As of this writing, it has been three days since the Icelandic newspaper Stundin broke the story that a key witness in the US government’s case against Julian Assange had fabricated allegations against the WikiLeaks founder. And yet, somehow, Assange is still in prison. Continue reading
The US is again illegally bombing nations on the other side of the planet which it has invaded and occupied and branded this murderous aggression as “defensive”. Continue reading
The Icelandic newspaper Stundin reports that a key witness in the US prosecution of Julian Assange has admitted in an interview with the outlet that he fabricated critical accusations in the indictment against the WikiLeaks founder. Continue reading
In the later years of an abusive relationship I was in, my abuser had become so confident in how mentally caged he had me that he’d start overtly telling me what he is and what he was doing. He flat-out told me he was a sociopath and a manipulator, trusting that I was so submitted to his will by that point that I’d gaslight myself into reframing those statements in a sympathetic light. Toward the end one time he told me “I am going to rape you,” and then he did, and then he talked about it to some friends trusting that I’d run perception management on it for him. Continue reading
In totalitarian regimes they have massacres and wars. In free democracies they have humanitarian interventions. Continue reading
In 2008, the American public was fed up with the disastrous status quo politics of George W Bush, so they came together and elected a progressive candidate who campaigned on hope and change to replace him. Continue reading
It’s so easy, as the years wind on, to sink into adult-mind. To get crusty and stagnant in our knowing. To lose our sense of wonder. Continue reading
A March 9 Twitter post by Secretary of State Tony Blinken reads as follows: “We will never hesitate to use force when American lives and vital interests are at stake, but we will do so only when the objectives are clear and achievable, consistent with our values and laws, and with the American people’s informed consent – together with diplomacy.” Continue reading
I write about humanity’s problems as a species in all sorts of ways in this space, but really if you want to get straightforward about things all we’re ever actually talking about here is a lack of awareness of what’s true and the need to eliminate that lack. Continue reading
One of the most consequential collective delusions circulating in our society is the belief that our society is free. Our society is exactly free enough to create the illusion that we have freedom; from that line onwards it’s just totalitarianism veiled in propaganda. Continue reading
For most of recorded history, domination by brute force has been the norm for human civilization. Someone claws their way into a position of power over the other humans, and you obey and respect him or he’ll have his goons attack you. Continue reading
In a high-quality dementia care facility, confused residents who are at risk of unsafe wandering are skillfully redirected away from exit doors by staff members who are trained to provide them with the illusion of freedom while still keeping them in the safety of the care home. A propaganda-addled populace wandering around trying to find an escape from its oppressors is redirected in very much the same way. Continue reading
It’s intense right now. Damn intense. Especially in America. Continue reading
The most Orwellian tool of our rulers which does the most damage and affects the most lives is not surveillance, nor police militarization, nor government secrecy, but domestic mass media propaganda. It’s also the most overlooked. It’s good to protest the other mechanisms of authoritarian control, but propaganda is enemy number one. Continue reading
It is perfectly valid for the American public to express outrage over Trump’s declaration of victory, but the entire American media and political class forever lost all legitimacy to condemn a nation’s leader from illegitimately crowning themselves by backing the Venezuela coup. Continue reading
I’d like to tell you a folktale. It’s called “The Emperor’s New 9/11.” Continue reading
The term “super-spreader” has been popping up a lot in mainstream news media and Democrat-aligned partisan rhetoric in reference to President Trump and his habit of hosting of events without social distancing precautions which led to a spike in positive Covid-19 tests throughout the White House. Continue reading
US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died, which means the US election is going to revolve around abortion and other civil rights for the foreseeable future. Which won’t change much since this presidential race hasn’t really been about anything since the end of the Democratic primaries. Continue reading
Consumerism is unsustainable. Competition is unsustainable. Imperialism is unsustainable. Continue reading
The New York Times published an astonishingly horrible article the other day, titled “Latin America Is Facing a ‘Decline of Democracy’ Under the Pandemic,” accusing governments like Venezuela and Nicaragua of exploiting COVID-19 to quash opposition and oppress democracy. Continue reading
Children arrive in this world unthinking and empty-headed, like idiots. We have to teach them how to be smart and knowledgeable thinkers like us. Continue reading
ESTRAGON: Well, shall we go?
VLADIMIR: Yes, let’s go.
[They do not move.]
Curtain.
Continue reading
You’ve probably already seen the footage of a white police officer named Derek Chauvin cheerfully suffocating a black man named George Floyd to death with his knee while Floyd pleaded for his life. This went viral around the same time as another viral video where a white woman in Central Park called New York police on a black man who posed no threat to her while making sure to inform the police that he was black, and just weeks after video footage surfaced of a black man named Ahmaud Arbery being shot to death by a white former cop and his son while out for a jog. Continue reading
Right-wing pundit Ann Coulter went on a surprisingly vitriolic anti-Trump rant the other day, calling the president a “complete blithering idiot”, an “actual retard”, and “the most disloyal human God ever created” for his treatment of Jeff Sessions and his failure to build the border wall per his campaign promise. Continue reading
It is China’s fault that humans get sick, and that novel viruses sometimes occur. Continue reading
There’s a scene from John Steinbeck’s The Pearl that’s been coming back to me over and over again ever since I started writing about US politics. I find it amazing that this scene hasn’t become a political meme yet, given Steinbeck’s fame and given its perfect illustration of the fake two-party system that we see in western so-called democracies. Continue reading
I write a lot about government secrecy and the importance of whistleblowers, leakers and leak publishers, and for good reason: governments which can hide their wicked deeds from public accountability will do so whenever possible. It’s impossible for the public to use democracy for ensuring their government behaves in the way they desire if they aren’t allowed to be informed about what that behavior even is. Continue reading
There’s so much going on in US politics right now that it’s hard to know what to write about. With all the shouting about the election, impeachment, Trump’s bogus Palestine “deal” and so many other important political issues competing for airtime with Kobe Bryant’s death and coronavirus fear porn, it feels like we’re already at white noise information saturation. Things are going to get a whole lot noisier this month when the Democratic presidential primaries (and all the establishment manipulations that will necessarily accompany them) get underway, and Julian Assange’s extradition trial begins. Continue reading
During the George W Bush administration it was popular in conspiracy circles to speculate that events might be orchestrated which would allow the Bush family to complete a coup against the US Constitution and hold on to power indefinitely. Continue reading
We all showed up naked, slimy and clueless in a world of inexplicable sensory input we couldn’t make head or tail out of. We were then taught what’s what by people who showed up under the exact same circumstances a blink of an eye earlier. Continue reading
The hashtag #CNNisTrash is the number one trend on Twitter as of this writing due to the network’s appalling treatment of Bernie Sanders in Tuesday night’s Democratic presidential debate in Iowa. Continue reading
RSS
‘Rules-based international order’ means Washington-based international order
Posted on June 24, 2021 by Caitlin Johnstone
The US government has shut down multiple news media websites based in the Middle East, including Iran’s state-owned Press TV, and al-Masirah TV which is owned by the Houthi group Ansarullah in Yemen. The Department of Justice said on Tuesday it had seized 36 Iranian-linked websites, claiming without evidence that they were associated with “either disinformation activities or violent organizations” and were shut down for a violation of US sanctions. Continue reading →