Puppet Masters
This sentence sounds like something that could be written by a doctrinaire Marxist. But it is nonetheless true. Much of the current tension in America and in many other democracies is in fact a product of a class struggle. It's not the kind of class struggle that Karl Marx wrote about, with workers and peasants facing off against rapacious capitalists, but it is a case of today's ruling class facing disaffection from its working class.
In the old Soviet Union, the Marxists assured us that once true communism was established under a "dictatorship of the proletariat," the state would wither away and everyone would be free. In fact, however, the dictatorship of the proletariat turned into a dictatorship of the party hacks, who had no interest whatsoever in seeing their positions or power wither.
Yugoslav dissident Milovan Djilas called these party hacks the "New Class," noting that instead of workers and peasants against capitalists, it was now a case of workers and peasants being ruled by a managerial new class of technocrats who, while purporting to act for the benefit of the workers and peasants, somehow wound up with the lion's share of the goodies. Workers and peasants stood in long lines for bread and shoddy household goods, while party leaders and government managers bought imported delicacies in special, secret stores. (In a famous Soviet joke, then-leader Leonid Brezhnev shows his mother his luxury apartment, his limousine, his fancy country house and his helicopter only to have her object: "But what if the communists come back?")
Check out, Africa.
Will this be our future?
Aware of the threat that social media poses to their power, repressive regimes in Africa have employed various methods to stifle internet-based mobilization. These include internet shutdowns, targeted social media applications shutdowns, website takedowns, extensive surveillance of digital communications, online propaganda, and the detention of online critics, writes Babatunde Okunoye for Foreign Affairs.
According to Okunoye, in 2018, repressive governments adopted yet another tactic: taxes on social media usage. In countries such as Uganda, Benin, Tanzania and Zambia, there are now laws in place which impose daily taxes on social media and other over-the-top services.
Comment: It is more than stifling freedom of expression. Social media and the internet are information access tools of the people, and as such, have the means to expose corruption. Denied access, regulation, prohibitive cost structures and censorship are mechanisms to limit dissent.

The work and pensions secretary, Amber Rudd, leaves No 10. Age UK has described the changes as a ‘substantial stealth cut’.
Ministers have been accused of attempting to bury the impact of the change to pension credit, which tops up the incomes of hard-up elderly people.
It means couples where only one partner is over the state pension age, which is now 65 or for both men and women depending on when they were born, will no longer receive the extra benefit.
It will take effect from 15 May, when the partner below the pension age is required to make a claim for universal credit, which merges six working-age benefits into a single payment.
Comment: Just when you thought there was nowhere left for the UK government to plunder:
- UK's new "unexplained wealth" law begins by seizing assets from wife of former boss of Azerbaijan bank
- UK government to raid 90 year old charity fund to pay off 0.6% of national debt as economy continues to burn
- UK government's welfare dept reluctantly admits 21,000 people died waiting for benefits
- Not So Fun Fact: Theresa May Leads the West in Stealing Africa's Wealth
- Britain stole $45 trillion from India over 173 years, says top economist
- NewsReal: Yellow Vest Protests, Brexit Farce - Revolutionary Climate in Western Europe?
- NewsReal: California Wildfires, Climate Change, And The Impossible Brexit
- Behind the Headlines: Perfidious Albion: If Russia is a Rogue State, What is the UK?
"It is clear that Russia continues to violate the treaty in a substantial way," US Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Andrea Thompson said at the press briefing that followed Tuesday's discussions, which she called "disappointing."
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, who led a sizeable Russian delegation comprising senior officials from all relevant departments, said that US representatives arrived in Geneva with their minds made up, with a position that was both "uncompromising and lacking in specifics."
Comment: And now the foregone conclusion:
The US will begin its withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia on February 1, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control Andrea Thompson has said.
...
In an interview published on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia "has no interest in a new arms race" with the US, but warned the Trump administration against withdrawing from the treaty, saying "such a course will have the gravest consequences."
Trump first threatened to pull out of the landmark agreement last October, telling reporters "we'll have to develop those weapons." Reacting to Trump's announcement, Gorbachev issued a similar warning to Putin, calling Trump's planned withdrawal a "dire threat to peace."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi as the new military chief of staff Tuesday, according to a report by Haaretz. Kochavi replaced Gadi Eisenkot, who recently made headlines by admitting that Tel Aviv had supplied weapons to terrorists in Syria.
"I take this job upon myself in sacred reverence; I take it as an honour," Kochavi said during the ceremony, attended both by Netanyahu and Eisenkot.
"Now, as it is my turn, and I have received the responsibility of leading the army, I commit to dedicating all my energy, with a critical and demanding approach, to strengthening our defensive wall, to training for present and future threats - which focuses upon strengthening our attack capabilities towards our enemies and presenting an army that is deadly, efficient and modern, that preserves its mission and its uniqueness," he added.
While Kochavi's speech could be perceived as humble, Netanyahu, who promoted Kochavi to chief of staff, then spoke with his trademark, much more aggressive tone.
Judicial Watch's discovery will seek answers to:
- Whether Clinton intentionally attempted to evade the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by using a non-government email system;
- whether the State Department's efforts to settle this case beginning in late 2014 amounted to bad faith; and
- whether the State Department adequately searched for records responsive to Judicial Watch's FOIA request.
Comment: See also:
- Obama and Hillary KNEW arms were going to terrorists in Syria from Libya - and lied about it under oath
- Hillary must answer key email questions in 30 days, US federal judge orders
- Judicial Watch: Obama administration knew day after that Benghazi attack was planned 10 days in advance
- Senate pulls Hillary's security clearance amid email scandal

James A. Baker, former general counsel for the FBI, was revealed to be the subject of a leak probe.
The letter from GOP Reps. Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows cited the transcript of a congressional interview with former General Counsel James Baker and his lawyer last fall, where the probe conducted by seasoned U.S. Attorney John Durham was confirmed.
"You may or may not know, [Baker has] been the subject of a leak investigation ... a criminal leak investigation that's still active at the Justice Department," lawyer Daniel Levin told lawmakers, as he pushed back on questions about his client's conversations with reporters.
Jordan and Meadows' letter was sent to Durham, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut, and requested additional information about the probe later this month.
"As we continue our oversight and investigative work, we felt it prudent to write to you seeking an update. Without being apprised of the contours of your leak investigation and Baker's role, we run the risk of inadvertently interfering with your prosecutorial plans," they wrote.
Comment: More on Baker:
- Comey admits he was aware that Steele dossier was financed by Dems before signing off on FISA warrant to surveil Carter Page
- Senior FBI official caught accepting gifts from journalists but "criminal prosecution was declined"?
- Capitol Hill: Glenn Simpson, Fusion GPS, pleads the 5th on dossier questions
- Top FBI lawyer testifies Rosenstein 'seriously considered' secretly wiring Trump
One thing is obvious with regards to the ongoing US government shutdown - it has not affected the daily operations of the US military at all. While some 800,000 federal employees are enjoying a long unpaid vacation, members of the Armed Forces appear to be working overtime. And how could they not with the latest seasonal outbreak of Russo and Sino Phobia?
While there has been an outpouring of publicity over Donald Trump's shock announcement that he would be withdrawing US troops from Syria, and possibly in other hotspots around the war-weary world, the US military remains on the prowl.
At the weekend, the Pentagon deployed three B-2 Stealth bombers and 200 airmen to Hawaii with the stated purpose of demonstrating America's ability to "project power from anywhere in the world." The site of the US deployment was no accident. China has been on the receiving end of these cute Hallmark greetings ever since Barack Obama announced his ill-fated 'Asia Pivot'.

The General Grant National Monument in New York closed due to the partial government shutdown.
"Why is Nancy Pelosi getting paid when people who are working are not?" Trump tweeted on Tuesday.
The government has been partially shut down for over three weeks, during which around 400,000 federal workers have missed their first paycheck of 2019. Despite several rounds of negotiations, Trump and Congressional Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi have failed to reach a compromise on Trump's request for $5.7 billion to build a wall along the Mexican border.
Comment: Tucker Carlson summed it up well: Tucker Carlson: Our leaders are mercenaries who feel no long-term obligation to the people they rule












Comment: It seems to be a lot more going on than just 'class warfare' in the dynamics that undergird the latest manifestations of unacceptable control, increasing poverty and profound unrest. Social engineering, population culling and authoritarian politics employed to mask financial failure? The elite have contrived the means to be insulated, protected. The common man: less and less each day.