Puppet MastersS


USA

July 4 'Patriotic Rituals R Us': Frederick Douglass' speech on American declaration of independence echoes through the ages

Danny Schechter
Global Research
Fri, 04 Jul 2014 21:19 UTC
American Bill of Rights
The wheel of the calendar has turned again, and July 4th is upon us once again, a day for the consumption of 155 million pounds of hot dogs, and fireworks—75% of the pyro technics industry's revenues ignite in an average 1400 displays on the federal holiday marking the anniversary of American Independence.

Patriotric rituals r' often us, although, never mind, that American celebrations only began after the war of 1812, and that it took quite a while for London to even respond to our declaration.

Quiet as it's kept, actual independence only arrived on September 3, 1783 when Great Britain formally abandoned its claims to its colonies and signed the Treaty of Paris.
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Star of David

The Syrian war's worst kept secret that could become Israel's nightmare

Richard Silverstein
Middle East Eye
Fri, 30 Jun 2017 20:52 UTC
Israeli soldiers with tank
Yes, Israel is supporting Syrian rebels, but this goes beyond cash and aid: Israel hopes the rebels will serve as a buffer against Hezbollah and a resurgent Assad, a strategy that could easily backfire.

Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal published an interview with a Syrian rebel commander and half a dozen fighters, who confirmed the worst kept secret of the Syrian conflict: Israel is directly aiding Syrian rebel factions with both humanitarian and financial aid.

Israel's involvement "is much deeper and more coordinated than previously known and entails direct funding of opposition fighters near its border for years," the report said.
"Israel stood by our side in a heroic way," Moatasem al-Golani, a spokesman for the rebel group Fursan al-Joulan, told the Wall Street Journal. "We wouldn't have survived without Israel's assistance."
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Info

Iran's navy and military kick starts five-day naval drill in Caspian Sea


RT
Mon, 03 Jul 2017 20:40 UTC
Iranian Nour missile
© IIPA Ebrahin Noroozi / IIPA / AFPTest firing of an Iranian Nour missile from the Islamic republic's first domestically-manufactured destroyer, named Jamaran, off the southern shores of the Gulf.
The Iranian military has sent its newest warships, missile systems and commando units to the Caspian Sea for a massive five-day naval exercise dubbed Sustainable Security and Power that began on Sunday, IRNA news agency reported.

Ahmadreza Baqeri, commander of Iran's First Naval Zone, said the exercise "carries the message of peace and friendship while promoting Iran's naval capabilities in the Caspian Sea," according to Mehr news agency.

While few specifics are known about the war games, Iran's deputy chief of naval operations, Amir Mahmoud Mousavi, told the news agency that the military will be employing its cutting-edge weapons and equipment, including shore-to-sea missile systems, as well as surveillance and intelligence systems. Diving units and commando teams are also expected to take part.
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Info

China says Japan has 'ulterior motives' by 'hyping up' warship passage through disputed strait


RT
Mon, 03 Jul 2017 20:34 UTC
Jiangkai II class vessel at Changi Naval Base in Singapore
© Edgar Su / Reuters
China says it has the right to pass through a strait that connects the Sea of Japan with the Pacific Ocean, after Japan claimed a Chinese surveillance ship ventured into Japanese territorial waters. Beijing also accused Tokyo of having "ulterior motives."
"The Tsugaru Strait is a non-territorial strait and therefore, international ships such as naval ships have the rights of navigation," China's Defense Ministry wrote on its website on Monday, as cited by Reuters.

"The activities of China's warship are in line with international laws and Japan has ulterior motives with its accusations and hyping up of the situation," it continued.
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Attention

This is our future!

John W. Whitehead
The Rutherford Institute
Mon, 03 Jul 2017 19:34 UTC
"The Internet is watching us now. If they want to. They can see what sites you visit. In the future, television will be watching us, and customizing itself to what it knows about us. The thrilling thing is, that will make us feel we're part of the medium. The scary thing is, we'll lose our right to privacy. An ad will appear in the air around us, talking directly to us."—Director Steven Spielberg, Minority Report
Boot on your Face
© Abiuro
We have arrived, way ahead of schedule, into the dystopian future dreamed up by such science fiction writers as George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Margaret Atwood and Philip K. Dick.

Much like Orwell's Big Brother in 1984, the government and its corporate spies now watch our every move.

Much like Huxley's A Brave New World, we are churning out a society of watchers who "have their liberties taken away from them, but ... rather enjoy it, because they [are] distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda or brainwashing."

Much like Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, the populace is now taught to "know their place and their duties, to understand that they have no real rights but will be protected up to a point if they conform, and to think so poorly of themselves that they will accept their assigned fate and not rebel or run away."

And in keeping with Philip K. Dick's darkly prophetic vision of a dystopian police state—which became the basis for Steven Spielberg's futuristic thriller Minority Report which was released 15 years ago—we are now trapped into a world in which the government is all-seeing, all-knowing and all-powerful, and if you dare to step out of line, dark-clad police SWAT teams and pre-crime units will crack a few skulls to bring the populace under control.

Minority Report is set in the year 2054, but it could just as well have taken place in 2017.
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Target

'Making beliefs': How the left lost its mind

McKay Coppins
The Atlantic
Sun, 02 Jul 2017 00:00 UTC
black tweet
© David FoldvariThe art of discernment.
Polemicists, conspiracists, and outright fabulists are feeding an alternative media landscape—where the implausibility of a claim is no bar to its acceptance.

Last month, Democratic Senator Ed Markey delivered what seemed like an explosive bit of news during an interview with CNN: A grand jury had been impaneled in New York, he said, to investigate the Trump campaign's alleged collusion with Russia. The only problem: It wasn't true.

The precise origins of the rumor are difficult to pin down, but it had been ricocheting around social media for days before Markey's interview. The story had no reliable sourcing, and not a single credible news outlet touched it—but it had been fervently championed by The Palmer Report, a liberal blog known for peddling conspiracy theories, and by anti-Trump Twitter crusaders like Louise Mensch. Soon enough, prominent people with blue checkmarks by their names were amplifying it with "Big if true"-type Tweets. And by May 11, the story had migrated from the bowels of the internet to the mouth of a United States senator.

Comment: How "a lark" became a vulture.

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USA

Noam Chomsky interview: 'If you criticize policy, you're anti-American... That only happens in dictatorships'


RT
Sun, 02 Jul 2017 05:21 UTC
Chomsky
© RTProfessor Noam Chomsky
World-famous academic and campaigner Noam Chomsky talked to RT about the "neoliberal shift" that has made markets king, and how the US silences its critics in [an] interview with Chris Hedges for On Contact.

RT: There are 10 principals of concentration of wealth and power that you laid out in the book Requiem for the American Dream, which was based on a documentary that you did. The first one you're talking about is "reducing democracy." What do you mean by that?

Noam Chomsky: I should first comment that the construction of the ten principals is really the contribution to the editors. It is their quite effective consolidation of hours and hours of interviews and discussions, which they organized in this form. "Reducing democracy" means the gradual marginalization of the population; the reduction of the role of the general population in decision making on the public arena, which is an expected and predictable consequence of the introduction of the transition to neoliberal principals in the 70s and onward.

There are basically two general phases of post-war US socioeconomic history. The first phase was sometimes called regulated capitalism, embedded liberalism of the 50s and 60s; very high growth period; egalitarian growth; some moves towards social justice in the 60s; substantial increase and democratic participation - people became really engaged in the public arena. All of this had various effects. One effect was reduction, the falling rate of profit, which is critical. Second effect was people becoming too engaged in public affairs.



Comment: Chomsky provides salient academic viewpoints up for intellectual discussion. There needs to be others who see the signs, pull back the curtain and come forth with qualifiable perspectives...given that Americans are oblivious to the reality of the society they occupy and are dumbed down, nurtured and maintained that way.

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Radar

Greek coast guard opens fire on Turkish-flagged cargo vessel in Aegean Sea


RT
Mon, 03 Jul 2017 18:49 UTC
Turkish M/V ACT ship
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said it strongly condemns the incident in which Greek coast guard boats reportedly fired shots at a Turkish freighter in the Aegean Sea on Monday, calling it an "unmeasured" act on the part of Athens.

"There is no justification... for firing on an unarmed commercial ship carrying freight between two Turkish ports. Our sole consolation is that nobody was killed or injured as a result of the incident," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Ankara said it condemns the actions of the Greek coast guard, carried out in "disregard for human life, which is the most basic right."

The ministry said it was important to notify the international community of Athens' behavior to make sure "similar events will never happen again."
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Jet5

US forces conduct kinetic strike against Al-Shabaab in Somalia


RT
Mon, 03 Jul 2017 20:52 UTC
US drone
© U.S. AIR FORCE
The Pentagon has acknowledged that a US drone has carried out an airstrike in Somalia against the terrorist group Al-Shabaab. There were no further details about the attack, the second since President Donald Trump expanded US strike authority.
"On July 2, at approximately 7:30 am Eastern Daylight Time, US forces conducted a kinetic strike operation against al-Shabab, an Al Qaeda associated terrorist group. We are currently assessing the results of the operation, and will provide additional information as appropriate," the Pentagon said.

"US forces remain committed to supporting the Federal Government of Somalia, the Somali National Army and our AMISOM partners in defeating al-Shabab and establishing a safe and secure environment in Somalia."
A small US force in Somalia was granted the authority to conduct offensive air strikes against the terrorist group in March, as part of a strategy to support the African Union mission (AMISOM) propping up the government in Mogadishu.

Comment: See also: US launches airstrikes against Islamic militants in Somalia

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Snakes in Suits

Conservatives in chaos: Tory rebels may want Theresa May gone by summer 2019


RT
Mon, 03 Jul 2017 18:18 UTC
Theresa May
© Emmanuel Dunand / AFP
Prime Minister Theresa May is coming under increased pressure from her own party, as her backbenchers are demanding a timeline for her departure from Number 10.

Tory rebels reportedly held a secret meeting in Parliament last week to consider the Conservative Party's future, as the prime minister's position looks increasingly untenable.

Meanwhile, two senior members of May's Cabinet defied the whip over public sector pay and called for the one percent cap to be lifted.

The PM's failure to boost (or indeed maintain) her party's slim majority in the House of Commons in the June 8 election means a small number of dissenters could set the government into chaos.
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