GLENN GREENWALD -- My Resignation From The Intercept

 

My Resignation From The Intercept

The same trends of repression, censorship and ideological homogeneity plaguing the national press generally have engulfed the media outlet I co-founded, culminating in censorship of my own articles.

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Today I sent my intention to resign from The Intercept, the news outlet I co-founded in 2013 with Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras, as well as from its parent company First Look Media.

The final, precipitating cause is that The Intercept’s editors, in violation of my contractual right of editorial freedom, censored an article I wrote this week, refusing to publish it unless I remove all sections critical of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, the candidate vehemently supported by all New-York-based Intercept editors involved in this effort at suppression.

Eric Zuesse -- The Victory America Won for Fascism and Nazism After WW II

 The Victory America Won for Fascism and Nazism After WW II

Eric Zuesse, originally posted at Strategic Culture, updated here

INTRODUCTION

This article is about the role ideology actually played in World War II, the Cold War, and plays in today’s world. The links here provide access to deeper explorations, regarding each linked issue. Links are provided instead of notes, because all of the sources here are freely available online, and because in the digital era (as we now are) notes are archaic except when a source is not available online. Readers who are interested in the documentation at any point can instantaneously access that in the article’s online version simply by clicking onto the link. Readers who aren’t interested in ideology won’t be interested in understanding that the U.S. is now a certain type of fascist country, as is to be documented and explained in this article, which starts by discussing Hitler’s ideology, because some — but obviously not all — aspects of it became the U.S. Government’s ideology virtually the moment when U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died on 12 April 1945 and was immediately replaced by Harry S. Truman.

THE HISTORY

Eric Zuesse -- The Refusal of Democrats & Republicans to Face Political Reality

 The Refusal of Democrats & Republicans to Face Political Reality

Eric Zuesse, originally posted at Strategic Culture

Almost all of America’s Democratic and Republican voters are simply closed-minded, and refuse to acknowledge that each of this nation’s two political Parties is controlled by its billionaires and is profoundly corrupt, not allowing any progressive legislation (but only conservative and liberal legislation, which is backed by billionaires) to get through, nor any progressive jurist to receive a high court appointment, nor any progressive Presidential candidate to win the Party’s nomination — such as Bernie Sanders in 2016, and in 2020. It’s a dictatorship by America’s Republican and Democratic billionaires, no democracy, at all, and the vast majority of voters in each Party refuse to recognize this core reality about today’s America. To them, it’s Democrats versus Republicans, instead of billionaires versus the public. They are wrong, and they don’t even care that they are wrong. 

For example, on the Republican side, the fact that Donald Trump’s coronavirus leadership has been a catastrophic failure and is recognized throughout the world to be so, is ignored by some and denied by others, but it’s not recognized by Republican voters — they are in reality-denial about it. Also, for another example, these voters are in reality-denial about Trump’s racism and race-baiting. They deny the clear evidence of it.

However, on the Democratic side, the fact that Joe Biden is profoundly corrupt is simply ignored, as is the fact that he stole the nomination from Sanders by lying through his teeth. As is the fact that Biden was the U.S. Senate’s leading advocate in the Democratic Party for continuing segregation (‘separate but equal’). He was a stealthy bigot, not only on segregation, but on criminal justice. Also, the fact that Biden is an ardent proponent of U.S. imperialism and of the privatization of infrastructure in the conquered countries so as to sell them off to U.S.-and-allied investors, is likewise totally ignored by Democrats. (The main difference between Biden and Trump on foreign policy is over which country is the most important to conquer: for Trump it’s China; for Biden it’s Russia; but both want to conquer also Syria, Iran, Venezuela, and a few others.)

Eric Zuesse -- The Government’s Case Against Michael Flynn Is Falling Apart

 The Government’s Case Against Michael Flynn Is Falling Apart

Eric Zuesse, originally posted at Strategic Culture

On October 17th, a document in the case of USA v. Michael T. Flynn was docketed (placed onto the court’s calendar for consideration), which could free Mr. Flynn, and which might even lead to a transformation of the American criminal-justice system.

The legal case against Flynn cannot be truthfully understood unless and until the political battle that motivated it is adequately described:

Flynn had been the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) under U.S. President Barack Obama until 2014, when Obama acrimoniously forced him out. Flynn then served for only the first 22 days of Donald Trump’s Presidency as the new U.S. National Security Advisor. The FBI, which still remained headed by the Obama appointee, James Comey, forced Flynn to quit on 13 February 2017. Comey wanted Flynn to testify against the new President — he wanted Flynn to say that in 2016 the Trump campaign had been conniving with the Russian Government. 

Eric Zuesse -- Healthcare Ratings of the World’s Countries

 Healthcare Ratings of the World’s Countries

Eric Zuesse -- October 23, 2020

The latest (October 17th) issue, of the leading medical journal, The Lancet, provides the most detailed analyses and ratings ever, of the healthcare that is provided in each of 204 countries. These ratings are based on a comprehensive set of 42 ratios, such as, “Mortality from breast cancer for females aged 20–64 years” divided by “Incidence of breast cancer for females aged 20–64 years.” All 42 ratios are effectiveness-of-treatment measures. That is the only scientific way to measure the quality of a nation’s healthcare.

Here, in order, are the top 113 countries, those that score above 54, on a scale where the top score is 96 and the bottom score is 22 — which latter country (not shown here) is Central African Republic, which rated 1 or 0, totally lacking, on a number of categories. These 113 countries are listed according to their total score. So, any country that isn’t listed here can reasonably be considered to have very poor quality medical care:

SCORE: COUNTRY (and rank)

96: Japan — world’s best medical care

95: Iceland — world’s second-best medical care

94: Norway — world’s third-best medical care

93: San Marino, Switzerland

92: Andorra, Singapore

91: Finland, France, Luxembourg, Monaco

90: Canada, Ireland, Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden

89: Australia, Italy, South Korea

88: UK (ranked as #21)

87: Belgium (#22)

86: Austria, Germany

84: Denmark, Portugal

83: Malta, N.Z.

82: Czech Republic, Estonia, Kuwait, USA

81: Israel (#33)

80: Cyprus, Greece, Qatar

79: Costa Rica, Croatia, Taiwan 

78: Bermuda (#40)

76: Peru, Puerto Rico

75: Lebanon (#43)

74: Chile, Colombia

73: Cuba, Poland

72: Hungary, Thailand

71: Oman, Panama

70: Albania, China, Iran,  Jordan, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania

69: Greenland, Russia, Turkey, Uruguay

68: Tunisia (#63)

67: Malaysia, Maldives

66: Brunei, Libya, Montenegro, Sri Lanka

65: Brazil (#70)

64: Bosnia, Ecuador, Guam, Saudi Arabia

63: Bulgaria, Paraguay, Serbia, UAE

62: Armenia, Cape Verde, Cook Islands, El Salvador, Moldova, Namibia, Seychelles

61: Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Bahrain, Mexico, North Macedonia, Palestine, Venezuela

60: Antigua, Northern Mariana Islands, South Africa, Vietnam

59: Kazakhstan, Rwanda, St. Lucia

58: Botswana, Iraq, Morocco, Syria

57: Jamaica, Nicaragua, Ukraine

56: Georgia, Malawi, Mauritius, Trinidad

55: Philippines, Sao Tome

Eric Zuesse -- U.S. versus China, and U.S. versus Russia

 U.S. versus China, and U.S. versus Russia

Eric Zuesse, originally posted at Strategic Culture

The main ideological conflict in the world used to be between capitalism versus communism. After the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, that became replaced by the ideological conflict being between imperialism and anti-imperialism. With the expansion of America’s NATO military alliance against Russia, after 1991 — after the communist dictatorship there ended — to include as new members all of the Soviet Union’s former Warsaw Pact allies in Europe, and with America’s aim now being to bring into NATO the former Soviet allies to the south of Russia, such as Azerbaijan and Georgia, American imperialism is viewed in Russia increasingly as an existential threat, which it certainly is. 

The basic difference between the U.S. Government and its allies, on the one hand, and between Russia and China and their allies, on the other, is the same difference in either case: whereas the U.S. and its allies require other Governments to follow their instructions, and consider their own instructions to be moral demands (and thereby binding, actually commands instead of mere suggestions), Russia and China and their allies reject — on principle — any country’s dictating to another. They don’t consider it to be moral, at all, but instead profoundly immoral — they consider it to be imperialistic, dictatorial, bullying, hostile toward international democracy — and they simply won’t accept it; they reject it morally, outright. Iran, too, feels that way about the matter. So, too, do many other countries. That’s the basic difference: the imperialists versus the anti-imperialists.

SP -- LARRY ROMANOFF -- El fraudulento "experimento" del arroz dorado de la Universidad de Tufts en China

 

El fraudulento "experimento" del arroz dorado de la Universidad de Tufts en China

 

Por Larry Romanoff – 17 de septiembre de 2020

 

ENGLISH  ESPAÑOL

 

El Departamento de Agricultura de los EE.UU. en colaboración con el ejército de los EE.UU. tomaron la Universidad de Tufts como instrumento con el pretexto de realizar unas inocentes investigaciones sobre salud alimentaria, para llevar a cabo un experimento ilegal, deplorable y fraudulento con armas biológicas sobre niños de origen chino sin su consentimiento. Esto es parte de esa historia.

 

Muchos grupos han experimentado con la tecnología de la manipulación genética, insertando ADN foráneo en diferentes  semillas. Hubo un caso en Canadá, en el que un departamento del gobierno descubrió un gen "anticongelante" contenido en la sangre de los peces que viven en las aguas del Ártico y que les permite sobrevivir en aguas de temperaturas inferiores a cero. Los científicos insertaron este gen en varios cultivos de trigo canadienses, lo que permitió que el trigo soportara temperaturas de congelación sin sufrir daños. En otra ocasión, un laboratorio de investigación americano insertó genes de luciérnagas en plantas de tabaco, produciendo un campo de tabaco que brillaba en la oscuridad. Estos ejemplos pueden parecer inofensivos, pero otros lo son mucho menos.

 

El Departamento de Defensa de los EE.UU. ha invertido enormes sumas en investigación dirigida a insertar genes letales en semillas de cultivos modificados genéticamente, incluyendo la viruela, los virus de la gripe aviar y la gripe porcina, la peste, el SIDA y muchos más. Como arma militar, esta ciencia no tiene precio. ¿Por qué involucrarse en una guerra a tiros cuando Monsanto puede venderles arroz, maíz y soja que contienen viruela y el virus H5N1? Una vez que la semilla es cosechada y pasa al suministro de alimentos de la nación podría, en pocas semanas, exterminar al 50% o más de la población sin haber disparado un solo tiro y sin riesgo para el agresor. He visto documentos militares de los EE.UU. que incluso incluían un gráfico de "coste por muerte", demostrando que las semillas son mucho más baratas y efectivas que las bombas en la búsqueda de la dominación militar. En el informe también se señalaba que

 

"Las armas genéticas también pueden ser dispersadas de muchas maneras utilizando insectos o bacterias infectadas por virus o insertadas en semillas modificadas genéticamente, etc. Estas armas son difíciles de detectar e identificar, y un tratamiento o una vacuna puede tardar años en desarrollarse." (1)

EN -- LARRY ROMANOFF -- The US Healthcare System -- October 20, 2020

The US Healthcare System

By LARRY ROMANOFF – October 20, 2020

 

Just as with the quality of US education, most of what you are told about the superiority of the American medical system is just false propaganda and brand marketing. The US spends more than twice as much as any other Western nation on a health care system widely considered to be the most dysfunctional in the developed world and where, in spite of the doubled total costs, much of the population has no access to health care. Many studies have demonstrated that the US has an enormous number of preventable deaths each year solely due to the dysfunctional nature of its health care system. The most credible estimate was a study carried out by Harvard Medical School Professors Himmelstein and Woolhandler in 1997, which concluded that about 100,000 people died in the United States each year because of lack of needed care. (1) (2) (3) And statistics confirm that an additional 50,000 Americans die each year while waiting for critical treatment because they have no insurance. (4) But these numbers, large as they are, are trivial compared to those of the patients who die after being admitted to American hospitals. Read on.

In the United States today, life expectancy is 50th in the world - just above Albania, and infant mortality 46th in the world - worse than Slovenia, in all cases far below all developed nations and far below China as well. Of 17 high-income countries studied by the National Institutes of Health in 2013, the US had the highest prevalence of infant mortality, heart and lung disease, sexually transmitted infections, adolescent pregnancies, injuries, homicides, and disabilities. Together, these issues place the US at the bottom of the list for life expectancy. (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) In 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO) performed an extensive study of health care systems in about 200 nations. (12) (13) In that study, the US health care system was ranked as the highest in cost, 37th in overall performance, and 72nd by overall level of health. Another study by The Commonwealth Fund ranked the United States by far the lowest in quality of health care among all similar countries, and by far the most expensive. The Health Affairs journal performed a study in 2000, where it found that since 1970 all other nations had gained about six more years of life expectancy than did the US. According to the WHO and The Commonwealth Fund, the US spent more on health care per capita, and more on health care as percentage of its GDP, than any other nation in 2011, but ranked last in the quality of health care.

EN -- LARRY ROMANOFF -- Nestlé - Murdering With Milk -- October 19, 2020

  

Nestlé - Murdering With Milk

By LARRY ROMANOFF – October 19,2020

 

 Nestlé is one of the four most-boycotted companies in the world, having been subjected to the longest-running worldwide boycott in history, now nearing 50 years. Let's see why. The production and sale of baby milk powder is one of the largest, probably the most profitable, and unquestionably the most criminal, industries in the world today, generating billions in revenue and profits while indirectly causing millions of infant deaths. Nestlé controls 50% or more of that worldwide market. Here is part of the story:

 

 It is not a secret that mothers' breast milk is universally acknowledged as far superior to artificial powdered milk for babies, being naturally sterile and uncontaminated, and containing all the necessary nutrition while, and very importantly, supplying the baby with multiple antibodies that provide immunity against many childhood illnesses and diseases. It is true that almost all mothers are physically able to breastfeed their babies, and a fact that babies that are breastfed become ill much less often than do babies fed with artificial milk powder. Bottle-feeding with artificial milk has been long proven to present increasing dangers where mothers have poor or no access to necessary sterile facilities. UNICEF and many other health groups have stated that about 1.5 million babies die each year from simple ailments like diarrhea, ailments common in babies drinking artificial powdered milk, but that almost never occur with breast-fed babies. The WHO condemned baby milk companies for discouraging breastfeeding, thereby contributing to infant malnutrition and greatly increasing the vulnerability of babies to infections. One UNICEF report stated flatly that "A bottle-fed child is 25 times more likely to die from diarrhea than a breast-fed child where water is unsafe." The WHO and a number of other international organisations claim that "Over 4,000 babies die every day in poor countries because they're not breastfed. That's not conjecture, it's fact." It is also a fact that in most poor nations, infant mortality is at least three times higher with bottle-fed babies than with those who were breast-fed.

SP -- Manlio Dinucci -- El Arte de la Guerra -- Nuevo mando estadounidense para la ‎guerra naval de la OTAN en Europa‎

 

‎«EL ARTE DE LA GUERRA»‎

Nuevo mando estadounidense para la ‎guerra naval de la OTAN en Europa‎

por Manlio Dinucci

La OTAN, aunque el presidente francés Emmanuel Macron le diagnosticaba un estado de ‎‎«muerte cerebral», no ha muerto, incluso está creciendo y sigue presagiándonos ‎pesadillas. Esta alianza bélica acaba de dotarse de un nuevo mando naval capaz de seguir “luchando por los europeos” aunque “los malos” ya hayan invadido e incluso ‎destruido Europa occidental. ‎

RED VOLTAIRE | ROMA (ITALIA) | 20 DE OCTUBRE DE 2020

FRANÇAIS ITALIANO

Los almirantes estadounidenses Betton y Lewis inauguran el Joint Force Command Norfolk. ‎Están de fiesta y son los europeos quienes pagan. ‎

En Norfolk, Estado de Virginia, en Estados Unidos, ha nacido un nuevo mando de la OTAN. ‎Se trata del Joint Force Command Norfolk, definido como el «Mando Atlántico», un clon del ‎‎Joint Force Command Naples, que tiene su cuartel general en Lago Patria, en Nápoles, Italia. ‎

La creación del Joint Force Command Norfolk en Estados Unidos contó con la aprobación del ‎Consejo del Atlántico Norte al nivel de ministros de Defensa, otorgada en junio de 2018 (Italia ‎estuvo representada por la ministro Elisabetta Trenta, del primer gobierno de Giuseppe Conte). ‎

Al igual que el Mando de la OTAN establecido en Nápoles, que está bajo las órdenes del almirante ‎que dirige las fuerzas navales de Estados Unidos en Europa –incluyendo la Sexta Flota–, ‎el Mando Atlántico de la OTAN está bajo las órdenes del almirante al mando de Segunda Flota ‎estadounidense. El «área de responsabilidad» de la Segunda Flota cubre la mitad occidental del ‎océano Atlántico y del Ártico, mientras que la Sexta Flota cubre la otra mitad. Así que el nuevo ‎mando «de la OTAN» en Norfolk –como el de Nápoles– en realidad pertenece a la cadena ‎de mando del Pentágono. ‎

FR -- Manlio Dinucci -- L'Art de la Guerre -- Nouveau commandement US pour la bataille navale de l’Otan en Europe

 

« L’ART DE LA GUERRE »

Nouveau commandement US pour la bataille navale de l’Otan en Europe

par Manlio Dinucci

L’Otan, que l’on disait en mort cérébrale, n’est pas morte. Elle grandit même encore et peuple notre imaginaire de cauchemars. Ainsi s’est-elle doté d’un nouveau commandement naval capable de combattre pour vous lorsque des méchants auront envahi ou détruit l’Europe occidentale.

RÉSEAU VOLTAIRE | ROME (ITALIE) | 20 OCTOBRE 2020

ESPAÑOL ITALIANO

Les amiraux Betton et Lewis inaugurent le Joint Force Command Norfolk.

C’est la fête : c’est vous qui payez.

 

À Norfolk en Virginie (USA) est né un nouveau commandement del’Otan : le Joint Force Command Norfolk, défini comme le « Commandement Atlantique », un clone du Joint Force Command Naples dont le quartier général est à Lago Patria (Naples). Sa constitution a été approuvée par le Conseil de l’Atlantique Nord au niveau des ministres de la Défense (pour l’Italie Elisabetta Trenta du premier Gouvernement Conte), en juin 2018.

Comme pour le commandement Otan de Naples, sous les ordres de l’amiral qui commande les Forces navales US en Europe dont fait partie la Sixième Flotte, le commandement Otan de Norfolk est sous les ordres de l’amiral qui commande la Deuxième Flotte US. L’« aire de responsabilité » de la Deuxième Flotte couvre la moitié occidentale de l’océan Atlantique et de l’Arctique, tandis que l’autre moitié est couverte par la Sixième Flotte des Forces Navales US. Le nouveau commandement « Allié » de Norfolk entre ainsi de fait, comme celui de Naples, dans la chaîne de commandement du Pentagone.

IT -- Manlio Dinucci -- L'arte della guerra -- Nuovo comando Usa per la battaglia navale Nato in Europa

  

L’arte della guerra

Nuovo comando Usa per

la battaglia navale Nato in Europa

Manlio Dinucci

ITALIANO

 

A Norfolk in Virginia (Usa) è nato un nuovo comando Nato: il Joint Force Command Norfolk, definito «Comando Atlantico», un clone del Joint Force Command Naples con quartier generale a Lago Patria (Napoli). La sua costituzione era stata approvata dal Consiglio Nord Atlantico a livello dei ministri della Difesa (per l’Italia Elisabetta Trenta del primo Governo Conte), nel giugno 2018.

Come il comando Nato di Napoli, agli ordini dell’ammiraglio che comanda le Forze navali Usa in Europa di cui fa parte la Sesta Flotta, il comando Nato di Norfolk è agli ordini dell’ammiraglio che comanda la Seconda Flotta Usa. L’«area di responsabilità» della Seconda Flotta copre la metà occidentale dell’Oceano Atlantico e dell’Artico, mentre l’altra metà è coperta dalla Sesta Flotta delle Forze navali Usa. Il nuovo comando «Alleato» di Norfolk rientra quindi di fatto, come quello di Napoli, nella catena di comando del Pentagono.

Con quale motivazione è stato creato il Comando Atlantico? Per condurre la «Quarta battaglia dell’Atlantico», dopo quelle delle due guerre mondiali e della guerra fredda, contro «sottomarini russi che minacciano le linee di comunicazione marittima fra Stati uniti ed Europa nel Nord Atlantico».

Secondo tale strategia, enunciata in particolare dall’ammiraglio Foggo che è stato a capo del comando Nato di Napoli, sottomarini russi sarebbero pronti ad affondare le navi che collegano le due sponde dell’Atlantico, così da isolare l’Europa prima dell’attacco russo. 

Scenario da film hollywoodiano sulla Seconda guerra mondiale, in cui gli U-Boot tedeschi affondano i mercantili diretti dagli Stati uniti all’Europa.

Scenario fantapolitico: mentre la Battaglia dell’Atlantico della Seconda guerra mondiale durò 5 anni, la «Quarta battaglia dell’Atlantico» durerebbe 5 minuti. Se per assurdo sottomarini russi affondassero nell’Atlantico navi degli Stati uniti e dei loro alleati europei, sarebbe l’inizio della guerra totale con uso da ambo le parti di missili e bombardieri nucleari. 

Quale sarebbe allora il ruolo del Comando Atlantico? «Il Nord Atlantico è vitale per la sicurezza dell’Europa. – dichiara Stoltenberg, segretario generale della Nato – Il nostro nuovo Comando Atlantico garantirà che le rotte cruciali per i rinforzi e i rifornimenti dal Nord America all’Europa restino sicure». In altre parole: l’Europa, esposta a quella che Usa e Nato definiscono «aggressione russa», avrebbe bisogno, per resistere, che gli Stati uniti le inviino in continuazione forze militari, armamenti e rifornimenti. Le forze navali degli alleati europei devono quindi affiancare quelle statunitensi e, agli ordini del nuovo Comando Atlantico, dare la caccia a fantomatici «sottomarini russi che minacciano le linee di comunicazione marittima fra Stati uniti ed Europa nel Nord Atlantico». 

È una sorta di gioco della battaglia navale. Molto costoso poiché comporta l’aggiunta di altri stanziamenti alla spesa militare complessiva dei paesi Nato, che già supera ampiamente i 1.000 miliardi di dollari annui in denaro pubblico sottratto ai reali bisogni dei cittadini. Molto pericoloso poiché serve da messinscena per far crescere nell’opinione pubblica l’idea del nemico, ossia di una Russia che minaccia l’Europa e si prepara a isolarla tagliando le sue linee di comunicazione marittima con gli Stati uniti.

Fabbricando tale scenario, si giustifica il crescente schieramento in Europa di forze e armi statunitensi, anche nucleari, affiancate da quelle dei paesi europei della Nato, con la conseguenza che anche la Russia accresce le proprie forze, anche nucleari.

 

Poiché il primo governo Conte ha approvato due anni la costituzione del nuovo Comando Atlantico della Nato, vorremmo sapere che cosa ne pensa il secondo governo Conte. Vorremmo inoltre sapere se in parlamento qualcuno sia stato consultato prima che l’Italia approvasse la costituzione del nuovo comando Nato, decisa dal Pentagono; o almeno se in parlamento c’è qualcuno che sia a conoscenza del fatto che, oltre che dal comando di Napoli agli ordini di un ammiraglio Usa, la marina italiana dipende ora anche da quello di Norfolk, anch’esso agli ordini di un ammiraglio Usa.

Manlio Dinucci

il manifesto, 20 ottobre 2020