Dr Udo Ulfkotte, journalist and author, on RT

Why Ridiculous Official Propaganda Still Works

by CJ Hopkins

January 13, 2017

source: http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/01/13/why-ridiculous-official-propaganda-still-works/

For students of official propaganda, manipulation of public opinion, psychological conditioning, and emotional coercion, it doesn’t get much better than this. As Trump and his army of Goldman Sachs guys, corporate CEOs, and Christian zealots slouch toward inauguration day, we are being treated to a master class in coordinated media manipulation that is making Goebbels look like an amateur. This may not be immediately apparent, given the seemingly risible nature of most of the garbage we are being barraged with, but once one understands the actual purpose of such official propaganda, everything starts to make more sense.

We’ve Been Hacking Elections For More Than a Century

By Stephen Kinzer

Source: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/46234.htm

January 15, 2017 "Information Clearing House" - "Boston Globe" - Outrage is shaking Washington as members of Congress compete to demonize Russia for its alleged interference in America’s recent presidential election. “Any foreign intervention in our elections is entirely unacceptable,” Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has asserted. Russian actions, according to other legislators, are “attacks on our very fundamentals of democracy” that “should alarm every American” because they “cut to the heart of our free society.” This burst of righteous indignation would be easier to swallow if the United States had not itself made a chronic habit of interfering in foreign elections.

The Establishment Is Trying To Steal The Presidency From Trump And the Liberal-Left Is Helping

By Paul Craig Roberts

Source: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/46222.htm

January 14, 2017 "Information Clearing House" - Reuters reports that 2,700 US troops accompanied by tanks are moving across Poland toward the Russian border. Col. Christopher Norrie, commander of the 3rd Armoured Brigade Combat Team, declared: “The main goal of our mission is deterrence and prevention of threats.” Apparently, the colonel is not sufficiently bright to realize that far from preventing threats, the force he is leading presents as a threat. And to no less a military power than Russia.

The Deep State Goes to War with Trump, Using Unverified Claims, as Democrats Cheer

By Glenn Greenwald

Source: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/46211.htm

January 12, 2017 "Information Clearing House" - "The Intercept" -  In January, 1961, Dwight Eisenhower delivered his farewell address after serving two terms as U.S. president; the five-star general chose to warn Americans of this specific threat to democracy: “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.” That warning was issued prior to the decadelong escalation of the Vietnam War, three more decades of Cold War mania, and the post-9/11 era, all of which radically expanded that unelected faction’s power even further.

Pushing for a Lucrative New Cold War

Source: https://consortiumnews.com/2017/01/07/pushing-for-a-lucrative-new-cold-war/

January 7, 2017

The New Cold War promises untold riches for the Military-Industrial Complex, causing hawks inside the Obama administration to push for more hostilities with Russia, as in a Syrian case study dissected by Gareth Porter for Truthdig.

By Gareth Porter

Airstrikes by the United States and its allies against two Syrian army positions Sept. 17 killed at least 62 Syrian troops and wounded dozens more. The attack was quickly treated as a non-story by the U.S. news media; U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) claimed the strikes were carried out in the mistaken belief that Islamic State forces were being targeted, and the story disappeared.

The circumstances surrounding the attack, however, suggested it may have been deliberate, its purpose being to sabotage President Obama’s policy of coordinating with Russia against Islamic State and Nusra Front forces in Syria as part of a U.S.-Russian cease-fire agreement.

Normally the U.S. military can cover up illegal operations and mistakes with a pro forma military investigation that publicly clears those responsible. But the air attack on Syrian troops also involved three foreign allies in the anti-Islamic State named Operation Inherent Resolve: the United Kingdom, Denmark and Australia. So, the Pentagon had to agree to bring a general from one of those allies into the investigation as a co-author of the report. Consequently, the summary of the investigation released by CENTCOM on Nov. 29 reveals far more than the Pentagon and CENTCOM brass would have desired.

Thanks to that heavily redacted report, we now have detailed evidence that the commander of CENTCOM’s Air Force component attacked the Syrian army deliberately.

The Democrats’ Russia-Did-It Dodge

Source: https://consortiumnews.com/2017/01/10/the-democrats-russia-did-it-dodge/

January 10, 2017

To avoid facing up to why Hillary Clinton’s pro-corporatist candidacy really lost key Rust Belt states, national Democrats are finding it easier to blame Russia, a dangerous and self-defeating game, says Norman Solomon at The Hill.

By Norman Solomon

Two months after the defeat of Hillary Clinton, the most cohesive message from congressional Democrats is: blame Russia. The party leaders have doubled down on an approach that got nowhere during the presidential campaign — trying to tie the Kremlin around Donald Trump’s neck.

Still more interested in playing to the press gallery than speaking directly to the economic distress of voters in the Rust Belt and elsewhere who handed the presidency to Trump, top Democrats would much rather scapegoat Vladimir Putin than scrutinize how they’ve lost touch with working-class voters.

Meanwhile, the emerging incendiary rhetoric against Russia is extremely dangerous. It could lead to a military confrontation between two countries that have thousands of nuclear weapons each.

At the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last Thursday on foreign cyber threats, ranking member Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, denounced “Russia’s rejection of the post-Cold War international order and aggressive actions against its neighbors,” and he condemned “a regime with values and interests so antithetical to our own.” It was the kind of oratory that would have made John Foster Dulles or Barry Goldwater proud.

Like so many other senators on the committee, Reed seemed eager for a new Cold War while accusing Russia of digital aggression. “In addition to stealing information from the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign,” he said, “and cherry-picking what information it leaked to the media, the Russian government also created and spread fake news and conspiracies across the vast social media landscape.’’

Emails Were Leaked, Not Hacked

By William Binney, Ray McGovern

Source: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/46166.htm

January 06, 2017 "Information Clearing House" -  It has been several weeks since the New York Times reported that "overwhelming circumstantial evidence" led the CIA to believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin "deployed computer hackers" to help Donald Trump win the election. But the evidence released so far has been far from overwhelming.

The long anticipated Joint Analysis Report issued by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI on Dec. 29 met widespread criticism in the technical community. Worse still, some of the advice it offered led to a very alarmist false alarm about supposed Russian hacking into a Vermont electric power station.

WikiLeaks Julian Assange Interview with Sean Hannity (1/3/2017)

ده روز که دنیا را تغییر داد

جان رید مهمترین کتابش را در مورد انقلاب ۱۹۱۷ روسیه تحت عنوان “ده روز که دنیا را تکان داد” نوشت. در تاریخ ایران نیز ده روز است که ایران را تکان داد و باعث تغییر سیاستهای جهانی‌ برای همیشه شد. این ده روز بین زمانی‌ است که خمینی وارد ایران شد و بختیار از پست نخست وزیری خود استعفا داد و به فرانسه مهاجرت کرد، که البته چند سال بعد قمه کشان خمینی او را کشتند. اگر بختیار، که با پشتیبانیِ نیروهای طرفدار خمینی این پست را قبول کرده بود (با وجود اینکه همزمان با تَقَبّل این سمت او را از حزبش بیرون کردند) قادر بود که در آن دهه به نقطه مشترکی با خمینی برسد (گر چه در این راه تلاش نیز کرد) و دولت خود را با خواستهای خمینی تنظیم و برقرار نگاه میداشت، امروزه دنیا شکل دیگری گرفته بود!

Ten Days That Changed The World

John Reed wrote his most famous book about the Russian revolution of 1917 titled “Ten  Days That Shook The World”. In Iranian history, there are ten days that shook Iran, and subsequently, changed the politics of the world forever. These ten days are the day Khomeini entered Iran on the first of February 1979, until 11 February 1979, the day that Shah’s last Prime Minister, Shahpour Bakhtiar, abdicated his office and left Iran to an exile in France, to be assassinated by Khomeini’s thugs on August 6, 1991. If Bakhtiar, who was originally encouraged to accept the position of Prime Minister by the opposition (in spite of being expelled from his own party), was able to create a coalition between himself and Khomeini’s regime during those ten days, the world would have looked differently today!

نوشته‌ای از مهدی خزعلی

(مهدی خزعلي):

حق داریم برای هرکاری که مقامات میکنند؛ کف بزنیم..!
دیروز...
جنگ با عراق را
که بیش از یک میلیون کشته..!
و مجروح..!، و معلول..!، و مفقود به بار آورد..!
و صدها شهر و روستای ایران را ویران کرد....!،
و بیش از هزار میلیارد دلار خسارت بجا گذاشت!،
برای ملت... نعمت خواندیم...!!!

عبدالحسین تیمورتاش

تیمورتاش، اولین ایرانی‌ که به روسی، فرانسه، و آلمانی‌ کاملا مسلط بود، و انگلیسی‌ را نیز میدانست؛ اولین کسی‌ که کتاب به زبان فارسی ترجمه کرد؛ ناسیونالیستی که قبور شعرای بزرگ از جمله حافظ  و فردوسی‌ را بازسازی کرد؛ کسی‌ که رضا شاهِ قولدور و بیسواد را شاه کرد؛ حقوقدانی که دادگستری را جانشین عدلیهٔ آخوندی کرد؛ و مبّدع بسیاری از آوردهای فرهنگ جدید ایران، برای بسیاری ناشناخته است. در زیر صفحاتی از ویکیپدیای فارسی و انگلیسی‌ در مورد این مرد بزرگ، که مانند سایر بزرگمردان تاریخ همچون قائم مقام و امیرکبیر توسط پادشاه وقت که هر چه داشت مدیون تیمورتاش بود به قتل رسید، به نظر می‌رسد. جالب است که اکنون کلیه دست‌آوردهای این مرد بزرگ به رضا شاه نسبت داده میشود. جای تعجب است که مطلب انگلیسی‌ ویکیپدیا در مورد این مرد بزرگ و فرهیخته بیشتر و پر بارتر از متن فارسی آن است:

The Election of Donald Trump

by Samir Amin

1. The recent election of Donald Trump after Brexit, the rise of fascist votes in Europe, but also and much better, the electoral victory of SYRIZA and the rise of Podemos are all manifestations of the depth of the crisis of the system of globalized neoliberalism.  This system, which I have always considered unsustainable, is imploding before our eyes at its very heart.  All attempts to save the system -- to avoid the worst -- by minor adjustments are doomed to failure.

نورمبرگ آمریکائی ۲۷

بخش پایانی

بنابراین سقراط، اگر بیعدالتی در سطح وسیعی انجام شود، قویتر، آزادتر، و ماهرانه‌تر از عدالت است. و همانطور که از نخست گفته بودم، عدالت آنچیزی است که به سود نیرومند است در حالیکه بیعدالتی به صرفه و منفعت تک تک افراد  بستگی دارد.

-          تراسیماکوس در جمهوریِ افلاطون

قوس اخلاقی‌ جهان طولانی‌ است، اما به سمتِ عدالت خم میشود..

-         مارتین لوتر کینگ در نقل قولی‌ از تئودور پارکر، یکتا پرستِ طرفدارِ القائ برده‌داری

زمانی‌ که صحبت از “عدالت برای شخصی‌” میشود، در اَذهان محاکمه، محکومیت، و مجازات تداعی میشود. عدالت برای قربانیِ یک جرم، حداقل آگاهیِ جامعه از رنج و صدمه‌ای که به قربانی رسیده، و یافتن مجرم را طلب می‌کند. و تا جایی که امکان دارد، تاوان عمل را ایجاب می‌کند.

نورمبرگ آمریکائی ۲۶

ترور و قتل فراقضایی

زمانی‌ که “بَرَک اوباما” به دفتر رئیس جمهوری قدم گذاشت، برای آنکه به جنگ علیه ترور با هدف به حداقل رسانیدن خسارت جانی به آمریکائیان ادامه دهد، به هواپیماهای کنترل شده از راه دور “دِرُن” روی آورد. تحت فرمان “اوباما”، کشتار از این طریق در پاکستان، یمن، سومالی، و مناطق جنگی عراق و افغانستان نُه بار نسبت به زمان “بوش” افزایش یافت. بیدادگری در مناطقی که “دِرُن” از آسمان سقوط میکرد، مانند دهات، زمینهای کشاورزی، جاده‌ها، و کشتار وسیع مردم بیگناه، خشم اهالی این نقاط را برانگیخت. حتی درونِ حلقهٔ “امنیت ملی‌ آمریکا”، اینکه آیا این کشتار و گسترشِ جنگ، بجای از بین بردن دشمنان به ظهور دشمنان جدیدی می‌انجامید، مورد بحث قرار گرفت.

Fidel Castro's legacy: 'True to his convictions'

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-20121342

• 26 November 2016
 
• From the sectionLatin America & Caribbean

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Image copyrightAFP

Image captionFidel Castro stayed true to his convictions throughout his time in power

Fidel Castro was a towering presence in Cuba for more than 50 years. Dr Stephen Wilkinson, editor of the International Journal of Cuban Studies, assesses his legacy.

For Cuban poet Nicolas Guillen, there was a direct link between two of the biggest figures in his nation's history.

In a poem from 1977, he wrote: "Lo que Marti prometio, Fidel lo cumplio" ("What Marti promised, Fidel delivered").

Guillen's poem refers to Cuban independence hero Jose Marti, the inspirational figure in Castro's own political life.

Marti promised a Cuba free of US interference and, famously, a republic that would be as he put it: "For all Cubans and the good of all Cubans."

نورمبرگ آمریکائی ۲۵

آزمایش روی انسان

قانون جنایات جنگی سال ۱۹۹۶ آمریکا اِشعار بر این دارد که "انجام هر گونه آزمایش بیولوژیکی" یکی‌ از "عظیم‌ترین تخطی‌ها" از عهدنامه ژنو، و یک جنایت جنگی می‌باشد. بنا به تعریف، آزمایش بیولوژیکی "انجام عملی است که با آن عمل شخص دیگری که تحت کنترل یا زیر نظر شخص نخست است بدون هیچ گونه هدف پزشکی‌ یا دندانپزشکی‌، تحت شرایط بیولوژیکیِ خاصی‌ قرار داده شود که در نتیجه، بدن یا سلامتیِ آن شخص در معرض خطر قرار گیرد." مشخصاً مامورین آمریکائی، در خلال جنگ علیه ترور، آزمایشاتی را که در جنگ دوم نازیها در آشویتز و سایر بازداشت‌گاههای خود به آن مبادرت کردند، انجام نداده‌اند. هزاران نفر در آزمایشگاه‌های شبه علمی‌ نازیها کشته، شکنجه، علیل، و یا ناقص شدند. در دادگاه نورمبرگ سال ۱۹۴۶، دولت آمریکا ۲۰ دکتر نازی را محاکمه، و ۱۳ نفر آنها را محکوم به جنایت علیه بشریت کرد. آزمایشات دولت آمریکا در محدوده بسیار کوچکتری و زیر شعار جنگ علیه ترور بوده است، گرچه‌ و بطور محرز، جنایاتی در این زمینه انجام گرفته است.

History Will be the Judge: Fidel Castro, 1926-2016

November 25, 2016

Fidel Castro, Cuba’s leader of revolution, has died aged 90. Here is an extract from Tariq Ali‘s introduction to The Declarations of Havana, Verso’s collection of Castro’s speeches.
On 26 July 1953 an angry young lawyer, Fidel Castro, led a small band of armed men in an attempt to seize the Moncada barracks in Santiago de Cuba, in Oriente province. Most of the guerrillas were killed. Castro was tried and defended himself with a masterly speech replete with classical references and quotations from Balzac and Rousseau, that ended with the words: ‘Condemn me. It does not matter. History will absolve me.’ It won him both notoriety and popularity.

نورمبرگ آمریکائی ۲۴

قضیهٔ "بنیام محمد"

"بنیام محمد" جوانی بود در اوانِ بیست سالگی که تابع انگلیس شده بود. زمانیکه او سفری به پاکستان کرده بود در آنجا دستگیر شد و به دست آمریکائیها سپرده شد- و همانگونه که در جای دیگری نوشتم- آنها فکر کردند که او با عامل "بمب پلید" یعنی‌ "حوزه پدیا" در ارتباط بوده است.

آمریکائیها او را از پاکستان به مراکش فرستادند چون "پاکستانیها‌ نمیتوانند آنچه را که ما از آنها می‌خواهیم به درستی‌ انجام دهند."