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Propaganda

How Shoddy Reporting And Anti-Russian Propaganda Coerced Ecuador To Silence Julian Assange

April 23, 2018 M.C. McGrath and Glen Greenwald, Theintercept.com , , , ,
JULIAN ASSANGE HAS been barred from communicating with the outside world for more than three weeks. On March 27, the government of Ecuador blocked Assange’s internet access and barred him from receiving visitors other than his lawyers. Assange has been in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012, when Ecuador granted him asylum due to fears that his extradition to Sweden as part of a sexual assault investigation would result in his being sent to the U.S. for prosecution for his work with WikiLeaks. In January of this year, Assange formally became a citizen of Ecuador. As a result of Ecuador’s recent actions, Assange — long a prolific commentator on political debates around the world — has been silenced for more than three weeks, by a country that originally granted him political asylum and of which he is now a citizen.

‘Syria Boy’ Hassan Diab – Trump, May, Macron’s Worst Nightmare

April 22, 2018 Jerry Alatalo, The Oneness of Humanity , ,
The story of Hassan Diab has gone viral on the internet, but apparently hasn’t come to the attention of U.S. President Donald Trump, U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May or French President Emmanuel Macron. Of course, the leaders of America, Britain, and France are fully aware of Hassan Diab, but for some unknown reason are choosing to remain silent – thus far unwilling to offer any commentary and/or statements whatsoever. One has to seriously wonder as to why – and become very concerned, in light of historic U.S./Russia tensions many experts assess as greater than during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Public Radio’s McCarthyite Smear Of Black Activists Shows Danger Of Russia Panic

April 21, 2018 Adam Johnson, Fair.org , , ,
For over a year, outlets from FAIR (8/24/16) to TruthDig (1/7/17) to The Nation(8/7/17) to The Intercept (2/12/18) have been warning about the pitfalls of nonstop Russia Is Everywhere and Out to Get Us coverage. The Russians are “stoking discord” and “sowing unrest” and infiltrating online and real-life spaces with memes and rallies and disinformation, corporate media tell us. Did you share Russian disinfo? Twitter and Facebook will let you know. Did you buy into Russian “fake news”? CNN wants to find out. Russia is everywhere, and it’s important the media not only report this fact, but do so over and over and over again, until one is looking for the Russian menace in every interaction.

NYT: Don’t Be Progressive, Be A ‘Liberal’

April 21, 2018 Jim Naureckas, Fair.org , ,
Its ostensible subject is why Democrats should call themselves “liberals” and not “progressives.” But in making that case, it hits most of the main points of the New York Times‘ ideology—one that has guided the paper since the late 19th century. First and foremost, it’s a defense of the status quo. “The basic premise of liberal politics,” Weiner writes, “is the capacity of government to do good, especially in ameliorating economic ills.” But not too much good, mind you:  “A liberal can believe that government can do more good or less,” he stresses. Weiner draws a contrast with progressives: “Where liberalism seeks to ameliorate economic ills, progressivism’s goal is to eradicate them.” So Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society is cited negatively as an example of “a progressive effort to remake society by eradicating poverty’s causes”—in the process supporting  “community action” and  financing the “political activism”...

UN Agency Fails To Substantiate Claims Of Russian Use Of “Military Grade Nerve Agent” In Skripal Poisoning

April 14, 2018 Julie Hyland, Wsws.org , , ,
Russia said that it had proof that the alleged chemical attack was staged by the UK. RT reports: “The Russian Defense Ministry has presented what it says is proof that the reported chemical weapons attack in Syria was staged. It also accused the British government of pressuring the perpetrators to speed up the ‘provocation.’ . . . “Konashenkov said Russia hoped that international monitors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is due to investigate the circumstances of the incident, will help establish the truth. He added Eastern Ghouta is currently trying to return to peaceful life after being liberated from militant groups by Syrian government forces. He called on other nations and international organizations to provide humanitarian aid, which is badly needed in the area.

CIA Stages Gas Attack Pretext For Syria Escalation

April 11, 2018 By Patrick Martin, Wsws.org , ,
The US media has seized on the latest claims by CIA-backed groups of a poison gas attack on civilians to demand a further escalation of the US-led war for regime-change in Syria and an increased confrontation with Russia. The Syrian government claims that one of its airbases, in Homs province, has already come under missile attack. While the Pentagon is denying that it has launched any strikes on Syria yet, the rhetoric of the Trump administration indicates that preparations are being made for stepped-up military operations. As with previous allegations of chemical weapons’ use, the public is being inundated with unverified footage of suffering victims, while government officials and the corporate media, prior to any investigation and without any substantiation, declare the government of Bashar al-Assad and its Iranian and Russian allies to be guilty of a war crime.

Washington And Riyadh’s Terror Enterprise. Wahhabi-indoctrinated Mercenaries

April 9, 2018 By Tony Cartalucci, Globalresearch.ca , ,
Wahhabism was created and used as a political tool as early as the 1700’s. It served as the cornerstone of Saudi Arabia’s founding. Conveniently, Wahhabism – since its inception – was intolerant to outsiders. To the Saudis seeking political power through conquest, this intolerance was easily translated into the use of violence against tribes and neighboring states that did not submit to Saudi power. The British would harness this political tool further in its contest of power with the Ottoman Empire. It encouraged and cultivated extremist ideologies like Wahhabism before and after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. After the World Wars, the British and the Americans would ally themselves with nations like Saudi Arabia and begin exporting Wahhabi indoctrination worldwide. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s admission of this gives further insight into Washington’s use of extremists in Syria in the late 1970s and early 1980s as well as US support to militants in Afghanistan aimed at dislodging the Soviet presence there.

Mass Deception and the Prelude to World War

April 7, 2018 By Colin Todhunter, Counterpunch , ,
Over the last 15 years or so, politicians and the media have been manipulating popular sentiment to get an increasingly war-fatigued Western public to support ongoing wars under the notion of protecting civilians or a bogus ‘war on terror’. They spin a yarn about securing women’s rights or a war on terror in Afghanistan, removing despots from power in Iraq, Libya or Syria or protecting human life, while then going on to attack or help destabilise countries, resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands of civilian lives. Emotive language designed to instil fear about potential terror attacks in Europe or myths about humanitarianism intervention are used as a pretext to wage imperialist wars in mineral-rich countries and geostrategically important regions. Part of the battle for the public’s hearts and minds is to keep people confused.

Why The UK, The EU And The US Gang-Up On Russia

March 27, 2018 James Petras, Unz.com , ,
For the greater part of a decade the US, the UK and the EU have been carrying out a campaign to undermine and overthrow the Russia government and in particular to oust President Putin. Fundamental issues are at stake including the real possibility of a nuclear war. The most recent western propaganda campaign and one of the most virulent is the charge launched by the UK regime of Prime Minister Theresa May. The Brits have claimed that Russian secret agents conspired to poison a former Russian double-agent and his daughter in England , threatening the sovereignty and safety of the British people. No evidence has ever been presented. Instead the UK expelled Russian diplomats and demands harsher sanctions, to increase tensions.

Majority Of Americans Agree In Poll That Deep State Exists — Here Is The Cited Evidence

March 23, 2018 By Aaron Kesel, Activistpost.com , ,
A majority of Americans believe an unelected faction or cabal of officials is orchestrating policy in Washington, D.C., according to a new poll, Politico reported. The survey of 803 adults was conducted by the Monmouth University Polling Institute from March 2nd to 5th. The institute found that a whopping 74 percent of pollsters believe in a “deep state” when it is described as a collection of unelected officials running policy. Even more shocking, the poll further notes that it’s a belief expressed by 7 in 10 Americans polled in each political group: Republican, Democrat and Independent. Thirty-one percent of Republicans and 33 percent of Independents say they believe a deep state “definitely exists,” while 19 percent of Democrats believe a deep state exists.

Don’t Believe Media Hype About Saudi Prince Mohammed Bin Salman

March 22, 2018 Medea Benjamin, Codepink.org , ,
Saudi Arabia’s 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, heir to the Saudi throne after eliminating his rivals, is on a two-week whirlwind visit to the United States starting March 19. He plans to cement his ties to the Trump administration, shore up support for his war in Yemen while whipping up more opposition to Iran, and make lucrative business deals. From political meetings with Donald Trump and Congress to cultural events at DC’s Kennedy Center, a talk at MIT, gatherings with tech leaders in Silicon Valley and oil executives in Houston, the prince will be selling dolled-up versions of both his repressive kingdom and his favorite product from the House of Saud: himself. But don’t get sucked into the media hype, seeded by well-paid PR firms, that the prince is a reformer who is bringing substantive change to the kingdom.

Shakespeare On Russiagate ‘Much Ado About Nothing’

March 17, 2018 William Blum, Williamblum.org , ,
That’s the “Russian interference” in the 2016 American election. A group of Russians operating from a building in St. Petersburg, we are told in a February 16 US government indictment,  sent out tweets, Facebook and YouTube postings, etc. to gain support for Trump and hurt Clinton even though most of these messages did not even mention Trump or Clinton; and many were sent out before Trump was even a candidate. The Russian-interference indictment is predicated, apparently, on the idea that the United States is a backward, Third-World, Banana Republic, easily manipulated. If the Democrats think it’s so easy and so effective to sway voters in the United States why didn’t the party do better? At times the indictment tells us that the online advertising campaign, led by the shadowy Internet Research Agency of Russia, was meant to divide the American people, not influence the 2016 election.

Now Mattis Admits There Was No Evidence Assad Used Poison Gas On His People

March 14, 2018 Ian Wilkie, Newsweek.com , , ,
Lost in the hyper-politicized hullabaloo surrounding the Nunes Memorandum and the Steele Dossier was the striking statement by Secretary of Defense James Mattis that the U.S. has “no evidence” that the Syrian government used the banned nerve agent Sarin against its own people. This assertion flies in the face of the White House (NSC) Memorandum which was rapidly produced and declassified to justify an American Tomahawk missile strike against the Shayrat airbase in Syria. Mattis offered no temporal qualifications, which means that both the 2017 event in Khan Sheikhoun and the 2013 tragedy in Ghouta are unsolved cases in the eyes of the Defense Department and Defense Intelligence Agency. Mattis went on to acknowledge that “aid groups and others” had provided evidence and reports but stopped short of naming President Assad as the culprit.

‘Progressive’ Journalists Jump the Shark on Russiagate

March 11, 2018 Ray McGovern, Consortium News , ,
Jane Mayer of The New Yorker and Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks are the latest progressives to jump on the anti-Trump, pro-Russiagate bandwagon. They have made it crystal clear that, in Mayer’s words, they are not going to let Republicans, or anyone else, “take down the whole intelligence community,” by God. Odd? Nothing is too odd when it comes to spinning and dyeing the yarn of Russiagate; especially now that some strands are unraveling from the thin material of the “Steele dossier.” Mayer and Uygur have now joined with other Trump-despisers and new “progressive” fans of the FBI and CIA – among them Amy Goodman and her go-to, lost-in-the-trees journalist, Marcy Wheeler of Emptywheel.net. All of them (well, maybe not Cenk) are staying up nights with needle and thread trying to sew a silk purse out of the sow’s-ear dossier of Steele allegations and then dye it red for danger. Monday brought a new low, with a truly extraordinary one-two punch by Mayer and Uygur.

America’s Troll Farm Media

March 10, 2018 Gerald Sussman, Counterpunch.org , , ,
Despite all the smoke and mirrors, most Americans seem to see where the stenographers of corporate capitalism are taking us. A recent Gallup poll found that while 84% of Americans see media as “critical” or “very important” to democracy, only 28% see the corporatist mainstream news media (MSM) as actually supporting democracy. They’re right on both counts of course.  The quality of a democracy is only as good as the information people have to make informed judgements about public policy and politicians. Even as the mainstream news media continue to lose street cred, they persist in a rumor-saturated full court press against the “Trump-Putin presidency,” which only further exposes their lack of professionalism and increasing vulgarity. MSM management and their boardroom bosses have long understood that as long as they spice up their “nothing burger” news, ratings and advertising rates will keep them in business and please their commercial and government clients.
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