RAMIN MAZAHERI—The crimes and failures of Geagea and Salamé are so rarely reported on during Western coverage of the corruption protests because they are the links between Washington, Israel, Paris and the incredibly corrupt 1% in Lebanon. The idea that Hezbollah could be the target of corruption protests more than that quartet beggars belief. The West prefers to act as if Western-backed Lebanese sectarianism only extends to the legislative and executive branches, but for decades money and guns have remained under the control of the Christians so they could build corrupt patronage networks alongside the Western 1%. That the Hariris had to go to Saudi Arabia to make their money is significant.
THE GLOBAL RULING CLASS
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Lula tells world he’s back in the game from jail
15 minutes readPEPE ESCOBAR—The real story confirms what Lula said in the interview. On August 10, a group of 70 wealthy farmers, all Bolsonaro voters, organized on WhatsApp a “Day of Fire” in the Altamira region in the vast state of Pará. This happens to be the region with the highest number of wildfires in Brazil – infested with aggressive rural developers who are devoted to massive, hardcore deforestation; they’re invested in land occupation and a no-quarter war against landless peasants and small agricultural producers. “Day of Fire” was supposed to support Bolsonaro’s drive to finish off with official monitoring and erase fines over one of the “Bs” of the BBB lobby that elected him (Beef, Bullet, Bible).
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RON RIDENOUR—Putin saw that US foreign policy is built on military supremacy, so he set forth a policy of rearming the Russian military to defend the country against any aggressions launched by the US. Already the next year, 2008, he let the US know that Russia would not allow it to bring Georgia or the Ukraine into NATO, thus surrounding Russia all the more.Russia didn’t attack Georgia first, another US lie. Even the former National Security Adviser and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice later admitted that it was Georgia, which started that war.South Ossetia and Abkhazia were independent states that Georgia President Mikjail Saakashvili attacked, killing many of them and some Russian troops before Russia fired back. The Russo-Georgian War showed that Russia’s conventional military power mattered. Russia sent an army to Georgia of equal size to Georgia’s, which had been poorly trained by the US/NATO, and defeated it in four days, in August 2008.
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PHILIP A. FARRUGGIO—Davis interviewed pilot Randy Floyd, who felt so ashamed of the murder and terror he caused innocent civilians that he broke down continually during the interview. After he composed himself Floyd made this key observation: “Americans have worked extremely hard NOT to see the criminality that their officials and their policymakers have exhibited.” How intuitive for not only 1974 Amerika, but for 2016 Amerika as well. Ever wonder how many fine and decent friends and neighbors of ours still hold this “My country right or wrong” attitude? This empire is so adept at stirring up deep seated patriotic passions in many of us… to the detriment of our moral compass!
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Max Blumenthal on Venezuela & Dark Ops / Follow Up to his must-see video on Capitol politicians squirming under his simple questions.
7 minutes readMax Blumenthal is interviewed by RJ Eskow on Venezuela & Dark Ops. Tulsi Gabbard offers her plea for non-intervention.