Notes From An Imperial Outpost Down Under

Bravest woman in Australia, Senator Fatima Payman (scroll down to read more).

Because of my focus on resistance to imperial domination it’s been really interesting to see this from a flipped perspective i.e. from Down Under. Some of my anecdotal impressions may be of interest to readers.

Liberals are the same everywhere, except here they’re called Labor and Liberals are the conservatives (don’t ask). For example, they love to hate bad guys on the other team while making excuses for the bad guys on their team. And most of the focus is on personalities. So, if Trump and former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison have a meeting in the U.S., this is of great negative interest. (Morrison is a religious fanatic infamous for vacationing in Hawaii while bush fires swept Australia a few years ago.)

Excuses for bad guys on the Labor team are she’s not so bad, he seems like a decent bloke, he’s a good speaker, etc. Similar to defenses of the UK royal family such as, the former queen was a good sort who really cared about people. 

The royals happened to come up because Charles’ tampon-themed official portrait was unveiled back in the UK while I was here.

Further parallels include a devotion to lobbying elected officials who clearly don’t represent their constituents -- unless you consider the coal mining industry a constituent -- and a consistent failure to connect dots like warfare with climate crisis, or erosion of civil liberties with billionaire-sponsored government. And mum’s the word on the proto-WW3 military alliance AUKUS which I only heard mentioned once on the news in passing when Trump and Morrison were seen together.

You will search in vain for mention of Aussies Julian Assange, or Dan Duggan. There was a little bit on Army whistleblower David McBride being sentenced to 5 years in prison for revealing war crimes in Afghanistan for which no one has been punished.

That said, corporate news in Australia has a much more international focus than in the U.S. where Mark Twain once observed that wars were God’s way of teaching Americans geography. I saw lots about the revolt of the indigenous Kanak community in New Caledonia, one of France’s few remaining colonies, located in the South Pacific region. France is trying to impose new voting rules there such that French residents get a vote in local elections. The Kanak’s aren’t having it and have shut the roads and airport down.

Nightly reports on the color revolution in Georgia and on the Ukraine war depicting victimhood at the hands of the dastardly Russians but without a hint of the fact that Ukraine has already lost and just won’t admit it. We saw Putin received with fanfare by Xi in Beijing, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken introduced in a Kyiv nightclub inexplicably playing “Rockin' in the Free World,” a song he clearly doesn’t understand. (We did not see him eating neo-Nazi pizza.)

Coverage of Israel’s genocide in Gaza each day interviewed Palestinian refugees but without a whisper of Australia’s role. That is until extensive coverage of the "scandal" of a Labor member of Parliament saying her conscience was bothering her and asking PM Albanese on Nakba Day how many more deaths it would take before he condemned genocide. 

https://youtu.be/fqBFopusBzc?si=yv601M8vuE1Yb8Nt

“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” concluded Senator Fatima Payman, an Afghan Muslim immigrant who was the first to wear the hijab in Parliament when her term began in 2022. 

Warmongering Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong joined 55 other senators in condemning the phrase as allegedly “antisemitic.” No one appeared to remember that Zionists coined the phrase back when they still called the land they coveted Palestine. TV news reported one Jewish organization in Australia objected while another organization lauded Payman’s statement (sorry, I cannot remember which was which).

Nightly reporting on students protesting genocide in both Australia and around the globe continued throughout my stay. Actually, protests of all sorts got a lot of coverage including Israelis protesting the Netanyahu government. 

Australian protests receiving coverage demanded more protection for domestic violence survivors, more crackdowns on teenage crime sprees, and reinstatement of a book about same-sex marriage that was removed from a local library.

One person interviewed for that story noted that they don’t want to see U.S.-style culture wars breaking out in Australia. Good luck with that.

Domestically, the high cost of living and related dearth of affordable housing were themes familiar to this USian. How will corporate overlords keep Australia from having the revolution it needs to reorient public policy toward meeting people’s needs? Foment civil strife, probably.

Or they could just let nature take its course and hope to reap the benefits of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Managing Our Grief Over Gaza

This sounds like the most privileged title ever, doesn’t it? Families in Gaza or elsewhere with loved ones anyplace in Palestine are overwhelmed with grief as they watch little children being torn to shreds, burned beyond recognition, or exhumed from having been buried alive. Buried alive in mass graves at hospitals where they had taken refuge.

Those of us in other places differ markedly in our belief that these truths are self-evident depending on where we get our news. I gave up consuming U.S. corporate news decades ago, peeling off television early on to protect my children from it, and then eventually shedding the liberal print news and opinion sources I’d grown up on. Who wants to subscribe to or even read a publication that signals Donald Trump’s ascendance by putting him on their cover over and over again?

But right now I’m in Australia responding to a family medical crisis and so have been keeping folks company while watching corporate t.v. news in the evenings.

Latest emblem of the resistance? An empty water carboy as was wielded by students at Cal Poly Humboldt to successfully to ward off police rioting.

Last night I was brought to tears several times as the mangled bodies of children in Gaza were rushed to makeshift medical facilities (all the hospitals were long since destroyed by Israeli bombs). The ambulances of Gaza are now the able-bodied men who carry wounded kids while running as fast as their malnourished legs can go. Those horrific scenes – are they shown on corporate t.v. in the U.S.? You tell me.

Next came something sure to appear on “news” throughout the evil empire: Joe Biden claiming that U.S. weapons aren’t killing Palestinians. Did Australian newscasters call him out on this giant lie? Nope. And me yelling, “Liar!” in the privacy of the home where I’m staying is just venting on my part.

So, I turn to social media platforms run by Zionists where a little truth and the scorching eyewitness videos out of Gaza and the West Bank can still be found. Twitter is complicit, Instagram is complicit, and still I continue to guiltily use them. I’ve never really invested time in building up a news feed on TikTok, but I probably need to do that soonish. Telegram overwhelms me but again it’s probably my ineptitude as a user that creates the attempting to drink from a firehose effect.

My email inbox is also a good source for real news. As are certain substacks, MintPress News, Popular Resistance, Black Agenda Report, and many more I’ve named before.

How soon before all my access to authentic information is blocked? Time will tell.

These bullying Zionists (redundant, I know) do NOT represent me. How about you?

To return my original question, how or even why shall we manage our grief over Israel’s genocide of Palestinian people?

Speaking for myself, I can’t dwell on my emotional response or I become incapacitated. Turning angry grief into action feels like the right thing to do. Diverse actions present themselves and not only provide an outlet but they put me in touch with other people I can trust and respect. I met my husband while protesting the impending Shock and “Awe” attacks on Iraq in 2003, and together we’ve met many kind souls who sincerely engage in resisting imperial warmongering -- and not just when the Republican Party controls the White House.

Many people use their creativity to remain sane in a genocidal world. One example: the keffiyeh sticker cropping up in random places.

Another example currently going viral: rapper Macklemore's "Hind Hall." The artist has pledged to donate all proceeds to UNRWA.

A person I respect a lot recently revealed that they had neglected a peripheral task associated with our work and that this might cost them a lot of money. We’re all in this together so others in the group consoled them and offered monetary support while awaiting the outcome of skilled negotiators working on our behalf. One said, “Hope you are all giving yourselves grace.”

And that is as good an answer to my original question as any.

Police State Repression Adds Fuel To Flames Of Protest -- Who Could Have Guessed?

I'm traveling and not able to post as often as usual, so please bear with me. Just keeping up with current events is impossible as developments in the global resistance to Israel's genocide in Gaza are constant and rapid these days.

A few of the items that stood out in my news feeds:

https://twitter.com/probablyreadit/status/1785427534898737304

This comment nails why I felt that this event in particular was significant. Taxpayers employ police to block a major New York City train station in order to preemptively silence 1st amendment protected political speech?

Here's another one that has stayed with me:

It is a companion to the many posts on social media right now by parents of high school seniors saying some version of: I see you called the police to violently attack peaceful student protesters on campus. We are crossing (Columbia, NYU, Emory, UT Austin, etc.) off our list. 

What's that old saying, money talks and bullshit walks? Parents expressing these opinions are looking at shelling out a quarter to half a million dollars so their kids can earn degrees from these schools. Also, if they're white boomers like me they may remember when their own college protected students from police, not allowing cops on campus at will, and certainly not calling in stormtroopers to suppress dissent.

I don't know about President Roth of Wesleyan's conscience, but I do know a smart marketing move when I see one.

As I've noted before, commencements are going to be wild this year. I wish I was going to be back in time to post up at the University of Vermont in Burlington where students are planning to protest keynote speaker Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, for her complicity in no less than three vetoes of a ceasefire in Gaza.

You remember Burlington, right? That's where three Palestinian college students were gunned down last Thanksgiving weekend wearing keffiyehs and speaking Arabic while walking down a street (off campus).  

Cue the constant corporate media stories about "Jewish" (they really mean Zionist) students claiming they feel unsafe on campus. Then maybe check out the news from UCLA where Zionist mobs descend at night to attack the encampment there while police stand by and watch.

Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Representatives in its wisdom just passed this mess. From Associated Press:

Several House committees will be tasked with a wide probe that ultimately threatens to withhold federal research grants and other government support to the universities, placing another pressure point on campus administrators who are struggling to manage pro-Palestinian encampments, allegations of discrimination against Jewish students and questions of how they are integrating free speech and campus safety.

Also, have you been wondering why pitching tents on the quad of so many universities is against regulations? To keep unhoused people out of course.

All these items add up to a sea change for post secondary education as we've known it, and that is fitting as a consequence of the genocidal horrors that our elected officials and university administrators and boards are supporting. 

One last tweet with my prediction that Columbia can kiss being the "top journalism school" in the U.S. goodbye.

https://twitter.com/zdroberts/status/1785781719603273893

No Drones Over Gaza Or Anywhere! Direct Action At Holloman Air Force Base In Alamogordo

No drones vigil at Holloman Drone Base, April 26, with New Mexico State University students

Dozens converged at for a week of nonviolent resistance to the illegal drone training program at Holloman Air Force Base, including several students and teachers from New Mexico State University (NMSU), Las Cruces. Many of their signs noted opposition to the role of drones in Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza.

On April 24, business at the drone training program was interrupted at two main gates by a nonviolent blockade during morning commute hour. After five activists blockaded the less used West Gate for about 20 min, they ended their blockade after the one minute police warning.  Some then joined others at the Main gate and continued the interruption of criminal activity at the base.  Ultimately six were arrested:  Denise Sellers (San Diego), John Reese (High Rolls / Mtn. Park, NM), Natasha Robinson (Berkeley, CA), Toby Blomé (El Cerrito, CA), Virginia Hauflaire (Phoenix, AZ), and Ray Cage (Tucson, AZ).  No warning was given at the 2nd gate and arrests occurred speedily.

Peaceful Interruption of Illegal Drone Training Activity at Holloman’s Main Gate video.

Action at West Gate short video by Fred Bialy.

Arrestees were held at the police station and told that they would be be taken to the Otero County Detention Center to be processed and held over night.  But after a few hours arrestees were taken directly to court, arraigned, and released at about 1pm.

Participant Scott Thompson of Alamogordo said, “Our government primarily serves an elite class that profits from wars and is unconcerned with the suffering we inflict on other humans. It is the duty of every good citizen to look beyond the headlines and understand the inhumane waste of resources making unconstitutional wars on others. Via public outreach and thoughtful actions we hope to get the attention of the misinformed.”

New local allies joined the Holloman campaign for its week of actions. Lee Burnett, an Alamogordo Episcopalian minister in training, saw banners an signs on Highway 70 and joined in. Betts, Kathy, Bear, and Tim came from Tucson and Las Cruces. Teachers and students from NMSU came from Las Cruces to lead a Friday noon rally on Alamogordo’s White Sands Boulevard and then joined the final afternoon commute vigil at Holloman AFB.

Organizer Toby Blomé explained: “In spite of 14 years of persistent opposition to the U.S. drone program and the terror it brings to vulnerable communities, the Pentagon and the drone industry profiteers are plowing forward, creating an ever more destabilized world of weaponized drones. We will not be silent while young recruits continue to be trained in these heinous acts of remotely controlled killing, ultimately becoming victims themselves due to the consequences of severe moral injury.

This is not the world we want for our grandchildren, nor for the generations that follow them.”

From the related website ShutDownDroneWarfare.org:

After many years of bi-annual protests at Creech, the drone pilot/operator training program was moved from Creech to Holloman Air Force Base.  Was that because our persistent protests at Creech had an impact?  Newer recruits are more likely to be influenced by our peaceful and non-confrontational protests. Our innovative vigil themes stir up a "Call to Conscience."  

 

The secrecy of the drone program keeps it from the public eye. "Drone strikes" are rarely mentioned in the media or by the military, and the term "Air Strikes” provides convenient “shelter" from public scrutiny.  Our week of action uncovers the secrecy and educates the local community, as well as the base employees!  Equally important:  The inhumane US drone program causes deep moral injury to our military personnel themselves.  We offer alternatives and support to the new recruits and other employees, via signs, banners and leaflets that offer resources for GI support.

Crackdown On Students And Information As Genocide Widens

Communiqué from Cal Poly Humboldt Building Occupation shared on Twitter

Students at college campuses across the U.S. are rejecting Israel's genocide in Gaza, and their encampments are spreading rapidly following violent repression by police at Columbia University. In addition to calling the NYPD on their own students, the geniuses in administration locked students out of their dorms and meal plans, and suspended them. Once they were suspended they could be arrested for trespassing -- on a campus where their families have paid tens of thousands each year to house, feed, and educate them.

This repression has only caused the resistance at Columbia to grow.

https://twitter.com/palyouthmvmt/status/1783007862765109677

Students don't get their information about atrocities against the Palestinians from mainstream media that were long since captured by the military-industrial complex. Instead, they get their information from eye witness accounts shared on social media. 

https://twitter.com/Newyorkist/status/1782879723833487630

Is it any wonder that Congress in its wisdom just enshrined domestic spying as law and ramped up liability for social media companies and everyone who works there for sharing what the government deems "misinformation"?

It is said that truth is the first casualty of war. Since the U.S. has been continuously at war for decades, the ever tightening screws of information control are absolutely key to the WW3 project. World wars start with genocide (WWI was Armenians, WWII was European Jews). Before the 21st century these were conducted secretly, keeping the details from ordinary people until after the fact. Nowadays we watch genocide unfolding in real time, with new mass graves at Gaza's Nasser Hospital the latest in the atrocity parade.

Students are showing what normal human beings do when faced with evidence of unspeakable cruelty on a massive scale: grieve, and turn the anger of grief into action. 

New Hampshire Judge: Elbit Systems Is A Victim (And, Incidentally, My Supervisor)

Screen grab from WHDH coverage March 22 inside the police station in Merrimack 

The remaining seven defendants of eight arrested for criminal trespass at Elbit Systems in Merrimack, New Hampshire were arraigned yesterday in district court. Original conditions of bail noted on their paperwork when they were released from custody March 22 were to avoid excessive drinking (?!) and stay away from Elbit in Merrimack. 

When Bruce Gagnon was arraigned April 2, the prosecutor asked the judge to also ban him from an Elbit facility in Massachusetts. The judge declined, saying it was outside his jurisdiction.

Yesterday's judge, Mark Derby, decided that not only is Massachusetts within his jurisdiction, but so is the whole U.S. of A! Now, my husband and the other six defendants have as a condition of bail the need to stay away from Elbit facilities anywhere in the country. (My husband: What about in England?)

Yesterday, defendants who appeared in court pointed out that this violated the prior precedent and prior statements about being outside the NH court's jurisdiction, but Judge Derby responded: "That other judge from April 2 is not my supervisor!" 

My comment: Maybe not, but apparently Elbit Systems is.

Another fun quote from prosecutor Jason Moore and re-stated by the judge: "Elbit Systems has been the victim of these protests in numerous states. If Elbit Systems was a human being, we would want to protect them in other states too, not just New Hampshire."

Screen grab from ABC News

This is the kind of twisted logic where attackers are victims, and any protest of the aggressors is coded in the corporate press as "antisemitic". Cue the reporting on the allegedly enormous rise in antisemitic incidents since October 2023. Note to journalists: many of those involved in, for example, occupying Columbia University yesterday to call for divestment from companies like Elbit that profit from Israel's genocide in Palestine, are themselves Jewish. This is also true of Elbit protesters from Maine.

The defendants will be back in court on June 6 at 9:30am for a Trial Management Conference i.e. disposition hearing. This is where the court determines if a deal has been reached between prosecutors and defendants, and if not issues the orders to proceed to trial on another day.

Since several people I love were arrested blocking access for a day to the alleged victim, the biggest genocide profiteer on the planet, I've been subscribing to the NH Union Leader newspaper. And their daily email allows me to check their top headlines.

Yesterday's arraignment did not make the cut, however, I found this item to be interesting. Resistance is everywhere! 

Senate ships Defend the Guard bill off to study

Guard adjutant general warned N.H. could lose $400 million in federal aid if legislation blocking deployment of his troops in an undeclared war passes.

By Kevin Landrigan

Union Leader Staff

CONCORD — The state Senate on Thursday summarily sidelined a controversial bill that would have prevented the deployment of New Hampshire Army or Air National Guard troops to serve in combat during undeclared wars.

Adjutant Gen. David Mikolaities had warned that passage of the Defend the Guard Act (HB 229) could have put nearly $400 million in federal grants at risk.

After no debate, the Senate shipped the bill off to interim study by voice vote.

Even if senators chose to work on the legislation, the move means it would have to start over as a new bill in 2025.

Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, DManchester, said the testimony of many deployed veterans, frustrated about being sent to different military theaters, made an impression on him.

“These men and women are being deployed all over the world, and they are not very happy campers,” D’Allesandro said. “To me it’s a clear indication that our armed forces are dependent on the Guard, and these folks are wondering why we’re always having to be deployed.”

The State Veterans Advisory Committee, Deputy Adj. Gen. Warren Perry and Mikolaities convinced the Senate that the agency could ill afford to have this bill become law, he said.

“The Guard is performing a critical mission for our country, so anything that could threaten financial support for it has to be of great concern,” D’Allesandro said. “The guard becomes even more critical as the traditional armed forces continue to fall short of meeting their goals for recruitment of soldiers. It’s a huge problem.”

The bill was authored by Rep. Tom Mannion, R-Pelham, a Marine Corps veteran twice deployed into combat during the war in Iraq.

“It’s a massive disappointment that the Republican-majority Senate voted against their own party platform by quietly killing Defend the Guard,” Mannion said.

“They have chosen to continue with the status quo of sending the men and women of our state’s guard unit into overseas combat, instead of pushing back against the war machine in D.C. and making Congress do its constitutional duty.” If reelected, Mannion vowed, he will return with his bill next year.

“New Hampshire has a strong history of opposing the forever wars in the Middle East, and the voters will make their displeasure known this fall,” Mannion said.

After the vote, Senate President Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, said he understood the passion behind this measure.

“Some folks have quite frankly gotten sick and tired of endless wars, but defunding the national guard is not the appropriate response,” said the former congressman.

The legislation was first brought forward in early 2023.

Squeaked through House

Rep. Michael Moffett, R-Loudon, who chairs the House State-Federal Relations and Veteran Affairs Committee, said he was opposed to the measure at first, “but many veterans turned out who were very passionate about this issue and I felt I had to respond to that,” Moffett said.

“Our military has been used too often in the name of national security.”[emphasis mine]

Keep reading

 

 

Did Pro-Palestine Protesters Get Paid April 16 At State Capitol? Should They Go F*** Themselves?

Photo credits: Jim Anderberg

Yesterday we followed up tax day demonstrations for defunding Israel's genocide on Palestine with a STOP ARMING GENOCIDE action at Maine's state capitol. A smaller crew than when we staged a similar action February 23 as there were and are numerous actions for Gaza this week all over our sprawling and lightly populated state.

We saw several friendly faces there as citizen lobbyists had turned out for Tribal rights, educator rights, and gun control as the legislative session scrambles to a close today. People let me know afterwards how much they appreciated the chant, "From Wabanakiya to Palestine, occupation is a crime."

A paid lobbyist in a mint green blazer did not appreciate the chant, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."

A few of us heard her say "Go f*** yourself" as she passed by. I thought she might be a legislator but, as the bell tolled for those folks to return to chambers and vote, mint green blazer was in the cafeteria across the way. She had removed her name tag by then, wouldn't say who she was, and told some other folks that they should study history. Zionist history, presumably. 

I wanted to give her employer some feedback on her interaction with us but a security guard stopped me from asking her name as she exited the building saying that swearing would get me kicked out of the state house (I was quoting her i.e. "You said to me...). Trying to guess  what issue she was lobbying for: gun industry? genocide profiteers General Dynamics or Pratt & Whitney? Doubtful, because those lobbyists usually wear expensive suits and shoes that stand out in Maine. I got more of a school administrator vibe, possibly there to lobby against a guaranteed minimum wage for ed techs.

Some of the gun control citizen lobbyists approached our group and expressed admiration for our die-in protesting other kinds of violence that the U.S. supports.

I stopped to speak with educators who were there with my union, the Maine Education Association. I told them I'm a retired teacher and I believe educators haven't been paid because the lion's share of spending year after year is on wars and weaponry. Several of them agreed with that. (Too bad that decades of advocating for the MEA to push back against military spending falls on deaf ears in an organization dominated by the Democratic Party.)

One funny thing that happened is a tv reporter who caught some of our die-in on video wanted to know if any of us were paid to be there. Also, were our expenses covered by our press guy's organization or any other group? Our press guy got a kick out of that and answered "no" to both on our behalf.

Under capitalism, apparently it's hard to understand that people would engage in direct action of their own volition and on their own dime. Case in point about why our group yesterday was so small: most people are at work on Tuesdays at 11am. I'm thankful for our hardy band of retirees and teachers on spring break, and for the work of activists who couldn't be there yesterday but who created this strong handout explaining Maine's role in arming the Gaza genocide.

WWIII Trending On Tax Day -- Coincidence?

It is hardly a coincidence that WW3 is the top trending term on Twitter this morning in conjunction with U.S. citizens being forced to pony up an average of $1,748 each to line the pockets of the Pentagon's contractors. That figure is just part of the $5,109 the average taxpayer spent on militarism in 2023.

WW3 is trending ostensibly because Iran finally launched direct attacks on Israel's ability to continue waging genocide in Gaza. What's that have to do with U.S. taxpayers?

Israel receives at least $3.8 billion every year, and considerably more in 2023-24 since it began carpet bombing and starving Gaza. It is the wealthiest and also largest recipient of U.S. military "aid" over time, and could not continue the violent occupation and subjugation of Palestinians without U.S. support.

Here in Maine we came together last Saturday in Brunswick to demand an end to U.S. support for Israel and its war crimes. 

Latest in a series of statewide protests with an anti-war and anti-imperialist focus, we joined with Bowdoin Students for Justice in Palestine to march through downtown. Students, kids, dogs, teachers, social workers, and retirees marched before circling up to share our thoughts. At least four people in the group said, I was passing by and saw your signs so I decided to join in. 

Evidence that there is a lot of pent up desire to oppose the war machine and the suffering it creates for profits.

Four thousand miles away, about a dozen folks had a lively discussion yesterday after viewing my webinar on Climate & War (previously shared with UNAC and viewable on YouTube). How to halt climate crisis that is a direct consequence of massive military spending and government captured by billionaires? How to effect a just transition away from harmful forms of energy usage in way that protect rather than penalizes the most vulnerable? 

Electing members of either corporate party was seen as a dead end by this group, Peace Action of San Mateo County. 

General strike, anyone?

People across the U.S. who are able to do so will engage in a tax strike today. 

In addition, here in Maine people will be at the federal building in Bangor to protest how our taxes keep funding genocide in Gaza. 

Others will protest in Portland at a KeyBank branch downtown to highlight that bank's role in selling Israel Bonds.

People everywhere are rising up and there is little the federal government can do about it. 

Rest in power, Aaron Bushnell, who famously said: "I will no longer be complicit in genocide."

ERRATA: Corrected to restore a missing decimal point to the minimum amount Israel receives from the U.S. each year i.e. $3.8 billion.

Bias Against China & Anyone Who Sounds Vaguely Chinese Is Not A Good Look On Liberals

So many racist political cartoons about China on the interwebs it was hard to choose just one.

Admittedly I do not know if it was liberals who flagged my annual subscription fee to Lee Fang's substack (a whopping $60) and put a hold on my credit card with the explanation "Possible Fraudulent Activity Detected." 

What I do know is that no such hold or warning has been triggered by my subscriptions to journalists with last names like Johnstone, Hedges, or even Taibbi.

This happened in the same week that the leader of a Democratic Party-aligned "peace" group in my state commented about an article on NATO I had shared: "The article you linked is incoherent (and look where it is published)."[emphasis mine]

Global Times published the piece on April 7 and included this introduction:

Editor's Note:

April 4, 2024, marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of NATO. As a product of the Cold War, NATO should have been disbanded, but over the years, it has served as a war machine and facilitated US hegemony. The Global Times talked to a number of experts and scholars to reveal how the US exploits NATO to serve its geopolitical purposes and how NATO destabilizes the world, exacerbates nuclear threats and brings confrontation to Asia. 

In the second interview of the series, Global Times (GT) reporter Li Aixin talked to John Pang (Pang), a former Malaysian government official and a senior research fellow at Perak Academy, Malaysia. John said that having set Europe on fire with its aggressive enlargement, NATO proposes to bring their formula to Asia, against a far more powerful opponent - "It's an imbecile proposition."

Yikes! Both interviewer and interviewee have Chinese-sounding names. Who could possibly want to read and consider their opinions on geopolitical realities as the U.S. slouches toward WW3 with China?

Several times in the past week I've seen articles about the U.S. instigating a proxy war in the Pacific using the Philippines as their cat's paw. I've also read analysis from sources we're being trained to consider suspect. Here's a short list:

Aukusing for War: The Real Target Is China  by Dr. Binoy Kampmark, published April 7, 2024 by the Australian Independent Media Network

Snow Job: 15 Years of U.S. Gaslighting in the South China Sea published April 9, 2024 by Peter Lee's China Threat Report (audio version also available there)

Xi Jinping's Thoughts On China's Nuclear Weapons by Gregory Kulacki & Robert Rust, published April 1, 2024 by Union of Concerned Scientists.

That last article debunked a New York Times report claiming that China's leaders 

“are looking to nuclear weapons as not only a defensive shield, but as a potential sword — to intimidate and subjugate adversaries.” [The Union of Concerned Scientists] examined the evidence and found it did not support that claim. 

Actually found a political cartoon about China that isn't racist!

The narrative management strategies employed by liberals around China are extremely familiar, because we have just been through two years of being told that the war in Ukraine started in 2022 all the while being scorned for reading anything published in Russia. 

A thought police officer on a "peace" listserv based in Maine constantly attacks posts that deviate from U.S. State Department talking points while citing sources like the NYT, Washington Post, and CNN as beacons of truth. Uh huh.

Pot calling kettle black cartoon from the New York Times.

We've seen the recent claim that TikTok is being used to manipulate young people into hating Israel's genocide in Gaza, and China is at fault because, as Nancy Pelosi said on camera, if China's government can control the algorithms "we" are in big trouble. A backhanded admission that the U.S. controls the algorithms on Meta products, Twitter/X, YouTube, and search engines like Google.

This kind of bias makes you look stupid, folks. When Chew Shou Zi, CEO of TikTok, was attacked during a hearing in Congress for being Chinese he responded, "No, I'm Singaporean." 

I was embarrassed for my country. 

You should be, too.

 

Cringe Video Kicks Off Vote Shaming Season

Honestly, it's always vote shaming season in the false dichotomy show that constitutes U.S. electoral politics. 

I'm immune to vote shaming for several reasons: I live in Maine where we have ranked choice voting so candidates literally cannot be spoilers; I left the Democratic Party for good in 2008 when Obama got the nomination and his first two votes back in the Senate were to pass the war supplemental bill and to extend immunity to the big telecoms for spying on us all; and Democrats failed to protect abortion rights, pass universal health care, or cancel student loans like Biden promised. They are the ones who should be ashamed.

I'm also immune to being called "Putin's spokesperson" or "you sound like Tucker Carlson." While I might giggle at a cartoon like this one, 

I don't agree with the underlying thesis that the ruination of the U.S. can be laid at the current administration's feet. Both parties in the U.S. serve their corporate overlords, and it is they who have gutted both quality of life and life expectancy for working class people.

So this cringe video of white boomers in Philadelphia "dancing" is unlikely to move me in any way other than activating my gag reflex.

https://twitter.com/adamcurtisbroll/status/1777708042563510465

I saw it shared on Twitter, but the original video can be found here on TikTok.

Ok maybe you're laughing instead of gagging. Either way, I doubt that you're feeling much shame.

A friend of mine stepped into this quagmire with a letter to the editor of the Portland Press Herald today. They printed her critique of Biden administration complicity in the genocide in Gaza, but did not enable comments.

A vote-shaming letter in the same edition did allow comments, and that is where a lively debate ensued about censorship, media bias, and...vote shaming. 

Why am I immune to the common liberal malady, Orange Man Bad Derangement Syndrome? Because the old white boomer Trump and the old white boomer Biden are both very, very bad. 

When your "lesser of two evils" candidate is the incumbent who's actively arming Israel's genocide in Palestine, the correct sign between the two candidates is an equal sign.