From jbn at forestfield.org Sun Apr 23 18:53:58 2023 From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson) Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2023 13:53:58 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Seymour Hersh interviewed by Afshin Rattansi on "Going Underground" Message-ID: A new Seymour Hersh interview is coming out soon. Here are the segments published so far: Seymour Hersh reacts to NYT helping track down Pentagon leaker https://rumble.com/v2jzlh6-seymour-hersh-reacts-to-nyt-helping-track-down-pentagon-leaker.html Some weapons sent to Ukraine ?resold to black market? ? Hersh https://rumble.com/v2jyxka-some-weapons-sent-to-ukraine-resold-to-black-market-hersh.html Seymour Hersh shares insight on corruption in Ukraine https://rumble.com/v2jx4ze-seymour-hersh-shares-insight-on-corruption-in-ukraine.html The full Seymour Hersh interview with Afshin Rattansi will likely appear on https://rumble.com/user/GoingUndergroundTV soon. Rumble continues to eat YouTube's lunch. From jbn at forestfield.org Sun Apr 23 19:08:29 2023 From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson) Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2023 14:08:29 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] =?utf-8?q?Aaron_Mat=C3=A9_guest_hosted_The_Jimmy?= =?utf-8?q?_Dore_Show_on_2023-04-21?= Message-ID: <2ea41e73-4827-6091-2d1b-58ab32b37fe8@forestfield.org> Complete 2023-04-21 show[1] https://rumble.com/v2joh8g-congresswoman-calls-for-matt-taibbis-arrest-buzzfeed-axes-news-division-w-m.html Edited segments from the show https://rumble.com/v2jqx3a-rfk-jr.-blasts-war-machine-over-ukraine-in-announcing-presidential-bid.html https://rumble.com/v2jqx0a-biden-taking-away-14-million-americans-dental-care.html https://rumble.com/v2jqwv4-why-is-the-government-targeting-black-socialists.html https://rumble.com/v2jqwse-elon-musk-and-matt-taibbi-feud-over-twitter-files-explained-w-matt-taibbi.html https://rumble.com/v2jqwqu-msnbc-hosts-lie-could-send-journalist-to-prison-w-matt-taibbi.html https://rumble.com/v2jqwpa-democrats-threaten-journalist-matt-taibbi-with-prison-over-twitter-files-w-.html In my opinion, Aaron Mat?'s episodes guest hosting The Jimmy Dore Show are often more concise than Jimmy Dore's hosting because Mat? doesn't joke as much, he rarely gets the audio-video tech wrong, and he doesn't misread quotes from articles (or stumble on words) as much as Dore does. If you don't care for Jimmy Dore's style of hosting his show (as some on this mailing list have said), consider watching Aaron Mat?'s episodes. [1] It's rare that The Jimmy Dore Show publishes the full unedited show for us all to see (this might well be a mistake on the part of the show). Typically that show releases full show recordings only for show subscribers. If you want to see the full show, see it soon before it goes away, or download the show with yt-dlp which is a free software program that downloads videos from a variety of sources (yt-dlp source code can be found at https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp and is licensed under The Unlicense). Quoting GNU Project commentary on The Unlicense from https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#Unlicense > A work released under the Unlicense is dedicated to the public domain to the > fullest extent permitted by law, and also comes with an additional lax license > that helps cover any cases where the dedication is inadequate. The Unlicense text https://unlicense.org/ From jbn at forestfield.org Mon Apr 24 18:32:05 2023 From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson) Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2023 13:32:05 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Seymour Hersh interviewed by Afshin Rattansi on "Going Underground" In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <95bd62e2-dc2c-d165-1191-7e96d95ed602@forestfield.org> I wrote: > A new Seymour Hersh interview is coming out soon. [...] > > The full Seymour Hersh interview with Afshin Rattansi will likely appear on > https://rumble.com/user/GoingUndergroundTV soon. Seymour Hersh on his BOMBSHELL Report of Zelensky Embezzling $400 Million from US Aid to Ukraine https://rumble.com/v2k2s5m-seymour-hersh-on-his-bombshell-report-of-zelensky-embezzling-400-million-fr.html From jbn at forestfield.org Mon Apr 24 18:51:44 2023 From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson) Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2023 13:51:44 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Seymour Hersh interviewed by Afshin Rattansi on "Going Underground" In-Reply-To: <95bd62e2-dc2c-d165-1191-7e96d95ed602@forestfield.org> References: <95bd62e2-dc2c-d165-1191-7e96d95ed602@forestfield.org> Message-ID: <1853ccc1-1810-61b6-741d-dbfabfe3a9ef@forestfield.org> I wrote: > Seymour Hersh on his BOMBSHELL Report of Zelensky Embezzling $400 Million from US > Aid to Ukraine > https://rumble.com/v2k2s5m-seymour-hersh-on-his-bombshell-report-of-zelensky-embezzling-400-million-fr.html Another copy of the interview (this copy with ads for RT and Ruptly) https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/files/2023.04/6446541b85f5407fab327e4c.mp4 This video is linked to in https://www.rt.com/russia/575256-hersh-ukraine-corruption-zelensky/ https://www.rt.com/news/575249-hersh-ingellitence-reports-biden/ From carl at newsfromneptune.com Fri Apr 28 02:04:59 2023 From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2023 21:04:59 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: [New post] Why Should We Pay Attention to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.? References: <174340743.39816.0@wordpress.com> Message-ID: <07C46F02-448B-470D-8BE4-E9C2A000FD52@newsfromneptune.com> Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: > From: "scheerpost.com" > Date: April 27, 2023 at 8:24:19 PM CDT > To: carl at newsfromneptune.com > Subject: [New post] Why Should We Pay Attention to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.? > > ? > scheerpost.com > Why Should We Pay Attention to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.? > Editor > Apr 27 > > By Blake Fleetwood / Original to ScheerPost > > Last week Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launched his campaign for President 2024. His main campaign theme is to end the corrupt alliance of big business and government. He blames this alliance for the rigging of the system that has destroyed the middle class over the last 40 years. He points to the nefarious collusion between big government and big corporations and the transfer of enormous wealth and power over the last 40 years to an American oligarchy, an elite that does not take the needs of the majority into account. > > Kennedy has been marginalized by the mainstream media for 18 years due to his skepticism of vaccines and for questioning the collusion between pharmaceutical companies and the CDC and FDA. His views on the Ukraine war -- ?we are driving Russia and China into an alliance? and sucking money from urgent domestic needs -- have also served to ostracize him. > > He?s an environmental activist, author, law school professor, and Time Magazine Hero For the Planet for his environmental advocacy. > > I first met Bobby some years ago and have followed his career closely. I have not always agreed with him, especially about the dangers of the mRNA vaccines, but I know him to be deeply honest, totally dedicated to his beliefs and willing to back them up with personal courage and scientific evidence. Kennedy is a powerful speaker (see video), with a message for change that may be eagerly received by the majority of voters who believe everything is rigged against them. Kennedy says their government has been lying to Americans, and that this is inexcusable. He promises to never lie, a nearly Sisyphean task. > > No doubt the Kennedy campaign is a long shot. It may all depend on the primary vote in New Hampshire. Granite state voters are quirky. The huge vote for Gene McCarthy in 1968 drove President Lyndon Johnson to withdraw from running again. Today, NH voters are furious at President Biden for moving the first primary date to South Carolina. New Hampshire is a state filled with disgruntled white voters who are looking for a change. > > When John F. Kennedy narrowly won the presidency in 1960, he won white voters without a college degree by 60%, but lost college graduates by a two-to-one margin. In 2020 the numbers were almost exactly reversed for President Biden, who lost white voters without a degree by a two-to-one margin while winning white college graduates by a similar margin. > > Robert Kennedy Jr. aims to reverse this drift away from the Democrats since the 1970s by appealing to angry middle and working class white Independents, Republicans and Democrats. These are the voters to whom his father Robert F. Kennedy appealed in 1968 and later voted for staunch segregationist George Wallace. > > Robert Kennedy Jr. hopes to take on his father's cloak as the activist champion of the country's disinherited middle class. He is outraged that ?America has systematically wiped out the middle class.? > > A key component will be the Independent vote, maybe as high as 40%. > > New Hampshire?s election laws allow Independents to vote in either party?s primary. Past voting in the Granite State suggests a strong relationship between the Independent voter and non establishment candidates. Examples are strong showings by Trump and Sanders in past primaries > > Dennis Kucinich, a populist former mayor of Cleveland, and an eight-term congressman from Ohio, introduced Kennedy at his announcement last Wednesday. He is expected to play a large role in the campaign. > > ?We have a rendezvous with history and destiny, ? Kucinich said. ?Under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., we will restore the Democratic Party.? > > I like what President Biden has done. He has outperformed expectations, maybe more than Barack Obama. But he is deeply distrusted by Democrats, Independents, and Republicans. Perhaps the underlying issue is age. Biden, who announced this week, is running on the ominous sounding slogan of ?finish the job,? The reality is that Democrats, and many Republicans, don't like the job that he is doing. Biden is saddled with a 54% disapproval rating, while 62% of Democrats don't want him to run again. Many feel that the system is rigged against them and that now they are stuck with an 80-year-old president who is not going to change much. Polls show that most Americans think the country is moving in the wrong direction by 62.5%. Many Americans, 38%, feel ?exhaustion?about a potential rematch between President Biden and former President Trump. According to a recent poll, 40.2% say the United States is currently in a recession, 17% in a general state of stagnation, and 10.4% think the country is in a depression. Things might get worse quickly. In the first quarter of 2023 the U.S. economy growth slowed dramatically to 1.1%, much less than in the last two quarters. > > In the end, Biden?s age and his shakiness will definitely be an issue. > > Biden?s age is probably the reason why his advisers had him announcing his re-election in a Rose Garden video, where he didn?t have to face questions. President Biden has granted the fewest interviews since Ronald Reagan was president. His aides want to protect him from unscripted exchanges during which he has been prone to gaffes throughout most of his political life. > > Most recent polls show Trump beating Biden in 2024. Kennedy Jr. says he has a better chance of beating Trump than Biden. In 2020, Biden came in fifth in the NH primary. Tellingly, Kennedy did not mention the word ?vaccine? in the long speech. > > Below is a conversation I had last week with Robert Kennedy Jr.: > > Question: I will start off with a softball question but it's not so simple. A rambling answer derailed your uncle Ted Kennedy's aborted campaign for the presidency in 1979. What inspires you to run for president now? > > RFK Jr.: My top priority will be to end the corrupt merger between state and corporate power that has ruined our economy, shattered the middle class, polluted our landscapes and waters, poisoned our children, robbed us of our values and freedoms and destroyed the American dream that we all grew up with. I believe that this country is desperate for change, for a new kind of leadership, one that is not beholden to special interests or corporate donors, but that truly represents the people of this country. I want to run as an FDR president. It is a crime that 62% of American workers (those without a college degree) are making less money than they made 40 years ago.The fact that most Americans can?t afford to buy a house or pay for a college education is an outrage, as is the reality that people can?t afford their healthcare anymore. Why, you ask? For one simple reason: because of the tremendous influence of money; the people?s voice is no longer reflected in politics. Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower nailed it more than 60 years ago when he warned that the military-industrial complex will devastate our Democracy, impoverish our middle class, spread chaos across the globe and obliterate our moral authority. Today, both political parties are the war party. > > Question: Despite your well-known work on environmental issues, particularly your advocacy for clean energy and water and opposition to fossil fuels?and your success creating over 350 River Keepers all over the globe, we cannot ignore the elephant in the room: most of the mainstream media considers you Anti-Vax and dangerous. > > RFK Jr.: I am anti a lot of things...I am anti-Monsanto for putting cancer causing chemicals in pesticides that ordinary gardeners use. I won a $290 million judgment against them. I am anti-outsourcing our good jobs overseas, anti-government censorship in the media, anti-government mandates, anti-crony capitalism, anti-the war against the middle and working class, anti-the CIA hiding files about JFK and RFK assassinations 50 years later, anti-hiding information about drug testing, anti-government censorship of Covid origins in Wuhan. > > And yes, I am skeptical of new drugs. And shouldn't we all be skeptical when the pharmaceutical industry colludes with its captive regulators at the FDA to promote unproven drugs so they can make money? We don?t know what the long term effects of many of these MRNA vaccines will be. Unlike all other medicines, vaccines do not have to be safety tested with placebos. If something goes wrong, the pharmaceutical companies, by law, will not have any liability. If you end up with a stroke or heart attack or other long-Covid complications because of a vaccine, you have no recourse. I am appalled by the notion that drug companies, by federal statute, are not liable for injuries they may cause down the line. However, I'm not anti-vaccine, I just want to assure that vaccines are adequately tested for safety and efficacy. I want safe vaccines. All of my seven children have been vaccinated. I support safe vaccines. When we were growing up, there were only three vaccines, now kids have to get 72 shots?not all of them are necessary. 16 of these vaccines are for many diseases that are not even casually contagious. This pandemic is ending, our priority now should be to prepare for the next pandemic and start testing drugs and treatments now. I believe in science. > > Question: I know that with other scientists, you have called for double blind, placebo vaccine testing by the FDA, as is done with all other drugs, and you are alarmed by the close financial ties and kickbacks that powerful pharmaceutical companies have with the FDA and the CDC, as documented by Science Magazine. The revolving door is pervasive. Out of 107 FDA researchers, 40 received from $10,000 to $1 million in post hoc earnings, according to Science magazine. AstraZeneca paid the government $520 million to settle lawsuits involving alleged improprieties. For example Scott Gottlieb went from being a drug company lobbyist to commissioner of the FDA and now is a board member of Pfizer to the FDA. Is this what you are talking about when you say that the FDA and CDC have been taken over by the pharmaceutical industry? > > RFK Jr.: Such cozy relationships are not tolerated in Europe and other developed nations which have strict limits on the participation of drug panel advisors. In the U.S, doctors and scientists ricochet back and forth between government regulation gigs and the industries they are supposed to be monitoring. Why is it that children in the U.S. get more vaccines than in other developed nations and yet, our children's health ranks 34th in the world, despite the fact that the U.S. spends twice as much as any other nation? American drugs cost more in this country than they do in Canada. There is something profoundly wrong here, and nobody wants to fix it. > > Question: I know that you have been especially concerned with the erosion of free speech and censorship. The recent revelations that Twitter and Facebook had been taking orders from the White House over what speech is permitted and what speech should be censored has been especially disturbing to many people. Another example of free speech suppression is when your book, ?The Real Anthony Fauci,? was the best selling book in the country, according to the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and other literary sources. The New York Times didn?t even list it among their top 20 bestsellers. Moreover, your book did not get any reviews in the mainstream media. > > RFK Jr.: I was very surprised that no one reviewed it. I had hoped that reviewers would try and tear it apart, so I could answer them with scientific facts. But it didn?t happen. The First Amendment, freedom of speech, is the capstone of all other rights and freedoms. It is the most important amendment because without freedom of speech you cannot have a democracy. The first act of any tyrant is to clamp down on dissent and the easiest way to do that is to censor the opposition. The government tried to silence Daniel Ellsberg and the New York Times about the Vietnam War. More recently, when Edward Snowden revealed that the CIA was listening to our phone calls, they caused him to flee to Moscow under threat of a lifetime jail sentence. And Julian Assange is still in jail facing a life sentence for telling the truth about the Iraq War. It's crazy. It's as if the government doesn?t trust Americans to know about these things. It?s a sign of my campaign?s strength that all week the elite of DC?s establishment media simultaneously and shamelessly published misrepresentations of my positions even before I announced my presidential campaign. Steve Bannon has nothing to do with my presidential campaign. Zero. I have never discussed a presidential run with Mr. Bannon. The national press are beholden to a deep corporate power structure that doesn't want change. I?m not surprised. > > Question: You bring to the campaign some considerable liabilities. Voters will be concerned about your lack of political experience. How do you respond to these concerns, and why do you believe that you are qualified to be president of the United States? > > RFK Jr.: The current political system is broken. The American Dream has turned into a Nightmare for many, and to free us from this nightmare, we need a new kind of leadership that is not at the mercy of special interests and corporate donors. I have spent my life fighting for justice and equality. I believe that my experience as an attorney and environmental activist has prepared me to tackle the challenges we face. My family's legacy of public service has instilled in me a passion for justice. Both my father, Robert F Kennedy, and my uncles, President John Kennedy, and Senator Edward Kennedy, were champions of the underdog, fighters for what?s right, and tireless advocates for the voiceless. Their legacy inspires me every day, and it's a great honor to carry on their work. We need to come together as a nation to tackle these challenges and to build a future that is fair and just for all. No democracy can survive without a thriving middle class. > > Question: One of your issues is environmental justice. How will you deal with the disproportionate impact of pollution on low-income communities and communities of color, and what specific policies would you implement to address this issue? > > RFK Jr.: As president, I would work to address the root causes of environmental injustice, including systemic racism and economic inequality. I would prioritize investments in clean energy and sustainable infrastructure in low-income communities and work to eliminate toxic pollutants in these communities. I would also ensure environmental regulations are enforced fairly and that polluters are held accountable for the harm they cause. COVID-19 pandemic was mishandled in many ways, from failing to provide adequate testing and protective gear for front-line workers, to not prioritizing treatments instead of vaccines. As President, I would look to the future and take a science-based approach to the next pandemic, that will ensure that all Americans have access to medical care regardless of their socioeconomic status. I will also work to rebuild trust in public health institutions. > > Question: Income inequality has been a disgrace and many economists think it's going to get worse soon with crippling inflation, high interest rates, economic turmoil and a looming recession. 15 million people are slated to lose their pandemic medicaid healthcare eligibility in the coming year. A "hunger cliff" is looming for 30 million Americans, set to lose their food-stamp benefits beginning this Wednesday. How can this be dealt with in our deeply divided partisan politics? > > RFK Jr.: As president, I would work to raise the minimum wage to a living wage, invest in affordable housing, and ensure that all Americans have access to quality healthcare and education. I would also work to reform our tax system to ensure that the wealthy pay their fair share, and to close corporate tax loopholes that allow corporations to evade taxes. America?s public spending on health care, housing, and education, has been woefully inadequate. To reach the level of Canadian or European basic living standards, America needs to more than double its level of spending. As a result, Americans are much sicker, less educated, poorer and more unhappy than citizens of most other industrialized countries. There has been enormous new wealth created, but these new riches from the ?Third Industrial Revolution? have produced a dystopian nightmare for the majority. The money has not ?trickled down.? Inequality has broken the Golden Age promise of universal progress and dreams of middle class upward mobility. This latest re-engineering of America is not working for the majority. > > RFK Jr.: Inequality has gotten exponentially worse over the last 40 years. Powerful elites have rigged the system. The top one percent has ripped off a staggering $50 trillion from the bottom 90% during the last four decades, according to a study by the highly respected, non-partisan Rand Corp. The Rand Corp found that, if the income distribution in the three decades from 1945 to 1974?a glorious period of prosperity?had remained constant over the next four decades, the annual income of the bottom 90% would have been $2.5 trillion higher in just the year 2018, according to a paper by Carter C. Price and Katheryn Edwards. > > Question: Do you have other liabilities in your past? > > RFK Jr.: When I was young I did foolish and stupid things that I apologize for. There are skeletons in my closet. I am not the perfect Presidential candidate. But our politics needs to change and I can bring that about. My past has made me more compassionate and empathetic toward so many who are suffering. These struggles inform who I am today and how I move about in the world. I?m proud of where I?ve landed. > > > Blake Fleetwood > Blake Fleetwood was formerly a reporter on the staff of The New York Times and has written for The New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine, The New York Daily News, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Village Voice, Atlantic, and the Washington Monthly on a number of issues. He was born in Santiago, Chile and moved to New York City at the age of four. He graduated from Bard College and did graduate work in political science and comparative politics at Columbia University. He has also taught politics at New York University. > > Author Link > Comment > Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from scheerpost.com. > Change your email settings at manage subscriptions. > Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: > https://scheerpost.com/2023/04/27/why-should-we-pay-attention-to-robert-f-kennedy-jr/ > > Get the Jetpack app to use Reader anywhere, anytime > Follow your favorite sites, save posts to read later, and get real-time notifications for likes and comments. > > > > Learn how to build your website with our video tutorials on YouTube. > > Automattic, Inc. - 60 29th St. #343, San Francisco, CA 94110 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From moboct1 at aol.com Sat Apr 29 14:39:35 2023 From: moboct1 at aol.com (moboct1 at aol.com) Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2023 14:39:35 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [Peace-discuss] "TUCKER' References: <1882291785.970232.1682779175100.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1882291785.970232.1682779175100@mail.yahoo.com> IT'S NEVER MENTIONED (OR RECALLED) IN TODAY'S HEADY NEWS ABOUT TUCKER CARLSON AND HIS LATE ASSOCIATION WITH FOX NEWS NETWORK THAT TUCKER CUT HIS TEETH AS A TELEVION POLITICAL ANALYST ON NATIONAL PUBLIC TELEVION, LIKE HIS FELLOW "CONSERVATIVE" WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY (FIRING LINE). M. O'BRIEN -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From carl at newsfromneptune.com Sun Apr 30 03:58:25 2023 From: carl at newsfromneptune.com (C. G. Estabrook) Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2023 22:58:25 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: You're Not Deficient, You're Just Ruled By Assholes References: <20230430034603.3.bb6d643c805a89fd@mg-d0.substack.com> Message-ID: <2AA742B7-A065-4DA9-B600-94D000D8FCAB@newsfromneptune.com> > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Caitlin Johnstone from Caitlin?s Newsletter > Subject: You're Not Deficient, You're Just Ruled By Assholes > Date: April 29, 2023 at 10:46:03 PM CDT > To: carl at newsfromneptune.com > Reply-To: Caitlin Johnstone from Caitlin?s Newsletter > > > Open in app or online > You're Not Deficient, You're Just Ruled By Assholes > CAITLIN JOHNSTONE > APR 30 > > > > > > SHARE > > > Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley): > > You're Not Deficient, You're Just Ruled By Assholes by Caitlin Johnstone > Caitlin Johnstone > Upgrade to paid > Stress, anxiety and depression are on the rise , and they have been for years . Studies have found that increases in cost of living have a lot to do with this deterioration in mental health, while others have linked it to widespread social media use , and the financial and social stressors ensuing from government Covid restrictions certainly haven't helped . > > What nobody seems to be doing any research at all into investigating is the possibility that all these mental health problems have something to do with the fact that we are ruled by tyrants who are squeezing the working class harder and harder while continually pounding people's minds with mass-scale psyops. > > William Gibson said ?Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes.? And speaking from personal experience this is fantastic advice; I've found that many of the problems I had previously ascribed to flaws in myself and necessary difficulties that are built into the nature of human living quickly disappeared from my life at the same time assholes did. > > But even more worthwhile than pointing out that a lot of your assumed mental health problems have more to do with being surrounded by assholes is considering the possibility that you are in fact ruled by assholes. By tyrants who are making life needlessly difficult for ordinary people while psychologically abusing them into thinking their situation is normal and appropriate. > > A popular socialist YouTuber called Second Thought has a good new video out called "You're Not Immune To Propaganda " which examines the subject from a different angle than you might be used to. Second Thought emphasises the mundane, everyday nature of propaganda in our society as opposed to the shinier, better-known instances of its use like the consent-manufacturing for the Iraq invasion; the way it manipulates our understanding of who we are and what our values should be so that we will blame our struggles on ourselves instead of the neoliberal systems of oppression that are crushing people's spirits throughout western civilization. > > Think about the consequences it would have on mental health to continually be bombarded with messaging that you need to keep working like a machine under whatever conditions your employer sees fit to provide, for whatever compensation your employer sees fit to offer, and that if you can't thrive in this soul-crushing environment the problem lies with you and not the system which permits such an exploitative relationship. Then consider the possibility that this is exactly what's happening. > > This nonstop propaganda messaging is further bolstered by the just-world fallacy , a cognitive bias which causes people to incorrectly assume that if anything bad happens to someone it's because they deserved it. This common glitch in human reasoning arises because of people's need to feel like they're in control of their lives; they get that feeling of control by espousing the fallacious belief that as long as people always make good common sense decisions, nothing bad will ever happen to them. As a Twitter follower named Joe Ligato recently pointed out to me, this fallacy would cause people to blame themselves for problems in their lives that actually exist because of exploitative systems. > > Some people wonder why mental health conditions are so bad, while I marvel at the fact that they're not much worse. It's actually amazing anyone's functioning at all in a civilization that's ruled by exploiters and abusers who dominate the world using mass-scale psychological manipulation. It's a testament to human resilience that anyone is sane. When everyone's mind is always being pummeled with messaging that you're deficient if you can't thrive under our oppressive systems, that you're flawed if you don't look, think and act a certain way, that poverty is normal and acts of mass military slaughter are acceptable, it's a wonder we don't all snap. > > When everyone's consciousness is being continually warped and twisted to suit the agendas of the powerful and keep us all thinking, speaking, working, shopping and voting in ways that advance their interests, it's surprising we're not seeing more suicides, more mass shootings, moresubstance abuse, more clinical depression and anxiety. In a totalitarian dystopia that's held together by mass-scale psychological abuse, it's entirely reasonable that people are finding themselves overwhelmed with despair, alienation, depression and anxiety. > > Everything seems phony, meaningless and needlessly difficult because it is. This isn't a statement about human nature or life as it naturally exists, it's a statement about the artificially constructed systems we live under currently. Systems that were built by people and are being maintained by people. Systems which can be changed and restructured by people, too. > > In the meantime, please be gentle with yourself. If you're struggling to get by, don't heap extra problems upon yourself by beating yourself up about it. If you're feeling deficient because you can't live up to the standards of success and worthiness you're using, maybe take some time to consider whom those standards might benefit. If they're the sort of standards that would help turn the population into productive gear-turners of the capitalist machine, they're probably not the best gauge with which to measure your success as a person. > > There's no real reason life needs to be this difficult. There's no reason we can't provide for everyone while technological advancement gives us all more and more free time. There's no reason we can't learn to live in collaboration with each other and with our ecosystem instead of in competition for the benefit of a few abusers at the top. All that's required is for enough of us to decide we're not going to take it anymore. > > Times are hard, and they're getting harder, but we can turn this thing around. Please be kind with yourself in the meantime. > > ____________________ > > Caitlin?s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. > > Upgrade to paid > My work is entirely reader-supported , so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, throwing some money into my tip jar on Patreon , Paypal , or Substack , buying an issue of my monthly zine , and following me on Facebook , Twitter , Soundcloud or YouTube . If you want to read more you can buy my books . The best way to make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for at my website or on Substack , which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. Everyone, racist platforms excluded, has my permission to republish, use or translate any part of this work (or anything else I?ve written) in any way they like free of charge. For more info on who I am, where I stand, and what I?m trying to do with this platform, click here . All works co-authored with my husband Tim Foley. > > > Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2 > > Featured image via Adobe Stock. > You're currently a free subscriber to Caitlin?s Newsletter . For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. > Upgrade to paid > > LIKE > COMMENT > RESTACK > > ? 2023 Caitlin Johnstone > 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 > Unsubscribe > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jbn at forestfield.org Sun Apr 30 20:56:45 2023 From: jbn at forestfield.org (J.B. Nicholson) Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2023 15:56:45 -0500 Subject: [Peace-discuss] "TUCKER' In-Reply-To: <1882291785.970232.1682779175100@mail.yahoo.com> References: <1882291785.970232.1682779175100.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <1882291785.970232.1682779175100@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <87a4f5f2-6829-710c-3505-e8bb415f2b4f@forestfield.org> moboct1--- via Peace-discuss wrote: > IT'S NEVER MENTIONED (OR RECALLED) IN TODAY'S HEADY NEWS ABOUT TUCKER CARLSON AND > HIS LATE ASSOCIATION WITH FOX NEWS NETWORK THAT TUCKER CUT HIS TEETH AS A TELEVION > POLITICAL ANALYST ON NATIONAL PUBLIC TELEVION, LIKE HIS FELLOW "CONSERVATIVE" > WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY (FIRING LINE). The best read I've seen so far on Tucker Carlson losing his show comes from The Duran (Alex Christoforou & Alexander Mercouris) in https://rumble.com/v2kev42-biden-harris-2024.-fox-news-fires-tucker-carlson.html with the following exceptions: 1. It's not clear that Tucker Carlson was fired. Former Fox news host Megyn Kelly said (in https://youtube.com/watch?v=WnhwZaZ3qkc in the first minutes) that Carlson only had his show taken away. 2. Only party bosses have a say in the matter and this is how things have been for decades. Here's Bruce Spiva speaking to a court in his official capacity as the DNC Corporation's lawyer. What Spiva calls "our standard bearer" is what most other people call the Democratic Party nominee. > Bruce Spiva: [I]f you had a charity where somebody said, Hey, I?m gonna take this > money and use it for a specific purpose, X, and they pocketed it and stole the > money, of course that?s different. But here, where you have a party that?s saying, > We?re gonna, you know, choose our standard bearer, and we?re gonna follow these > general rules of the road, which we are voluntarily deciding, we could have ? and > we could have voluntarily decided that, Look, we?re gonna go into back rooms like > they used to and smoke cigars and pick the candidate that way. That?s not the way > it was done. But they could have. And that would have also been their right, and > it would drag the Court well into party politics, internal party politics to > answer those questions. Source: https://newsessentials.wordpress.com/2020/10/01/dnc-to-court-we-are-a-private-corporation-with-no-obligation-to-follow-our-rules/ https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/dnc-argues-in-court-we-dont-owe-anyone-a-fair-primary-process https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2017/04/want-know-democratic-party-just-ask-lawyer.html The http://jampac.us/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/042517cw2.pdf document is no longer reachable.