VIRTUALUNIV

MICHAEL K. SMITH—The grossly exploitative nature of gig employment is nowhere more apparent than in the current crisis of Uber drivers during the corona virus pandemic. The unofficial “plan” is to let these drivers work right up to the moment they get sick, then hope they don’t die as they shelter in place at home awaiting a compensation check based on their collapsed earnings. In short, a token tiny payment inside a get-well card. 

TERJE MALOY—Our leading media and their key people are – in the spirit of Chomsky’s “socialization” –  often themselves part of the networks of the transatlantic elite. Some of the most important institutions in this regard include the US Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the Bilderberg Group, and the Trilateral Commission (see in-depth study of these networks).Indeed, most well-known publications basically may be seen as “establishment media”.

DIANA JOHNSTONE—Fifty years ago, it was “the left” whose most ardent cause was passionate support for Third World national liberation struggles. The left’s heroes were Ahmed Ben Bella, Sukarno, Amilcar Cabral, Patrice Lumumba, and above all Ho Chi Minh.  What were these leaders fighting for?  They were fighting to liberate their countries from Western imperialism.  They were fighting for independence, for the right to determine their own way of life, preserve their own customs, decide their own future. They were fighting for national sovereignty, and the left supported that struggle.

GODFREE ROBERTS—In 2015 RAND reported, “China can now hold the US Navy’s surface fleet at risk at significant ranges from the mainland”. Two years later the Pentagon calculated, “The PLAN is the largest navy in Asia, with more than 300 surface ships, submarines, amphibious and patrol craft.” In 2018, the US Navy’s Indo-Pacific Commander, Adm. Philip Davidson ⁠1, told the Senate, “There is no guarantee that the United States would win a future conflict with China”. By next summer, says the Navy,⁠ the PLAN will have 342 deployable warships, far more than the USN can support in the area.

PHILIP GIRALDI—The Times article was written by David Sanger, the paper’s venerable national security correspondent. He is reliably wedded to Establishment views of the Russian threat, as is his newspaper, and strikes rock bottom in his assessment when he cites none other than “Victoria Nuland, who in a long diplomatic career had served both Republican and Democratic administrations, and had her phone calls intercepted and broadcast by Russian intelligence services.”