Things to consider—

Since early 2011, Obama's been waging proxy war on Syria. Imported death squads masquerade as freedom fighters. The scheme's familiar. It repeats. It reflects US imperialism's dark side. In the 1980s, CIA-recruited mujahideen fighters battled Afghanistan's Soviet occupiers. Ronald Reagan called them "the moral equivalent of our founding fathers." He characterized Contra killers the same way. —Stephen LendmanFor over a century now US ambassadors have acted as fifth columns in the nations they are embedded in, their role chiefly to foster corporate and plutocratic power and coordinate machinations against any truly pro-democratic government.•••••"The dead end identity politics of SF Pride, which sells out a peace hero like Bradley Manning to curry favor with the American ruling class, is what I had in mind. The empire loves your tameness, irrelevance and cowardice, SF Pride. You don’t bother the American ruling class — a five foot two, 105 pound soldier does because he has a conscience and because he didn’t make comfort the guiding principle of his life...." —Randy Shields

What the Syrian Constitution says about Assad and the Rebels

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May 212013
 
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By Stephen Gowans, What’s Left

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A fundamentalist rebellion abetted by the unholy alliance of reactionary Arab regimes such as Saudi Arabia, the NATO bloc, and al-Qaeda fanatics has plunged Syria into a bloodbath.

The idea that the uprising against the Syrian government is inspired by a grassroots movement thirsting for a pluralist, democratic state is a fiction. The opposition’s chief elements are Islamists who seek to establish a Sunni-dominated Islamic state in place of a Syrian government they revile for being secular and dominated by Alawi “heretics.” “Al Qaeda-linked groups…dominate rebel ranks,” notes The Wall Street Journal. [1] “There is frustration with the West’s inability to help nurture a secular military or political opposition to replace Mr. Assad,” echoes The New York Times. [2] “Islamic forces seem to be ascendant within the opposition,” observes Gerald F. Seib. [3] Continue reading »

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ARCHIVES: The U.S. Left and Media Politics

 ABOMINATIONS, AMERICAN STUDIES, ANTI-CORPORATISM, ANTI-NEOLIBERALISM, ASSHOLES, BASTARDS & CRIMINALS, BOUGHT POLITICIANS & PHONIES, CORPORATE OWNED PARTIES, CORPORATE TELEVISION, DEMAGOGUERY, FALSE DEMOCRACY, MEDIA SCUM, PLUTOCRATIC POWER, PUTRID CORPOMEDIA  No Responses »
May 212013
 
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Articles of compelling importance you should have read but missed the first time around. 

The US does not have leadership. It has misleadership. The US political class does not represent the ordinary citizen, albeit it pretends to do so.

The US does not have leadership. It has misleadership. The US political class does not represent the ordinary citizen, albeit it pretends to do so.

, Monthly Review, a fraternal organization
•••

American democracy is in deep trouble. Cynicism and distrust of the political system, fueled at least in part by imposed ignorance, have grown steadily in recent years. There are several reasons for this, but few as important as the condition of our media. Many Americans, especially those on the left, know that after a generation of rampant consolidation and conglomeration, the American media are dominated by less than twenty firms—and that a half-dozen or so corporate giants hold the commanding positions. These firms use their market power to advance their own and other companies’ corporate agendas. And they increasingly commercialize every aspect of our culture. By any known theory of political democracy, this tightly-held media system, accountable only to Wall Street and Madison Avenue, is a poisonous proposition. Continue reading »

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The Unseen Lies: Journalism As Propaganda

 ANNOTATED NEWS, GOVERNMENT CRIMES, MEDIA SCUM, PROPAGANDA, PUTRID CORPOMEDIA  No Responses »
May 212013
 
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JOHN PILGER: One of my favorite stories about the Cold War concerns a group of Russian journalists who were touring the United States. On the final day of their visit, they were asked by the host for their impressions. “I have to tell you,” said the spokesman, “that we were astonished to find after reading all the newspapers and watching TV day after day that all the opinions on all the vital issues are the same. To get that result in our country we send journalists to the gulag. We even tear out their fingernails. Here you don’t have to do any of that. What is the secret?”


Vietnamese battalion commander Captain Thach Quyen interrogates a captured Viet Cong suspect. The US “satellite armies” are notorious for their villainy and brutality, often outdoing their masters, amply meriting the old appellative, “running dogs of capitalism”. Photo Credit: Huynh Thanh My, 1965 (AP). Online Source: http://digitaljournalist.org/issue9711/req10.htm

What is the secret? It is a question seldom asked in newsrooms, in media colleges, in journalism journals, and yet the answer to that question is critical to the lives of millions of people. On August 24 last year the New York Times declared this in an editorial: “If we had known then what we know now the invasion if Iraq would have been stopped by a popular outcry.” This amazing admission was saying, in effect, that journalists had betrayed the public by not doing their job and by accepting and amplifying and echoing the lies of Bush and his gang, instead of challenging them and exposing them. What the Times didn’t say was that had that paper and the rest of the media exposed the lies, up to a million people might be alive today. Continue reading »

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 Posted by at 8:21 am

Why the Viet Nam Anti-War Movement’s Work Is Not Yet Done

 ABOMINATIONS, ANTI-CORPORATISM, ANTIWAR, BOUGHT POLITICIANS & PHONIES, CORPORATE CRIMES, CORPORATE OWNED PARTIES, COUPS & CIVIL WAR, INDECENT SLIMEBALLS, MEDIA SCUM, NARCISSISM, PROPAGANDA, THE PENTAGON-MEDIA COMPLEX, US Foreign Policy, US Military, WAR CRIMES & CRIMINALS  No Responses »
May 132013
 
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The Viet Nam War may have ended over four decades ago, but the issues stemming from it are very much with us.
vietwar-choppers-The Daily Stash26
Most US citizens these days don’t consider Viet Nam at all. Of  those who do, many believe that all is well. And in some ways it  is. Viet Nam has normal diplomatic relations with the US, belongs  to the World Trade Organization, accepts investment by US based  multi-national corporations and is allied with US foreign policy on  some geopolitical issues including concerns over China’s intentions regarding “disputed” territory in the South China Sea. Continue reading »
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Death toll in Bangladesh factory collapse reaches 950

 ABOMINATIONS, BOUGHT POLITICIANS & PHONIES, BOURGEOIS VALUES, CAPITALISM & SOCIALISM, CORPORATE OWNED PARTIES, CULTURE & CRITICISM, EXTREME WEALTH, GLOBAL NEOLIBERALISM, IDIOTIZED PUBLICS, IMPERIALISM, INEQUALITY, INTERNATIONAL REPORTAGE, LIBERAL BETRAYALS, MEDIA SCUM, PLUTOCRATIC POWER, SICK SOCIETY, THE LABOR FRONT  No Responses »
May 102013
 
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By Sarath Kumara and Wimal Perera , wsws.org
UPDATE: Rescuers now put the figure at 1127 victims.

The Rana Plaza tragedy: totally avoidable in a compassionate and well governed world. The site of the garment factory building collapse is in Savar, Bangladesh.

The death toll of the Savar building collapse reached 950 by Thursday evening, refuting earlier claims of the Bangladesh government and business organisations, which put the number of deaths at a lower figure. Continue reading »

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The Israeli strikes on Syria

 ABOMINATIONS, AMERICAN STUDIES, ANTI-CORPORATISM, ANTIWAR, BOUGHT POLITICIANS & PHONIES, CORPORATE MENTALITY, CORPORATE OWNED PARTIES, GOVERNMENT CRIMES, GREAT HYPOCRISY, IDIOTS, IMPERIAL APOLOGISTS & COLLABOS, IMPERIALISM, ISRAEL, MEDIA SCUM, PUTRID CORPOMEDIA, SCUMWATCH, SECRET GOVERNMENTS, The Middle East, WAR CRIMES & CRIMINALS, Zionist Occupation  2 Responses »
May 062013
 
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By Alex Lantier, wsws.org

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Israel’s bombing of Damascus International Airport Thursday night and Syrian army targets across Damascus yesterday morning are unprovoked and illegal acts of war, abetted by Washington and its European allies as part of their escalating campaign against Syria.

Russian media reported that 300 Syrian soldiers had been killed and hundreds more wounded in Sunday’s attacks alone. Continue reading »

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