A Patriotic Duty
“My country, right or wrong”, is a thing that no patriot would think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying, “My mother, drunk or sober”. — G. K. Chesterton, The Defendant (1901), p. 166.
Latest articles
“Nothing Will Stop Us”
The unstoppable Israeli U.S. armed military juggernaut continues its genocidal destruction of Gaza’s Palestinians. The onslaught includes blocking the provision of “food, water, medicine, electricity and fuel,” openly genocidal orders decreed by Netanyahu and his extreme, blood-thirsty ministers.
The stunning atrocities going on day after day is being recorded by U.S. drones over Gaza and by brave Palestinian journalists directly targeted by the Israeli army. Over 66 journalists and larger numbers of their families have been slain. Israel has excluded foreign and Israeli journalists for years from Gaza.
This no-holds-barred ferocity came out of the Israeli government’s slumber on October 7 which …
Paying Federal Taxes is Voluntary?
What happens if one doesn’t voluntarily pay?
No to Antisemitism, No to Weaponizing it to Support Israel’s Crimes
MPs Anthony Housefather and Michael Levitt are more devoted to apartheid Israel than to their own prime minister and colleagues in the Liberal caucus.
— Dimitri Lascaris, 2018
The above tweet was criticized by all the major federal party leaders even though few could argue with it today. After the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) denounced the post as antisemitic, the prime minister, Conservative leader and a cascade of others followed suit.
In a betrayal worth reflecting on, many leftists and self-proclaimed solidarity activists echoed the anti-Palestinian lobby’s criticism. Rather than focusing on Canada’s complicity in apartheid, they prioritized Jewish sensitivities. …
COP28’s Unrealistic Tripling of Nuclear Power
UN climate conferences since 1992 have failed to follow thru with results, as CO2 emissions continue higher and higher with every passing year. In fact, post climate conference impact of adopted proposals has become something 0f an inside joke. The most recent conference, COP28, embraced nuclear power as a godsend challenging climate change.
“Triple Nuclear Power” still echoes throughout the halls of COP28. If one stands at the podium in the convention center now empty and listens intently, echoes reverberate “triple nuclear power” spewing out of red-faced maniacs from over 20 countries that committed to tripling nuclear power to bail our …
Freedom: One Liberated Apple at a Time
A minor but significant spark of direct action occurred in New York on 15 December. A group of people entered a Whole Foods store (owned by Amazon), took groceries without paying and exited wearing Jeff Bezos masks.
Independent reporter Talia Jane posted the following on Twitter/X:
The action was in protest against corporate wealth alongside increased food insecurity & to call attention to Amazon’s contracts with Israel.
She also posted a video of the event with people throwing around flyers and shouting, “Feed the people, eat the rich!” Jane stated the food was later redistributed and given to food ‘distros’ and community care spaces …
Day X Marks the Calendar: Julian Assange’s “Final” Appeal
Julian Assange’s wife, Stella, is rarely one to be cryptic. “Day X is here,” she posted on the platform formerly known as Twitter. For those who have followed her remarks, her speeches, and her activism, it was sharply clear what this meant. “It may be the final chance for the UK to stop Julian’s extradition. Gather outside the court at 8.30am on both days. It’s now or never.”
Between February 20 and 21 next year, the High Court will hear what WikiLeaks claims may be “the final chance for Julian Assange to prevent his extradition to the United States.” (This …
Transnational Corporations Provoke a Single Scream of Horror that Runs through the Vertebrae of the World
Quentin Matsys (The Netherlands), The Tax Collectors, c. 1525–1530.
Within the United Nations, there is a little-known debate about the status of global tax regulation. In August 2023, UN Secretary-General António Guterres released a draft document called ‘Promotion of Inclusive and Effective International Tax Cooperation at the United Nations’. This document comes out of a long debate led by the Global South about the unregulated behaviour of transnational corporations (especially the ways in which they avoid taxation) and …
Boycott of Leather Suppliers over Fears for Uncontacted Indigenous People in Paraguay
Guireja, an Ayoreo woman, on the day she was first contacted in 2004. Her relatives are still hiding in the forest. © GAT/Survival
Pasubio, one of Europe’s leading leather manufacturers, has today announced that it will refuse to buy leather from suppliers whose activities directly or indirectly threaten the forests inhabited by the uncontacted Ayoreo people in Paraguay.
Pasubio’s decision follows intensive dialogue with the Italian office of Indigenous rights organization Survival International, which filed a formal complaint against the company under the OECD Guidelines for …
Before Voting
A few things to consider.
How the Campaign to Free Venezuelan Political Prisoner Alex Saab Succeeded
Alex Saab was freed from US captivity in what Venezuelan Prof. Maria Victor Paez described as “a triumph of Venezuelan diplomacy.” The diplomat had been imprisoned for trying to bring humanitarian supplies to Venezuela in legal international trade but in circumvention of Washington’s illegal economic coercive measures, also known as sanctions.
Negotiated prisoner exchange
In a prisoner exchange, Venezuela released ten US citizens and some other nationals to free Alex Saab after his over three years of imprisonment.
Saab’s plane landed in Venezuela on December 20. He was tearfully greeted by his family, friends, and Venezuela’s primera combatiente …
Jesus, Gaza, and the Murder of Useless People
Jesus was a Palestinian Jew born in Bethlehem. He grew up in Nazareth and was executed as a criminal in Jerusalem. It is because of him that we celebrate Christmas. But it is in spite of him that what we celebrate is the opposite of what he stood for.
The different stories of his birth, told by Mathew and Luke in the New Testament, which are the bases for Christmas, are not filled with sugar plum fairies and sleighs filled with useless, unnecessary consumer goods. There’s nothing about a Jolly Old St. Nicholas or baked ham or candy canes. No gifts …
Yankee Micro Social Psychology Part I
Individualism and its Social Shadows
Orientation
Developing a Marxist social psychology is a very important aspect of explaining what is going on within the individual in relation to society as well as what is going on in small group interactions between themselves. What we find when we examine social psychology in Yankeedom is what you might suspect, and that is social contract theory. Here the individual is understood prior to and the center of attention. The group is secondary and derivative and attached to the individual as something voluntary and accidental. This is opposed to a Marxian …
Santa Claus and the Contradictions of Bourgeois Ideology
A comrade recently pointed my attention to a comedy skit by Foil Arms and Hog called “Santa is Captured by the Russians,” where for two minutes Mr. Claus is interrogated by the Soviet police. Below are some excerpts from the conversation:
Santa: I think there has been some sort of a mistake. You see I have a very busy night tonight.
Soviet Police 1: He was found attempting to hide in a chimney.
Soviet Police 2: Chimney? What were you doing in Russian airspace?
Santa: I’ve already told you…
(Santa gets slapped): Ho, ho, …
From News Deserts to Revitalization
Navigating the News Void
In 1995, early in the development of the global internet, sociologist Michael Schudson imagined how people might process information if journalism were to suddenly disappear. An expert on the history of US news media, Schudson speculated in his book, The Power of News, that peoples’ need to identify the day’s most important and relevant news from the continuous torrent of available information would eventually lead to the reinvention of journalism
Beyond daily gossip, practical advice, or mere information, Schudson contended, people desire what he called “public knowledge,” or news, the demand for which made it difficult to imagine …
Palestinians’ Superior Right to Self-defence is Ignored, as Usual
UK’s Cameron/Sunak claptrap turns international law on its head
The UK’s leaders are tying themselves in knots in their desperate attempt to defend the indefensible.
In a debate on Israel and Palestine in Parliament last week, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Affairs Leo Docherty got up and said:
There is no scenario in which Hamas can be allowed to control Gaza again. That is why we are not calling for a general ceasefire, which would allow Hamas to regroup and entrench their position. I am pleased to say that the government’s position is shared by the Opposition Front Bench. Instead, we are focused on urging respect …
A Tidal Wave of Truth
It’s breaking on the beach of censorship.
A Merry AUKUS Surprise, Western Australia!
The secretive Australian government just cannot help itself. Clamouring and hectoring of other countries and their secret arrangements (who can forget the criticism of the Solomon Islands over its security pact with China for that reason?) the Albanese government is a bit too keen on keeping a lid on things regarding the withering away of Australian independence before a powerful and spoiling friend.
A degree of this may be put down to basic lack of sensibility or competence. But there may also be an inadvertent confession in the works here: Australians may not be too keen on such arrangements once the …
How Putin’s Explanation of Why Russia Invaded Ukraine Facilitated or Even Caused NATO to Win 2 New Members: Finland and Sweden
NATO’s having won Finland as a member is the worst blow to Russia’s national security in decades, and it wouldn’t have happened if Putin had played his cards right. This fact will be explained here:
No one is perfect; and, as I’ve explained elsewhere (such as here) I believe that Putin’s track-record during his now nearly 23 years of being the leader of Russia is vastly superior to that of any leader of any U.S.-and-allied country during any portion of that 23-year period. However, I shall explain here why I believe that Putin’s public-relations errors regarding his …
Venezuela-Guyana Controversy
If there were any misgivings about the actions undertaken by the government of Venezuela around the territorial dispute with Guyana, the joint military exercises between Guyana Defence Forces (GDF) and the US Southern Command (SouthCom) explain what really lies behind things.
Troublesome China Bashing
The front-page headline of the December 11, 2023, Washington Post (WAPO) read, “China’s cyber army is invading critical U.S. services.” The sub-headline, “A utility in Hawaii, a West Coast port and a pipeline are among the victims in the past year, officials say,” impressed upon the reader that the Peoples Republic of China had wriggled its way into causing havoc in America’s industrial system. Carefully read the article and learn that nothing unusual has happened to critical U.S. services and there are no facts to indicate anything unusual will happen. The headlined article is a far-fetched opinion piece masquerading as …
How Much Longer Can Danes Snore While Their Security and Democracy are Being Stripped away and Danish Politics Increase the Risk of World War III?
It’s a damn good thing we have Washington to inform the Danes about what’s coming, right before Christmas when people are thinking about everything else.
The procedure is completely obscene: An agreement is first signed (as with Norway, Finland and Sweden), and then it must (possibly) be approved by the Danish parliament: How on earth would it be possible for Denmark to withdraw and say that “thanks to our …
Intelligence
Is artificial intelligence of concern?
California Greens Experience Notable Boost in Registration
Credit: Facebook.com/cagreens
For the first time recorded since January 2016, the Green Party of California (GPCA) has more than 100,000 registered members.
The California Secretary of State’s newest report of voter enrollment numbers, counted 154 days from the March 5, 2024, primary election, shows 101,620 people have joined the Greens in the Golden State. (There were 102,688 listed on January 5, 2016.)
While this is a relatively small figure, it is still important that documents on the Secretary of State’s website indicate party enrollment has been rising constantly since …
The Deep State’s Persecution of Its Most Vulnerable Citizens
Born in a Police State
When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flocks, the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among the people, to make music in the heart.
— Howard Thurman, theologian and civil rights activist
The Christmas story of a baby born in a manger is a familiar one.
The Roman Empire, a police state in its own right, had ordered that …
Santa Finding out Who’s Naughty or Nice?
Who’s naughty, nice, or?
Getting Serious About Halting Israeli Genocide
US representative to the UN Robert Wood raises his hand to veto a security council resolution calling for Gaza ceasefire. Photo credit: Charly Triballeau/AFP
On Friday, December 8, the UN Security Council met under Article 99 for only the fourth time in the UN’s history. Article 99 is an emergency provision that allows the Secretary General to summon the Council to respond to a crisis that “threatens the maintenance of international peace and security.” The previous occasions were the Belgian invasion of the Congo in 1960, the hostage …
Against the Cult of the Child
I recently witnessed the birth of one of my relative’s daughter. The entire event was bathed in a spiritual halo. The relative’s tormented screams – likened by a person to an animalistic agony – were supposedly neutralized by the prayer which she was loudly reciting. When the baby finally came out, everyone was thankful to God for transforming the pain of pregnancy and childbirth into the beauty of the child. In the end, everything was justified by the radiant plenitude of the child’s face. Whereas the world is considered as coarse, as full of unmanageable problems, the baby is held …
Ret. Col. Ann Wright Unmasks the Truth in Arms Transfer Debate
In a heated session at the United Nations Security Council, diplomats engaged in a vigorous debate over the provision of arms to Ukraine amid the protracted war with Russia. The eleventh meeting on this pressing issue since Russia invaded in February of 2022 drew sharp criticisms from multiple speakers, who accused Moscow of deflecting attention from its own aggression.
While various briefers and delegates presented conflicting perspectives, CODEPINK member Ann Wright, a retired United States Army colonel and former diplomat, took a different stance. As a civil society representative, she introduced herself …
Year 2023 in review for Latin America and the Caribbean
Contesting a still dominant US hegemon
December 2nd marked the 200th anniversary of the Monroe Doctrine, which proclaimed US dominion over Latin America and the Caribbean. Left-leaning governments in the hemisphere have had to contest a decadent but still dominant USA. Challenges in the past year include a world economic slowdown, a continuing drug plague, and a more aggressive hegemon reacting to a more volatile and disputed world order.
The progressive regional current, the so-called Pink Tide, slackened in 2023 compared to the rising tide of 2022, which had been buoyed by big wins in Colombia and Brazil. Progressive alternatives had floated into state power on …