessing life imitating art or is art being used to steer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ certain interests want society to go in ?
A book published almost twenty-five years ago might hold the answer .
The title of the book is “ 2020 ” and it was published in 1994 by an Israeli editorial house called Keter Press , which literally translates to “ Crown ” or “ Corona ” Press .
An inauspicious start for those who dismiss any speculation into predictive programming as tin-foil hat material , but all this could simply be a coincidence at this point .
The novel was originally written as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ psychiatrist and daughter of one of the Jewish state ’ s most well-known playwrights .
Hamutal Shabtai was only in her early twenties when she ostensibly wrote the story , which predicts the state of the world today as a result of the counter virus measures with uncanny accuracy and foretells of a society ravaged by a virus , which ushers in a “ global health dictatorship ” The book was only published in Hebrew and never translated into English , but the 600-page tome details the burgeoning surveillance state that is currently @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Covid-19 .
The author describes a world where society is divided between an at-risk and healthy population , where the former are kept in quarantine .
Touching another person is fatal and everyone ’ s movements are closely monitored and all public spaces are equipped with “ biometric doors , ” that use a color-coded system very similar to that implemented in Amazon warehouses , that indicate who should be placed in isolation .
The novel also mentions a worldwide “ health treaty , ” which will determine social mobility and human interaction @ @ @ @ @ @ @ author-produced another incredible feat of apparent clairvoyance in a book published only five years ago titled “ Moratorium , ” which describes a virus from bats that comes out of Asia and decimates humanity .
Regardless of your thoughts on predictive programming , such pinpoint accuracy begs a deeper look .
Perhaps more interesting than the stunning details related in the novel “ 2020 , ” the history of the publishing house itself reveals some odd connections that are worth examining .
Keter Press began as an Israeli-government program called The Israel Program @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dedicated to translating and publishing scientific and technical manuscripts from Russian into English for the National Science Foundation in the United States , which is the technical counterpart of the National Institutes of Health .
In the 1960s , the Israeli-government-owned publisher branched out into English-speaking markets with two subsidiary companies until it was sold off in the latter half of the decade to an investment firm , which in turn sold it again to another investment firm that gave the publishing house its current name .
Considered the “ most prominent ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ today , as well as encyclopedia Judaica , Keter Publishing Ltd. merged with the other largest publisher in Israel after it was acquired by Modan Publishing House in 2016 .
In 1987 , the same year 2020 was written as a movie script , Keter became a public company .
Two years later British tycoon and spymaster Robert Maxwell – father of Ghislaine Maxwell – acquired control of the publishing house after Maxwell Communication Corporation bought Macmillian , which then owned Keter .
The publishing house was passed on to an Israeli investment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ death in 1991 , which owned it until 2016 .
Robert Maxwell ’ s links to Israeli intelligence has been well documented by Whitney Webb for MintPress News in her series on Jeffrey Epstein , who ran a sex-trafficking blackmail operation with his daughter , Ghislaine .
Maxwell ’ s ties to a publishing company with such extensive ties to the Israeli government , which was providing what were most likely very sensitive materials from Russian scientists to the American NSF at the height of the Cold War , is enough to cast @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2020 novel .
The movie “ They Live ” is popularly seen as a film that ‘ exposes ’ our present reality through a fictional premise that is really nothing new .
The struggle for power is as old as mankind and those who strive for it are constantly scheming to maintain their position over the rest of us .
Insomuch as it projects a dystopian world under the oppressive thumb of a monstrous elite , “ They Live ” also falls under the definition of predictive programming despite the protagonist ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cinema .
As we stand on the precipice of a fate even worse than the skeletal cyborgs depicted in the movie , the rollout of massive surveillance technologies and a deputized scientific establishment who wish to confine us to a hospital bed in our own homes is a wake-up call to real artists and creators who have the courage and the vision to produce art that doesn ’ t so blatantly serve the agendas of power .
Feature photo | A technician mans a booth at a new coronavirus lab at Ben-Gurion International @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Nov. 9 , 2020 .
Ohad Zwigenberg Pool via AP

Life imitates art is a phrase we often hear when certain events are seemingly foretold in a painting, a song, or any number of the creative disciplines people engage in. Books, in particular, are a generous source of such lore. Sometimes, the separation between the work of art’s making and the foreshadowed event is eerily short, leading to speculation that more than simple creative genius was behind its production.
Drawing too close a link between an artist’s inspiration and a future event mirrored in their work is a risky proposition, but sometimes the events depicted on the page or the screen parallel real life so closely, that questions of predictive programming arise – a concept many in academia dismiss as the ravings of “conspiracy theorists” in a familiar pattern of discrediting narratives that challenge authority.
Alan Watt, the man credited with postulating the notion of predictive programming, describes it as “a subtle form of psychological conditioning provided by the media to acquaint the public with planned societal changes to be implemented by our leaders. If and when these changes are put through, the public will already be familiarized with them and will accept them as natural progressions, thus lessening possible public resistance and commotion.”
While scorned by sycophants of power and gatekeepers, predictive programming is not an especially farfetched idea. Anyone who has ever put together an advertising campaign knows that conditioning public opinion is the name of the game and after nearly one century of television and a world awash in screens that relentlessly try to influence consumer behavior, predictive programming is just a small step beyond that.
Netflix and Pill
Most people become uncomfortable with the thought of “planned societal changes” imposed from up on high by an earthly hierarchy of powerful overlords but have little resistance to ascribing such broad shifts in society to providential deities or invisible forces from another realm.
Our failure to recognize that we are the creators of our own societies has been fomented by consumer-driven capitalist enterprises controlled by a relative handful of plutocrats, who invest heavily in molding human imagination by supplanting authentic expressions of community and culture with their logos, taglines, and catchy jingles.
Of course, the mechanisms of social control have grown by leaps and bounds since the advent of the Internet and big data, which allows for unprecedented levels of societal targeting, down to its individual members. Never has this been more apparent than in the situation we all find ourselves at present during this curious pandemic crisis, where the synchronized actions on the part of organs of the establishment, such as government, the press, and academia, have imposed a standardized vision of reality and decreed rules for social interaction on a largely docile society, which accepted the draconian shift without much resistance at all.
Many will recall the 1995 movie “Outbreak”, which marked the start of a slew of Hollywood and international productions of films with plotlines revolving around a killer virus. Most of these movies had large marketing budgets that ran intense advertising campaigns. The essence of movies like “Pandemic,” “Contagion,” “28 Days Later,” and dozens more in this genre, reached millions if not billions of people around the world through trailers and other means of dissemination.
In 2019, a Netflix series called “Explained” aired “The Next Pandemic;” an episode in the documentary-style show that warns us about a looming pandemic featuring none other than Bill Gates as one of the “experts” walking viewers through the deliberately frightening setup, which begins with apocalyptic scenarios of humanity’s end and Gate’s opinion on which scenario is more likely.
Unsurprisingly, the former Microsoft CEO identifies zoonotic diseases as the main threat to the world. An astonishing prediction by a man with no real background in biology or science, whose words have nonetheless been anointed by corporate media as gospel. Almost every point highlighted in the episode mirrors our present reality and the narrative about its source.
Wet markets, shutdowns, and the role of technology are all predictively examined as real possibilities just as news of the novel coronavirus was about to explode on the world scene. An incredible coincidence, to say the least. Or, is there more to this story?
Are we witnessing life imitating art or is art being used to steer life in a particular direction, that certain interests want society to go in? A book published almost twenty-five years ago might hold the answer.
Fact or Fiction
The title of the book is “2020” and it was published in 1994 by an Israeli editorial house called Keter Press, which literally translates to “Crown” or “Corona” Press. An inauspicious start for those who dismiss any speculation into predictive programming as tin-foil hat material, but all this could simply be a coincidence at this point.
The novel was originally written as a film script in 1987 by an Israeli psychiatrist and daughter of one of the Jewish state’s most well-known playwrights. Hamutal Shabtai was only in her early twenties when she ostensibly wrote the story, which predicts the state of the world today as a result of the counter virus measures with uncanny accuracy and foretells of a society ravaged by a virus, which ushers in a “global health dictatorship”
The book was only published in Hebrew and never translated into English, but the 600-page tome details the burgeoning surveillance state that is currently being rolled out under the guise of Covid-19. The author describes a world where society is divided between an at-risk and healthy population, where the former are kept in quarantine.
Touching another person is fatal and everyone’s movements are closely monitored and all public spaces are equipped with “biometric doors,” that use a color-coded system very similar to that implemented in Amazon warehouses, that indicate who should be placed in isolation. The novel also mentions a worldwide “health treaty,” which will determine social mobility and human interaction laws for all countries.
Another Israeli author-produced another incredible feat of apparent clairvoyance in a book published only five years ago titled “Moratorium,” which describes a virus from bats that comes out of Asia and decimates humanity. Regardless of your thoughts on predictive programming, such pinpoint accuracy begs a deeper look.
A Strange History
Perhaps more interesting than the stunning details related in the novel “2020,” the history of the publishing house itself reveals some odd connections that are worth examining. Keter Press began as an Israeli-government program called The Israel Program for Scientific Translations in 1959 and was dedicated to translating and publishing scientific and technical manuscripts from Russian into English for the National Science Foundation in the United States, which is the technical counterpart of the National Institutes of Health.
In the 1960s, the Israeli-government-owned publisher branched out into English-speaking markets with two subsidiary companies until it was sold off in the latter half of the decade to an investment firm, which in turn sold it again to another investment firm that gave the publishing house its current name. Considered the “most prominent” publisher of contemporary Hebrew literature in Israel today, as well as encyclopedia Judaica, Keter Publishing Ltd. merged with the other largest publisher in Israel after it was acquired by Modan Publishing House in 2016.
In 1987, the same year 2020 was written as a movie script, Keter became a public company. Two years later British tycoon and spymaster Robert Maxwell – father of Ghislaine Maxwell – acquired control of the publishing house after Maxwell Communication Corporation bought Macmillian, which then owned Keter. The publishing house was passed on to an Israeli investment concern called Arledan after Maxwell’s death in 1991, which owned it until 2016.
Robert Maxwell’s links to Israeli intelligence has been well documented by Whitney Webb for MintPress News in her series on Jeffrey Epstein, who ran a sex-trafficking blackmail operation with his daughter, Ghislaine. Maxwell’s ties to a publishing company with such extensive ties to the Israeli government, which was providing what were most likely very sensitive materials from Russian scientists to the American NSF at the height of the Cold War, is enough to cast doubt on the true origins of the 2020 novel.
A Call To Art
The movie “They Live” is popularly seen as a film that ‘exposes’ our present reality through a fictional premise that is really nothing new. The struggle for power is as old as mankind and those who strive for it are constantly scheming to maintain their position over the rest of us. Insomuch as it projects a dystopian world under the oppressive thumb of a monstrous elite, “They Live” also falls under the definition of predictive programming despite the protagonist’s hero journey, so ubiquitous in American cinema.
As we stand on the precipice of a fate even worse than the skeletal cyborgs depicted in the movie, the rollout of massive surveillance technologies and a deputized scientific establishment who wish to confine us to a hospital bed in our own homes is a wake-up call to real artists and creators who have the courage and the vision to produce art that doesn’t so blatantly serve the agendas of power.
Feature photo | A technician mans a booth at a new coronavirus lab at Ben-Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Nov. 9, 2020. Ohad Zwigenberg Pool via AP
Raul Diego is a MintPress News Staff Writer, independent photojournalist, researcher, writer and documentary filmmaker.


mintpressnews--2020-11-20--Shocking New Figures Show How Just Much the US is Fueling the Violence in Yemen

Despite presenting itself as a force for good and peace in the Middle East , the United States sells at least five times as much weaponry to Saudi Arabia than aid it donates to Yemen .
The State Department constantly portrays itself as a humanitarian superpower with the welfare of the Yemeni people as its highest priority , yet figures released from the United Nations and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute ( SIPRI ) show that since the war in Yemen began , the U.S. government has given $ 2.56 billion in aid to the country , but sold @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Saudi Arabia , the leader of the coalition prosecuting a relentless onslaught against the country .
Figures like these are always debatable .
What constitutes legitimate “ aid ” is a question everyone would answer differently .
Furthermore , the $ 13 billion figure does not include the enormous weapons deal Saudi Arabia signed with Donald Trump in 2017 , which will reportedly see the Kingdom purchase $ 350 billion over ten years .
SIPRI is skeptical of the size of these numbers , but if they prove to be correct , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will make the paltry aid donations seem like small change by comparison .
Sales include all manner of military equipment , from radar and transport systems to F-15 fighter jets , TOW missiles , Abrams tanks , and Paladin howitzers .
While the Saudis pay in petrodollars , Yemenis pay in blood .
Four years ago , the Saudi Air Force bombed a well-attended funeral in Yemen ’ s capital , Sanaa .
It was a bright , clear day .
The Saudis used a “ double tap ” airstrike to ensure maximum @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and like with the 2018 Saudi attack on a school bus that killed 40 children , the bombs that did the damage were 500-pound ( 227 kilogram ) MK 82 ’ s , built and supplied by Lockheed Martin , America ’ s largest weapons contractor .
“ Making billions from arms exports which fuel the conflict while providing a small fraction of that in aid to Yemen is both immoral and incoherent .
The world ’ s wealthiest nations can not continue to put profits above the Yemeni people , ” said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Country Director .
Already the region ’ s poorest nation , Yemen has been utterly devastated by the six-year conflict .
The United Nations estimates that 14 million people — over half the country ’ s population — are at risk of famine , and 20.5 million need help accessing drinkable water .
80 % of the population , it calculates , needs some form of humanitarian assistance .
The Saudi-led coalition , which includes the UAE , Qatar , and Bahrain , has deliberately attacked soft targets like hospitals and water facilities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strike against such buildings every ten days since the fighting began .
“ The fact that the United Nations , faced with such enormous human , environmental and migration devastation around the world , has said for several years now that Yemen is the worst humanitarian crisis in the world , that says it all .
This war has devastated what was already the poorest country in the Arab world .
Not only the direct bombing — of funerals , of weddings — but the blockading and bombing of the ports .
Yemen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ food , basic medicines , everything .
So when the ports are closed down , people move close to starvation very quickly , ” Phyllis Bennis , Director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies and an expert on the Middle East , told MintPress .
In addition to supplying the weapons , the U.S. ( and many of its European allies ) train Saudi forces , have provided critical military infrastructure and logistical support , and even refueled Saudi bombers in the air and provided targeting guidance to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ efficiently .
On top of that , the U.S. has shielded Riyadh from international censure by defending it at bodies like the United Nations .
In essence , the U.S. is involved in every area of the Yemen conflict , doing everything up to pulling the trigger itself .
“ The U.S. must end its support for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and instead prioritize the people across Yemen fighting to survive , ” Scott Paul , Oxfam America ’ s Humanitarian Policy Lead told MintPress in a statement .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mistreating Yemen .
In 1990 , the administration of George H.W .
Bush wanted a unanimous United Nations agreement to rubber-stamp its attack on Iraq .
Yemen , newly appointed to the Security Council , refused to go along with the resolution ( as did Cuba ) .
Just minutes after it voted against the U.S. plan , a senior American diplomat told the Yemeni representative , on a hot mic , “ That was the most expensive ‘ no ’ vote you ever cast.
” Within hours , all U.S. aid ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country was stopped .
800,000 Yemeni workers were expelled from Saudi Arabia , and the country had difficulties securing loans with international financial institutions .
Thus , as Bennis said , “ The U.S. refusal to take Yemen and Yemenis seriously goes back a very long way.
” Saudi Arabia has proven to be one of the United States ’ most loyal allies in the region over the past 50 years — and its enforcer .
In return for keeping the oil money flowing into the United States , Washington has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ abysmal human rights record , and even to overlook the assassination of journalists like the Washington Post ’ s Jamal Khashoggi .
Andrew Feinstein , an arms industry expert and author of “ The Shadow World : Inside the Global Arms Trade , ” explained to MintPress that , Under Trump , the United States has sharply increased its military support to Saudi Arabia , signing a number of weapons deals that put the lie to any idea that he was an anti-war president .
Overall , SIPRI calculates that the U.S. accounted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ between 2015 and 2019 , a large increase over the previous five years .
Saudi Arabia is by far America ’ s best customer , and America is the Kingdom ’ s most important supplier , accounting for three-quarters of all purchases .
In 2019 , this included 59,000 guided bombs , most of which were destined to be dropped on soft targets in Yemen .
As Bennis noted , “ The Saudis buy more arms from the U.S. than any other country in the world , so it is embedded in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ here.
” Furthermore , many of Washington ’ s other best customers are also Middle Eastern dictatorships also bombing Yemen .
Saudi Arabia will be hosting the G20 summit this weekend , a meeting of the 20 most powerful nations in the world .
Remarkably , for a country where women can not travel or get married without permission from a man , the Saudi government has chosen “ female empowerment ” as the theme of this year ’ s meeting .
And while the G20 is being urged to hold Saudi Arabia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that possibility seems doubtful , seeing as G20 arms exports to Riyadh are three times what they give to Yemen in aid .
With an impending change of administration in the White House , there is some talk that a Biden administration will reverse direction on Yemen .
Bennis , however , was skeptical of how profound a change Biden will implement : There may be a rather abrupt change .
The question , for me , is how deep it will be .
Biden has made a commitment on his statement of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ involvement in the Saudi War on Yemen .
How that gets defined is the question .
There will be some symbolic moves very quickly after he is inaugurated , hopefully in the first days or weeks of the new administration .
The big question is will he actually stop the massive arms sales of basics- the F-15s and F-16s , the bombers and bombs , the drones , the ammunition and equipment that is responsible for so much death and destruction in Yemen .
Is he prepared to do that ?
I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This is the view echoed by Yemenis on the ground who spoke to MintPress .
Ibrahim Abdulkareem , who lost his infant child when a Saudi warplane dropped a U.S.-made bomb on his home in Sanaa in 2015 , said that Biden ’ s statement of intention on foreign affairs was not good enough : ” I am not optimistic that Biden will stop supplying [ Saudi leader Mohammed ] Bin Salman with bombs like the ones that killed my daughter , ” he stated .
In international affairs , money talks .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of it from this war .
Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News .
After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books : Bad News From Venezuela : Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age : Still Manufacturing Consent .
He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting , The Guardian , Salon , The Grayzone , Jacobin Magazine , Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary .

Despite presenting itself as a force for good and peace in the Middle East, the United States sells at least five times as much weaponry to Saudi Arabia than aid it donates to Yemen. The State Department constantly portrays itself as a humanitarian superpower with the welfare of the Yemeni people as its highest priority, yet figures released from the United Nations and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) show that since the war in Yemen began, the U.S. government has given $2.56 billion in aid to the country, but sold over $13 billion in high-tech weapons to Saudi Arabia, the leader of the coalition prosecuting a relentless onslaught against the country.
Figures like these are always debatable. What constitutes legitimate “aid” is a question everyone would answer differently. Furthermore, the $13 billion figure does not include the enormous weapons deal Saudi Arabia signed with Donald Trump in 2017, which will reportedly see the Kingdom purchase $350 billion over ten years.
SIPRI is skeptical of the size of these numbers, but if they prove to be correct, once the orders begin arriving, they will make the paltry aid donations seem like small change by comparison. Sales include all manner of military equipment, from radar and transport systems to F-15 fighter jets, TOW missiles, Abrams tanks, and Paladin howitzers.
While the Saudis pay in petrodollars, Yemenis pay in blood. Four years ago, the Saudi Air Force bombed a well-attended funeral in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. It was a bright, clear day. The Saudis used a “double tap” airstrike to ensure maximum carnage. 240 people were killed, and like with the 2018 Saudi attack on a school bus that killed 40 children, the bombs that did the damage were 500-pound (227 kilogram) MK 82’s, built and supplied by Lockheed Martin, America’s largest weapons contractor.
“Making billions from arms exports which fuel the conflict while providing a small fraction of that in aid to Yemen is both immoral and incoherent. The world’s wealthiest nations cannot continue to put profits above the Yemeni people,” said Muhsin Siddiquey, Oxfam’s Yemen Country Director.
Already the region’s poorest nation, Yemen has been utterly devastated by the six-year conflict. The United Nations estimates that 14 million people — over half the country’s population — are at risk of famine, and 20.5 million need help accessing drinkable water. 80% of the population, it calculates, needs some form of humanitarian assistance. The Saudi-led coalition, which includes the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain, has deliberately attacked soft targets like hospitals and water facilities, carrying out the equivalent of one strike against such buildings every ten days since the fighting began.
“The fact that the United Nations, faced with such enormous human, environmental and migration devastation around the world, has said for several years now that Yemen is the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, that says it all. This war has devastated what was already the poorest country in the Arab world. Not only the direct bombing — of funerals, of weddings — but the blockading and bombing of the ports. Yemen is a country very dependent on imported food, basic medicines, everything. So when the ports are closed down, people move close to starvation very quickly,” Phyllis Bennis, Director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies and an expert on the Middle East, told MintPress.
In addition to supplying the weapons, the U.S. (and many of its European allies) train Saudi forces, have provided critical military infrastructure and logistical support, and even refueled Saudi bombers in the air and provided targeting guidance to help Saudi forces find their marks more efficiently. On top of that, the U.S. has shielded Riyadh from international censure by defending it at bodies like the United Nations. In essence, the U.S. is involved in every area of the Yemen conflict, doing everything up to pulling the trigger itself.
“The U.S. must end its support for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and instead prioritize the people across Yemen fighting to survive,” Scott Paul, Oxfam America’s Humanitarian Policy Lead told MintPress in a statement.
The U.S. has paused much of its aid to the most vulnerable Yemenis, while it continues to provide weapons that fuel the deadly conflict. Congress and the American people have made it clear that they do not want any part in this. We continue to call for the U.S., the international community and all parties to the conflict to push for peace, and we will hold the incoming Biden administration to its pledge to do its part.”
The United States has a long history of mistreating Yemen. In 1990, the administration of George H.W. Bush wanted a unanimous United Nations agreement to rubber-stamp its attack on Iraq. Yemen, newly appointed to the Security Council, refused to go along with the resolution (as did Cuba). Just minutes after it voted against the U.S. plan, a senior American diplomat told the Yemeni representative, on a hot mic, “That was the most expensive ‘no’ vote you ever cast.” Within hours, all U.S. aid (a $70 million program) to the country was stopped. 800,000 Yemeni workers were expelled from Saudi Arabia, and the country had difficulties securing loans with international financial institutions. Thus, as Bennis said, “The U.S. refusal to take Yemen and Yemenis seriously goes back a very long way.”
Saudi Arabia has proven to be one of the United States’ most loyal allies in the region over the past 50 years — and its enforcer. In return for keeping the oil money flowing into the United States, Washington has been willing to defend the country’s abysmal human rights record, and even to overlook the assassination of journalists like the Washington Post’s Jamal Khashoggi. Andrew Feinstein, an arms industry expert and author of “The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade,” explained to MintPress that,
The U.S. has allied itself with Saudi Arabia, despite it being one of the world’s most corrupt countries and worst human rights abusers, at home and abroad, for two primary reasons: oil and the U.S. right’s desire for regime change in Iran. This is despite the reality that Saudi is the primary ideological supporter of, financier and, weaponizer of the most extreme Islamist groups.”
Under Trump, the United States has sharply increased its military support to Saudi Arabia, signing a number of weapons deals that put the lie to any idea that he was an anti-war president. Overall, SIPRI calculates that the U.S. accounted for 36% of global weapons sales between 2015 and 2019, a large increase over the previous five years. Saudi Arabia is by far America’s best customer, and America is the Kingdom’s most important supplier, accounting for three-quarters of all purchases. In 2019, this included 59,000 guided bombs, most of which were destined to be dropped on soft targets in Yemen. As Bennis noted, “The Saudis buy more arms from the U.S. than any other country in the world, so it is embedded in the very fabric of the military industrial complex here.” Furthermore, many of Washington’s other best customers are also Middle Eastern dictatorships also bombing Yemen.
Saudi Arabia will be hosting the G20 summit this weekend, a meeting of the 20 most powerful nations in the world. Remarkably, for a country where women cannot travel or get married without permission from a man, the Saudi government has chosen “female empowerment” as the theme of this year’s meeting. And while the G20 is being urged to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for its role in Yemen, that possibility seems doubtful, seeing as G20 arms exports to Riyadh are three times what they give to Yemen in aid.
With an impending change of administration in the White House, there is some talk that a Biden administration will reverse direction on Yemen. Bennis, however, was skeptical of how profound a change Biden will implement:
There may be a rather abrupt change. The question, for me, is how deep it will be. Biden has made a commitment on his statement of intention on foreign affairs to end U.S. involvement in the Saudi War on Yemen. How that gets defined is the question. There will be some symbolic moves very quickly after he is inaugurated, hopefully in the first days or weeks of the new administration. The big question is will he actually stop the massive arms sales of basics- the F-15s and F-16s, the bombers and bombs, the drones, the ammunition and equipment that is responsible for so much death and destruction in Yemen. Is he prepared to do that? I’m hopeful but not terribly optimistic.”
This is the view echoed by Yemenis on the ground who spoke to MintPress. Ibrahim Abdulkareem, who lost his infant child when a Saudi warplane dropped a U.S.-made bomb on his home in Sanaa in 2015, said that Biden’s statement of intention on foreign affairs was not good enough: ”I am not optimistic that Biden will stop supplying [Saudi leader Mohammed] Bin Salman with bombs like the ones that killed my daughter,” he stated. In international affairs, money talks. And the U.S. is making a lot of it from this war.
Feature photo | Graphic by Antonio Cabrera for MintPress News
Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent. He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary.


mintpressnews--2020-11-23--CIA’s New Big Tech Procurement Drive Brings War Economy Back to its Roots

The vaunted “ 17 intelligence agencies ” that comprise the U.S. intel community will be sharing a network of private-sector cloud computing service providers which includes Microsoft , Google , Oracle , IBM , and Amazon Web Services ( AWS ) as part of a 15-year contract said to be worth tens of billions of dollars .
AWS currently holds the sole contract to provide cloud computing services to a number of intelligence agencies , including the FBI and the NSA .
That contract is set to expire in 2023 and this new award – managed by the CIA – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ privileged position in the federal money sweepstakes , which had already taken a hard hit when Microsoft was unexpectedly chosen over Bezos ’ company for the Department of Defense ’ s own cloud services contract for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure ( JEDI ) program .
The Central Intelligence Agency will take full advantage of its access to money without oversight to disburse the government funds at the agency ’ s discretion .
Although speculated to rise into the tens of billions , the CIA has no plans to disclose the real value @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cloud Enterprise ( C2E ) procurement program was unveiled in February by the premier U.S. spy agency in a bid to establish a cloud computing service platform for the country ’ s intelligence agencies separate from JEDI , which remains enmeshed in a protracted legal contest with AWS and is two years behind implementation .
The five tech giants will compete with each other for “ task orders ” that come in from the multitude of intelligence agencies throughout the country and will span every security clearance level up to and including top @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the building of infrastructure and all other basic cloud services , as well as professional services and public-facing services .
Many seem surprised by the multi-contractor , ad hoc nature of the C2E awards because it “ appears not to settle on a particular cloud provider ” and while these dynamics do stray from the relatively recent trend of sole-contract awards and tacit monopolies many corporations have enjoyed through similar public-private partnerships , this particular practice of pitting contractors against each other for services requisitioned by the government is not new .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ part of the military industrial complex and its historical origins at the height of the British empire .
The start of the Glorious Revolution in 1688 marked the beginning of 125 years of constant war for the global superpower of the day and the slow but inexorable rise of an industry of war made up exclusively of freelancers who would make the guns , rifles , and bullets their bloodthirsty Queen required .
As the empire grew , the processes for the production of weapons underwent a dramatic change from artisanal modes to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the biggest army and navy in the world , which was pillaging and extracting resources to fuel the burgeoning enterprise of capitalism .
This period also fine-tuned the relationship between the state and independent contractors , with the former establishing laws governing them in order to leverage their overwhelming advantage .
Other strategies were also employed to both suppress the price the Crown paid for materiel and to make sure that no single contractor held too big a stake in the supply chain .
In her book “ Empire of Guns , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ destroys the myth that the Industrial Revolution was the result of a cotton-picking machine when even a cursory look at the history shows that it was guns and a state engaged in perpetual war that laid the foundations of our current economic paradigm .
Now , we stand on the threshold of the so-called “ Fourth Industrial Revolution ” in a world that has perfected weapons of war to atomic levels .
New ‘ cyberweapons ’ are being forged and it is only fitting that the war industry , led today by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ origins to maintain its own monopoly on human suffering and devastation in the name of profit .
The public-private partnership has been another significant trend that also mirrors a ubiquitous trend in Victorian England .
But , in today ’ s world , a parallel legal system has grown alongside the state ’ s war industry and is also now at the disposal of the corporations who wish to dispute any deal , leading to considerable delays in the execution of contracts .
Cases like the JEDI suit affect the military readiness goals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can not move forward with a particular initiative due to litigation .
Another recent case is holding up the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency ’ s ( CISA ) efforts to centralize inflow and outflow of data regarding cyber-threats .
In October , the Government Services Agency ( GSA ) , awarded a $ 13 Million-dollar contract to a company called EnDyna to “ create a centralized database that agencies can use to report , discover and take actions against cyber threat information.
” A much larger competitor , HackerOne , filed a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ failure to meet eligibility requirements and the smaller company ’ s competence to carry out the work .
Technicalities like these can hold up a project in court for years , so it makes perfect sense for the state-run war industry to return to its roots and apply the tried and true principles of divide and conquer against the people making their guns , whether real or virtual .
By taking the first few spots on the Big Tech pecking order and putting them in a room to duke it out for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recognizing the growing power of these firms and is unleashing the CIA to curb it and diminish threats to the supply chain of the twenty-first century ’ s permanent war economy .
Feature photo | The Central Intelligence Agency flag is displayed , partially cast in a shadow .
David Goldman | AP

The vaunted “17 intelligence agencies” that comprise the U.S. intel community will be sharing a network of private-sector cloud computing service providers which includes Microsoft, Google, Oracle, IBM, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) as part of a 15-year contract said to be worth tens of billions of dollars.
AWS currently holds the sole contract to provide cloud computing services to a number of intelligence agencies, including the FBI and the NSA. That contract is set to expire in 2023 and this new award – managed by the CIA – will further weaken Amazon’s once privileged position in the federal money sweepstakes, which had already taken a hard hit when Microsoft was unexpectedly chosen over Bezos’ company for the Department of Defense’s own cloud services contract for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) program.
The Central Intelligence Agency will take full advantage of its access to money without oversight to disburse the government funds at the agency’s discretion. Although speculated to rise into the tens of billions, the CIA has no plans to disclose the real value of the C2E contracts. The Commercial Cloud Enterprise (C2E) procurement program was unveiled in February by the premier U.S. spy agency in a bid to establish a cloud computing service platform for the country’s intelligence agencies separate from JEDI, which remains enmeshed in a protracted legal contest with AWS and is two years behind implementation.
The five tech giants will compete with each other for “task orders” that come in from the multitude of intelligence agencies throughout the country and will span every security clearance level up to and including top secret clearance. The contract calls for the building of infrastructure and all other basic cloud services, as well as professional services and public-facing services.
The more things change…
Many seem surprised by the multi-contractor, ad hoc nature of the C2E awards because it “appears not to settle on a particular cloud provider” and while these dynamics do stray from the relatively recent trend of sole-contract awards and tacit monopolies many corporations have enjoyed through similar public-private partnerships, this particular practice of pitting contractors against each other for services requisitioned by the government is not new.
In fact, such practices are an intrinsic part of the military industrial complex and its historical origins at the height of the British empire. The start of the Glorious Revolution in 1688 marked the beginning of 125 years of constant war for the global superpower of the day and the slow but inexorable rise of an industry of war made up exclusively of freelancers who would make the guns, rifles, and bullets their bloodthirsty Queen required.
As the empire grew, the processes for the production of weapons underwent a dramatic change from artisanal modes to full-fledged factory-style production; all spurred by the biggest army and navy in the world, which was pillaging and extracting resources to fuel the burgeoning enterprise of capitalism.
This period also fine-tuned the relationship between the state and independent contractors, with the former establishing laws governing them in order to leverage their overwhelming advantage. Other strategies were also employed to both suppress the price the Crown paid for materiel and to make sure that no single contractor held too big a stake in the supply chain.
In her book “Empire of Guns,” Priya Satia details this entire process and destroys the myth that the Industrial Revolution was the result of a cotton-picking machine when even a cursory look at the history shows that it was guns and a state engaged in perpetual war that laid the foundations of our current economic paradigm.
Now, we stand on the threshold of the so-called “Fourth Industrial Revolution” in a world that has perfected weapons of war to atomic levels. New ‘cyberweapons’ are being forged and it is only fitting that the war industry, led today by the United States, would return to its origins to maintain its own monopoly on human suffering and devastation in the name of profit.
Return to the roots
The public-private partnership has been another significant trend that also mirrors a ubiquitous trend in Victorian England. But, in today’s world, a parallel legal system has grown alongside the state’s war industry and is also now at the disposal of the corporations who wish to dispute any deal, leading to considerable delays in the execution of contracts.
Cases like the JEDI suit affect the military readiness goals of the national security state if it cannot move forward with a particular initiative due to litigation. Another recent case is holding up the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency’s (CISA) efforts to centralize inflow and outflow of data regarding cyber-threats.
In October, the Government Services Agency (GSA), awarded a $13 Million-dollar contract to a company called EnDyna to “create a centralized database that agencies can use to report, discover and take actions against cyber threat information.” A much larger competitor, HackerOne, filed a protest questioning the award on grounds of failure to meet eligibility requirements and the smaller company’s competence to carry out the work.
Technicalities like these can hold up a project in court for years, so it makes perfect sense for the state-run war industry to return to its roots and apply the tried and true principles of divide and conquer against the people making their guns, whether real or virtual. By taking the first few spots on the Big Tech pecking order and putting them in a room to duke it out for a government contract, the war establishment is recognizing the growing power of these firms and is unleashing the CIA to curb it and diminish threats to the supply chain of the twenty-first century’s permanent war economy.
Feature photo | The Central Intelligence Agency flag is displayed, partially cast in a shadow. David Goldman | AP
Raul Diego is a MintPress News Staff Writer, independent photojournalist, researcher, writer and documentary filmmaker.


mintpressnews--2020-11-23--Successful Not-for-Profit Oxford COVID Vaccine Threatens Big Pharma Profit Logic

The world is abuzz today after a team of medical researchers from Oxford University in the United Kingdom announced that advanced trials of their experimental coronavirus vaccine were a roaring success , with the vaccine possibly being rolled out before Christmas .
Testing was done on 24,000 volunteers in the U.K , Brazil , and South Africa , with an average effectiveness of over 70 % .
However , when the vaccine was administered as a half dose , then patients were later given a full one , effectiveness increased to 90 % .
Encouragingly , there were no serious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ volunteers , none of whom had to go to the hospital as a result of being immunized .
The U.K. government has already ordered 100 million doses .
Professor Andrew Pollard , Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and chief investigator of the experiment , was delighted , stating that , Even better news is that the Oxford team developed the breakthrough vaccine with the explicit intention of supplying it around the world on a not-for-profit basis , meaning that the poorest nations on the planet will not have to worry about being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lack of funds .
This was certainly not the case with other solutions developed by the likes of Moderna or Pfizer .
Indeed , the world ’ s richest countries had already bought up the majority of their COVID-19 vaccines , whose secrets were being closely guarded , rather than shared widely to help the rest of humanity .
Large scale manufacturing of the vaccine has already begun in ten countries , according to a press release from the University of Oxford .
“ Today marks an important milestone in our fight against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ efficacy and safety confirm that it will be highly effective against COVID-19 and will have an immediate impact on this public health emergency , ” said Pascal Soriot of AstraZeneca , a bioresearch company that partnered with the 924-year-old educational institution on development and testing .
“ Furthermore , the vaccine ’ s simple supply chain and our no-profit pledge and commitment to broad , equitable and timely access means it will be affordable and globally available supplying hundreds of millions of doses on approval.
” Today ’ s good news will doubtless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( Moderna ’ s share price has more than quintupled since the beginning of the year ) , but it also challenges corporate pharma ’ s logic and justification for high drug prices in the first place .
The pharmaceutical industry argues that research and development are extremely expensive , that market competition and profit breed innovation , and is the only way to ensure new drugs are developed .
Yet examples like the Oxford and the four separate Cuban vaccines in development suggest that this logic is faulty , at best .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of biomedical research , as should the Moderna vaccine , ” Dean Baker , senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research told MintPress today .
In reality , a huge amount of medical research is actually paid for by the taxpayer , as Baker has already shown , only becoming the intellectual property of private corporations once it is profitable .
Apart from their willingness to share it with the world freely , the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has other benefits over its competitors .
Firstly , they aim to make and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , rather than the $ 20 Pfizer charges , or the $ 25 for Moderna ’ s offering .
Oxford and AstraZeneca have committed to selling the vaccine to developing countries at cost price .
And unlike the costlier Pfizer vaccine , it does not have to be stored at -94 degrees Fahrenheit but can be kept in an ordinary refrigerator , making its storage and distribution straightforward everywhere .
Further trials of the vaccine involving 60,000 people in the United States , Kenya , Japan , and India are ongoing .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a common cold virus and that has been genetically engineered so that it can not grow in humans .
“ What we ’ ve always tried to do with a vaccine is fool the immune system into thinking that there ’ s a dangerous infection there that it needs to respond to — but doing it in a very safe way , ” explained Professor Pollard .
“ So we get the immune response and we get the immune memory … waiting and ready if the pathogen itself is then encountered.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ offering to the ones on offer from Pfizer and Moderna has been green-lighted , although suspicion of vaccines remains high , with only 58 % of Americans stating that they would be willing to receive a free , FDA-approved shot when the time comes .
This , despite the fact that well over 12.5 million Americans have already tested positive for COVID-19 , and over 262,000 deaths have been recorded .
Part of the problem is doubtless due to companies like Pfizer ’ s inglorious history .
In 2011 , for example , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to families of 11 Nigerian children who were killed in a meningitis trial where the pharmaceutical giant did not gain their parents ’ consent to use experimental drugs on them .
Two years later , Pfizer was forced to pay half a billion dollars in fines over a false and misleading marketing campaign and $ 55 million to victims who claimed it did not warn them about the risks involved in taking its acid reflux drug Protonix .
And last year , 44 states came together to file a civil lawsuit in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it of “ one of the most egregious and damaging price-fixing conspiracies in the history of the United States.
” AstraZeneca , the British/Swedish multinational partnering with Oxford University , is far from blameless itself , however .
Over the years it has been convicted of falsely advertising its products , releasing , overcharging Medicare and private insurance companies , and of carrying out shockingly sexist employment practices .
While investors have forgiven the company for these transgressions , it appears that they are more shocked by the news of a not-for-profit COVID @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s share price slid by two percent following the announcement of the vaccine ’ s effectiveness .
Baker suggested that the story of the Oxford vaccine should serve as an example of how a more efficiently and sanely organized healthcare system could look like , telling MintPress that , Yet with both major parties vigorously opposing Medicare-for-All , even through a worldwide pandemic , it is unlikely that this will cause a major rethink in elite circles , at least .
Nevertheless , in a year that has given the world so little @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is undoubtedly good news .
Feature photo | A researcher in a laboratory at the Jenner Institute in Oxford , England , works on the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University .
John Cairns | University of Oxford via AP Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News .
After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books : Bad News From Venezuela : Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age : Still Manufacturing Consent .
He has also contributed to Fairness and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Salon , The Grayzone , Jacobin Magazine , Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary .

The world is abuzz today after a team of medical researchers from Oxford University in the United Kingdom announced that advanced trials of their experimental coronavirus vaccine were a roaring success, with the vaccine possibly being rolled out before Christmas. Testing was done on 24,000 volunteers in the U.K, Brazil, and South Africa, with an average effectiveness of over 70%. However, when the vaccine was administered as a half dose, then patients were later given a full one, effectiveness increased to 90%. Encouragingly, there were no serious side effects registered among any of the volunteers, none of whom had to go to the hospital as a result of being immunized. The U.K. government has already ordered 100 million doses.
Professor Andrew Pollard, Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and chief investigator of the experiment, was delighted, stating that,
These findings show that we have an effective vaccine that will save many lives. Excitingly, we’ve found that one of our dosing regimens may be around 90 percent effective, and if this dosing regimen is used, more people could be vaccinated with planned vaccine supply. Today’s announcement is only possible thanks to the many volunteers in our trial, and the hard working and talented team of researchers based around the world.”
Even better news is that the Oxford team developed the breakthrough vaccine with the explicit intention of supplying it around the world on a not-for-profit basis, meaning that the poorest nations on the planet will not have to worry about being shut out of a cure due to lack of funds. This was certainly not the case with other solutions developed by the likes of Moderna or Pfizer. Indeed, the world’s richest countries had already bought up the majority of their COVID-19 vaccines, whose secrets were being closely guarded, rather than shared widely to help the rest of humanity.
Large scale manufacturing of the vaccine has already begun in ten countries, according to a press release from the University of Oxford. “Today marks an important milestone in our fight against the pandemic. This vaccine’s efficacy and safety confirm that it will be highly effective against COVID-19 and will have an immediate impact on this public health emergency,” said
Pascal Soriot of AstraZeneca, a bioresearch company that partnered with the 924-year-old educational institution on development and testing. “Furthermore, the vaccine’s simple supply chain and our no-profit pledge and commitment to broad, equitable and timely access means it will be affordable and globally available supplying hundreds of millions of doses on approval.”
Good for people, bad for profits
Today’s good news will doubtless challenge corporate pharma’s profit margins (Moderna’s share price has more than quintupled since the beginning of the year), but it also challenges corporate pharma’s logic and justification for high drug prices in the first place.
The pharmaceutical industry argues that research and development are extremely expensive, that market competition and profit breed innovation, and is the only way to ensure new drugs are developed. Yet examples like the Oxford and the four separate Cuban vaccines in development suggest that this logic is faulty, at best.
“This should really encourage some rethinking of biomedical research, as should the Moderna vaccine,” Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research told MintPress today.
There was this absurd view that somehow we could only get good drug development with the lure of a patent monopoly. The Moderna case is noteworthy because, basically the government paid the full cost of developing the drug upfront. We did also give them patent monopolies, but since the government already paid for the research, this was a handout to the company.”
In reality, a huge amount of medical research is actually paid for by the taxpayer, as Baker has already shown, only becoming the intellectual property of private corporations once it is profitable.
More advantages
Apart from their willingness to share it with the world freely, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has other benefits over its competitors. Firstly, they aim to make and sell it for $3-4 per shot, rather than the $20 Pfizer charges, or the $25 for Moderna’s offering. Oxford and AstraZeneca have committed to selling the vaccine to developing countries at cost price. And unlike the costlier Pfizer vaccine, it does not have to be stored at -94 degrees Fahrenheit but can be kept in an ordinary refrigerator, making its storage and distribution straightforward everywhere. Further trials of the vaccine involving 60,000 people in the United States, Kenya, Japan, and India are ongoing.
The vaccine is based on a weakened version of a common cold virus and that has been genetically engineered so that it cannot grow in humans. “What we’ve always tried to do with a vaccine is fool the immune system into thinking that there’s a dangerous infection there that it needs to respond to — but doing it in a very safe way,” explained Professor Pollard. “So we get the immune response and we get the immune memory … waiting and ready if the pathogen itself is then encountered.”
An inglorious history
Many will be relieved that an alternative offering to the ones on offer from Pfizer and Moderna has been green-lighted, although suspicion of vaccines remains high, with only 58% of Americans stating that they would be willing to receive a free, FDA-approved shot when the time comes. This, despite the fact that well over 12.5 million Americans have already tested positive for COVID-19, and over 262,000 deaths have been recorded.
Part of the problem is doubtless due to companies like Pfizer’s inglorious history. In 2011, for example, the company finally agreed to pay compensation to families of 11 Nigerian children who were killed in a meningitis trial where the pharmaceutical giant did not gain their parents’ consent to use experimental drugs on them. Two years later, Pfizer was forced to pay half a billion dollars in fines over a false and misleading marketing campaign and $55 million to victims who claimed it did not warn them about the risks involved in taking its acid reflux drug Protonix. And last year, 44 states came together to file a civil lawsuit in a federal court against the giant, accusing it of “one of the most egregious and damaging price-fixing conspiracies in the history of the United States.”
AstraZeneca, the British/Swedish multinational partnering with Oxford University, is far from blameless itself, however. Over the years it has been convicted of falsely advertising its products, releasing, overcharging Medicare and private insurance companies, and of carrying out shockingly sexist employment practices.
While investors have forgiven the company for these transgressions, it appears that they are more shocked by the news of a not-for-profit COVID vaccine. Today, the company’s share price slid by two percent following the announcement of the vaccine’s effectiveness.
Baker suggested that the story of the Oxford vaccine should serve as an example of how a more efficiently and sanely organized healthcare system could look like, telling MintPress that,
The Oxford vaccine is even more striking, since the point was to pay researchers, but not to rely on patent monopolies to generate large profits. We ended up with a cheaper, better vaccine, in the sense that it is much easier to store and distribute. It would be great if we could take away some lessons from the experience of vaccine development in this crisis and get away from the antiquated patent monopoly mechanism for financing research.”
Yet with both major parties vigorously opposing Medicare-for-All, even through a worldwide pandemic, it is unlikely that this will cause a major rethink in elite circles, at least. Nevertheless, in a year that has given the world so little to smile about, this new breakthrough is undoubtedly good news.
Feature photo | A researcher in a laboratory at the Jenner Institute in Oxford, England, works on the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. John Cairns | University of Oxford via AP
Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent. He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary.