Lies My Teacher Told Me- Part Two- Ending

“When history textbooks leave out the Arawaks, they offend Native Americans. When they omit the possibility of African and Phoenician precursors to Columbus, they offend African Americans. When they glamorize explorers such as de Soto just because they were white, our histories offend all people of color. When they leave out Las Casas, they omit an interesting idealist with whom we all might identify. When they glorify Columbus, our textbooks prod us toward identifying with the oppressor. When textbook authors omit the causes and process of European world domination, they offer us a history whose purpose must be to keep us unaware of the important questions. Perhaps worst of all, when textbooks paint simplistic portraits of a pious heroic Columbus, they provide feel-good history that bores everyone”, (P.69). In fact, it seems like all these fabrications, omissions, and misstatements are not caused by negligence or even racism, but a cleverly thought process to maintain the same posture towards the world and continue pillage of resources, while slaving darker colored skins in the East, Africa, and South America. Such policy started in Europe, headed by England. Since the second world war, it has continued to this day with the leadership of the United States, once a subjugated nation itself. Before Westerners discovered Eastern and African nations, those countries had had commercial relationships with each other for centuries. Their relationship was equal, not based on domination that has been practiced by the West.

Anti-Capitalist Chronicles: Anti-Capitalist Politics in the Time of Covi...

قوت‌های جامعه ایرانی در برابر کرونا

محمد فاضلی

اسفند ۲۶, ۱۳۹۸

https://www.nedayeazadi.net/1398/12/31038

جامعه ایرانی مثل همه جوامع، ترکیبی از قوت‌ها و ضعف‌هاست. من در این یادداشت می‌خواهم شماری از قوت‌هایش را که در برابر کرونا آشکار شده است پررنگ کنم.

A Complete List of Trump’s Attempts to Play Down Coronavirus

By: David Leonhardt
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/15/opinion/trump-coronavirus.html
March 15, 2020

President Trump made his first public comments about the coronavirus on Jan. 22, in a television interview from Davos with CNBC’s Joe Kernen. The first American case had been announced the day before, and Kernen asked Trump, “Are there worries about a pandemic at this point?” The president responded: “No. Not at all. And we have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.” By this point, the seriousness of the virus was becoming clearer. It had spread from China to four other countries. China was starting to take drastic measures and was on the verge of closing off the city of Wuhan.

In the weeks that followed, Trump faced a series of choices. He could have taken aggressive measures to slow the spread of the virus. He could have insisted that the United States ramp up efforts to produce test kits. He could have emphasized the risks that the virus presented and urged Americans to take precautions if they had reason to believe they were sick. He could have used the powers of the presidency to reduce the number of people who would ultimately get sick.

He did none of those things.

Class: The Little Word the Elites Want You to Forget

By: Chris Hedges
https://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/class-the-little-word-the-elites-want-you-to-forget/

Aristotle, Niccolò Machiavelli, Alexis de Tocqueville, Adam Smith and Karl Marx grounded their philosophies in the understanding that there is a natural antagonism between the rich and the rest of us. The interests of the rich are not our interests. The truths of the rich are not our truths. The lives of the rich are not our lives. Great wealth not only breeds contempt for those who do not have it but it empowers oligarchs to pay armies of lawyers, publicists, politicians, judges, academics and journalists to censure and control public debate and stifle dissent. Neoliberalism, deindustrialization, the destruction of labor unions, slashing and even eliminating the taxes of the rich and corporations, free trade, globalization, the surveillance state, endless war and austerity—the ideologies or tools used by the oligarchs to further their own interests — are presented to the public as natural law, the mechanisms for social and economic progress, even as the oligarchs dynamite the foundations of a liberal democracy and exacerbate a climate crisis that threatens to extinguish human life.

The oligarchs are happy to talk about race. They are happy to talk about sexual identity and gender. They are happy to talk about patriotism. They are happy to talk about religion. They are happy to talk about immigration. They are happy to talk about abortion. They are happy to talk about gun control. They are happy to talk about cultural degeneracy or cultural freedom. They are not happy to talk about class. Race, gender, religion, abortion, immigration, gun control, culture and patriotism are issues used to divide the public, to turn neighbor against neighbor, to fuel virulent hatreds and antagonisms. The culture wars give the oligarchs, both Democrats and Republicans, the cover to continue the pillage. There are few substantial differences between the two ruling political parties in the United States. This is why oligarchs like Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg can switch effortlessly from one party to the other. Once oligarchs seize power, Aristotle wrote, a society must either accept tyranny or choose revolution.

Four Numbers That Scream 'Vote for Bernie!'

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/03/03/four-numbers-scream-vote-bernie

The richest 10% are very interested in keeping things just the way they are.

By: Paul Buchheit

By the numbers, Bernie Sanders is the 'centrist' candidate. The families all the way up to the very center of America have actually lost wealth since the recession. The families from the center to the 90th percentile have seen their share of national wealth drop dramatically. This 90% of America needs a President who will focus on a living wage and affordable health care and the reduction of inequality. That's Bernie.

Lies My Teacher Told Me- Part One

(Due to the length of this article, it will be published in two separate posts)

PART ONE

A history book written by James W. Loewen with a sub-title “Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong”, discloses what is missing from textbooks. In Addition, it discusses historical events that happened differently from narratives of textbooks. The book contains many interesting historical facts, that one may not have even read anywhere, or have not read in a way of achieving the same conclusion. To understand why in such a rich and plentiful country as the United States, where everyone from any part of the world is striving to migrate to, significant historical events are omitted from its history, one should examine American politics. Although it is claimed to be a multi-party democracy, in fact there is only one party that is almost always voted into the office in all elections, a party with two factions on the left (called Democratic) and on the right (called Republican). A minority of well to do people help candidates to be elected in their selected faction, and almost half of the nation do not participate in elections at all. In late 1970s, with the election of Ronald Reagan, many of public benefits were either eliminated or weakened, until the last president of the 20th century, William Clinton, made a sharp right turn, and as a result, policies of the Democratic Party became much closer to those of the Republican Party.  

اسلام

از سال ۱۹۵۳ که  ژنرال آیزنهاور در کاخ سپید سعید رمضان رهبر اخوان المسلمین را ملاقات کرد، سیاست نوین غرب در بالا کشیدن ارتجاع اسلامی برای مبارزه با عناصر چپ و ملی در کشورهای زیر نفوذ اسلام، همواره یکی از مهمترین روشهای تسلط غرب بر این کشورها بوده است. مردم کشورهای اسلامی جهان سوم که زیر تیغ شمشیر به این مذهب روی آورده بودند در هر فرصتی برای رهائی خود سر به شورش برداشته‌اند، و همواره با خشونت کم نظیری قلع و قمع شده‌اند. دین اسلام، که همچون سایر ادیان با خشونت غلبه کرده است، هیچگاه با مذاق ایرانیان هم‌خوانی نداشت، و غالب مردم برای خروج از آن جانفشانی بیشمار کرده‌اند. این مبارزات همواره توسط حکام که منافع خود را در نظر داشته‌اند سرکوب شده‌اند. زمانی که ملّا در مسند حکم می‌نشیند، مبارزه چندین برابر دشوارتر میشود، همانگونه که عزل رهبران مذهبی در اروپا هزار سال بطول انجامید.

Persia's Forgotten Empire

Air Force captain's suicide raises awareness

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/air-force-suicide-rate-climbs-to-highest-level-in-three-decades

Feb 8, 2020

by Madison Dibble

Air Force suicide rate climbs to highest level in three decades

The United States Air Force saw an increasing trend in active-duty suicides in 2019.

According to unpublished preliminary data obtained by the Associated Press, the Air Force witnessed an uptick in suicide rates as other branches of the military stabilized or reduced the rate of deaths by suicide. The Air Force lost 84 active-duty members to suicide in 2019, which was up from 60 deaths in 2018. The spike in suicides followed years of relative stability with deaths via suicide ranging from 60 to 64 for several years.

Anti-Sanders billionaires

Anti-Sanders billionaires, behind the app that delayed Iowa’s voting results

 

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/52942.htm

By Max Blumenthal

February 4, 2020- At the time of publication, twelve hours after voting in the Democratic Party’s Iowa caucuses ended, the results have not been announced. The delay in reporting is the result of a failed app developed by a company appropriately named Shadow Inc.

This firm was  staffed by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama campaign veterans and created by a Democratic dark money nonprofit backed by hedge fund billionaires including Seth Klarman. A prolific funder of pro-settler Israel lobby organizations, Klarman has also contributed directly to Pete Buttigieg’s campaign.

The delay in the vote reporting denied a victory speech to Sen. Bernie Sanders, the presumptive winner of the opening contest in the Democratic presidential primary. Though not one exit poll indicated that Buttigieg would have won, the South Bend, Indiana mayor took to Twitter to confidently proclaim himself the victor.

Iowa, you have shocked the nation.

اشعاری که چند شاعر معاصر را به شهرت رساند

فروغ پس از انتشار سه کتاب به وزن کلاسیک، با کتاب و شعر تولدی دیگر شهرتی ابدی یافت. بر یکی از کوچکترین قطعات اخوان کتابی نوشته شده. شعر کوچه مشیری، گر چه خودش آنرا شعری نه چندان متفاوت می‌انگاشت، زبانزد همگان شد. سیب مصدق در اوایل انقلاب همانند سرود شد. سهراب با آب را گل نکنیم، رنگ تازه‌ای به نگاه به طبیعت داد. دو شعر از اشعار عاشقانه ابتهاج بارها و بارها در مطلع اشعار دیگران قرار گرفت. بامداد با شعر عابر خود فصل جدیدی را گشود. و گرچه حالت هیچگاه لبخند را از لبها نگرفت، با وصیت‌نامه‌اش دفتر طنزش را برای همیشه جاودانه کرد

Who Targeted Ukraine Airlines Flight 752?

JANUARY 15 ,2020
By Phillip Giraldi
(Philip M. Giraldi is a former CIA counter-terrorism specialist and military intelligence officer who served nineteen years overseas in Turkey, Italy, Germany, and Spain. He was the CIA Chief of Base for the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 and was one of the first Americans to enter Afghanistan in December 2001. Phil is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a Washington-based advocacy group that seeks to encourage and promote a U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East that is consistent with American values and interests.)

George Carlin

George Carlin is a familiar name for those who enjoy standup comedy. He belongs to the group of standups who have no restrictions in what they say, what is called “Black Comedy”. His specialty was poking fun on taboo subjects. As a result, some of his jokes are grotesque, and some are just off the line. This decision of making everything inclusive in his subject matter would provide him with unlimited material to work on. As a result, some of the most interesting lines were articulated by him, which is remarkably expanded; from English language to religion, race, social structure, science, art, politics, and variety of subjects.

New video

Published

Jan 15, 2020, 7:44
am SGT

Updated

Jan 15, 2020, 10:09
am

WASHINGTON
(NYTIMES) - The New York Times has verified security camera footage on Tuesday
(Jan 14) that shows, for the first time, that two missiles hit Ukraine
International Airlines Flight 752 on Jan 8. The missiles were launched from an
Iranian military site around 13km from the plane. The new video fills a gap
about why the plane’s transponder stopped working, seconds before it was hit by
a second missile. An earlier Times analysis confirmed what Iran later admitted:
that an Iranian missile did strike the plane. The Times also established that
the transponder stopped working before that missile hit the plane.

'I want to have peace.' Trump

The following is a white wash for Trump's actions in increasing the conflict in the Middle East and destroying the only countries not trampled under US soldiers boots, those who don't currently serve US interest in the area of course:

Source: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/i-want-to-have-peace-how-trump-went-from-a-vow-to-avoid-conflict-to-an-order-to-kill-iran-general/ar-BBYB4bf?ocid=ientp

I want to have peace.' How Trump went from a vow to avoid conflict to an order to kill Iran general

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was a picture of calm as he strolled onto the red carpet for a New Year's Eve party at his Florida resort this week. After threatening Iran in a series of tweets hours earlier, Trump seemed eager to lower tensions.

"I want to have peace. I like peace," Trump, clad in a tuxedo, told reporters when asked if an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad would lead to war with Iran. "I don’t see that happening."
But the president's allies described a more tense picture behind the scenes as he shuttled between his Mar-a-Lago estate and meetings at his nearby golf course, where he huddled with advisers to craft a response to the violent protests at the U.S. compound that reverberated around the globe.

American History Revised

American History Revised is a book by Seymour Harris Jr. detailing some historical accounts which have been omitted from textbooks and many other history books.

In a chapter titled “Forgotten by History” he writes: “In 1506 a compilation of Vespucci’s letters was published in pamphlet form, titled ‘The Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci’. For the next twenty-five years, it was a bestseller, published in some forty editions, and outselling the dull journals of Columbus by three to one. In 1507 a book of geography appeared, Cosmographiae Introductio, identifying the new continent as ‘America’. The author eventually realized that Vespucci’s claims of discovery were false and soon removed the name America, but by then it was too late: Vespucci’s bestseller had won the day... History is brutal in who becomes famous and doesn’t. Said Theodore Roosevelt after leaving office in 1910, ‘If there is not the great war, you don’t get the great general’”, (P. 34-35). And that is how America became the title of a continent and the name of fifty plus united states and territories which geographically occupies a landmass that makes it one of the largest countries in the world, with the greatest power in technology and military.

Countries Americans Are Not Welcomed

Some research organizations surveyed various countries as to their level of acceptance of American tourists. They found 25 countries where not all residents think Americans are welcomed. Considering that there are 195 countries in the world, this lack of enthusiasm for Americans is in less than one eighth of all countries, which may not sound substantial. However, when we realize that beside of Iraq, Syria and Palestine, there are European countries such as Germany, Austria, and even our neighbor Canada in this list, one must check the cause, reason, or motivation. Of course, like everything else, there are not one or two reasons, but a combination of several facts. The remarkable thing is that when we find the grounds, we realize that none of the explanations has anything to do with ordinary American tourists, but it has everything to do with the U.S. government.

دو مقاله

یا بنزین ۳۰۰۰تومانی اسباب شورش مردم می‌شود؟

✍اردشیرثابت

در یک کلام نه
بعنوان یک تحلیلگر میگویم اگر بنزین به لیتری ده هزارتومان هم برسد هیچ اعتراض یا شورش یا خیزش خودجوشی پا نخواهد گرفت
به یاد دارم چندسال پیش میگفتند اگر بنزین به لیتری ۱۰۰۰ تومان برسد یک شورش اجتماعی براه خواهد افتاد
بنزین به ۱۰۰۰ رسید اما صدایی از کسی برنخواست
اهرم فقر و فشار اقتصادی برای خیزش توده ها یک نقطه اوج دارد

Regime Change

One must be careful about such political statements. There is no doubt that the content of this video is ‎accurate and what this person is reporting about the Iranian government and the uprising is correct. ‎However, it is not difficult to find dirt on the Islamic regime, as it has been soiled with violence since its conception. The ‎question is who is saying this and to what end and purpose. The person in this clip is obviously publicizing ‎the line of the government of Israel, for the consumption of Iranian people. Considering that the Zionist ‎government was founded by Judaist framework, and it is a religious government (in fact more religious than ‎the Islamic government), and taking into the account its maltreatment of Palestinians which can be ‎compared with the treatment of Jews by the Third-Reich, it is curious for a government spokesperson of Israel ‎condemning another religious state and its human rights violations.‎