Welcome to Pottersville 2 (Blogging Against Fascism!): Neil Young: Monsanto Is Seeding Fear (Remaining Proud of U.S. Leadership After 9/11) They Had No Idea What Was Happening (And They Took Their Time Figuring Out How to Portray It)

Ukraine Disinformation Battle: Little Green Men, Hamsters and the Fog of War

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There has always been a gap in how media on both sides of the former Iron Curtain have reported world events, and it’s growing as the crisis in Ukraine escalates. It has become increasingly difficult to obtain reliable information from any side — west, east, or further east — about what is going on in Eastern Ukraine. While powerful propaganda machines fill the public space with smoke and mirrors, one of the few facts that can be positively established in Eastern Ukraine is that the body count is steadily growing: a testament of just how easy it is for self-interested foreign powers to start, either intentionally or recklessly, a civil war in the heart of Europe. Continuing coverage is available at this link and this link.

Paul Krugman:

Paul Craig Roberts:

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US Media _________________
"Anyone who depends on print, TV, or right-wing talk radio media is totally misinformed. The Bush administration has achieved a de facto Ministry of Propaganda."

"The uniformity of the US media has become much more complete since the days of the cold war. During the 1990s, the US government permitted an unconscionable concentration of print and broadcast media that terminated the independence of the media.

Today the US media is owned by 5 giant companies in which pro-Zionist Jews have disproportionate influence. More importantly, the values of the conglomerates reside in the broadcast licenses, which are granted by the government, and the corporations are run by corporate executives — not by journalists — whose eyes are on advertising revenues and the avoidance of controversy that might produce boycotts or upset advertisers and subscribers.

Americans who rely on the totally corrupt corporate media have no idea what is happening anywhere on earth, much less at home."
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War On Terror _________________
Roberts asked "Is the War on Terror a Hoax", and claims it has "killed, maimed, dislocated, and made widows and orphans of millions of Muslims in six countries". Roberts called the attacks "naked aggression" on civilian populations and infrastructure which constitute war crimes. _________________
Republican Party _________________
Roberts is seriously dismayed by what he considers the Republican Party's disregard for the U.S. Constitution. He has even voiced his regret that he ever worked for it, avowing that, had he known what it would become, he would never have contributed to the Reagan Revolution. _________________
American Democracy and Oligarchy _________________
Roberts has been increasingly critical of what he deems as the lessening of democracy in the U.S.; instead accusing it of being run by oligarchs by stating:

"The west prides itself that it is the standard for the world, that it is a democracy. But nowhere do you see democratic outcomes: not in Greece, not in Ireland, not in the UK, not here, the outcomes are always to punish the innocent and reward the guilty.

And that's what the Greeks are in the streets protesting. We see this all over the west. There is no democracy, there are oligarchies, some of these smaller European countries are not even run by their own governments, they are run by Wall Street... There is probably more democracy in China than there is in the west.

Revolution is the only answer... We are confronted with a curious situation. Throughout the west we think we have democracy, we hold ourselves up high, we demonize China, we talk about the mafia state of Russia, we talk about the Arabs and so on, but where is the democracy here?" _________________
Farewell Speech _________________
"Truth Has Fallen and Taken Liberty With It,"

Roberts effectively announced his journalistic retirement. The article, published at Counterpunch.org, begins:

"There was a time when the pen was mightier than the sword. That was a time when people believed in truth and regarded truth as an independent power and not as an auxiliary for government, class, race, ideological, personal, or financial interest."

It proceeds to a bitter chronicle of the demise of American intellectual integrity, particularly that of financial journalists and economists. These have been thoroughly corrupted by monetary inducements to misrepresent and ignore what has been, in effect, the systematic dismantling of the nation's productive life, in the name of globalization.

He holds the members of his own journalistic profession largely responsible for abetting relentless outsourcing of American industry, thereby gutting the American middle class and effectively dooming the nation's future.

He describes his own ostracism from mainstream media access, the consequence of his relentless and unflinching criticism of the demolition process over the past decade. His column ends, "The militarism of the U.S. and Israeli states, and Wall Street and corporate greed, will now run their course. As the pen is censored and its might extinguished, I am signing off." _________________

Liberal?

"If by a 'Liberal' they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a “Liberal,” then I’m proud to say I’m a “Liberal."

John F. Kennedy, 1960
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Citizen's United

"[T]his Court now concludes that independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption. That speakers may have influence over or access to elected officials does not mean that those officials are corrupt. And the appearance of influence or access will not cause the electorate to lose faith in this democracy."

– Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
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Sunday, July 26, 2015

Neil Young: Monsanto Is Seeding Fear (Remaining Proud of U.S. Leadership After 9/11) They Had No Idea What Was Happening (And They Took Their Time Figuring Out How to Portray It)

UK Police Confirm Ongoing Criminal Investigation of Journalists Who Worked With Snowden

Fossil Fuel Companies Impose More in Climate Costs Than They Make in Profits

The Politics of Timber Theft

NEIL YOUNG: The Importance of GMO Labeling

25 July 15

Message From Neil Young -

As I write this, the dark act is up for a vote in the House of Representatives; representatives of the people. The dark act takes away the rights of those people to vote for or against things like GMO labeling in their states. It does seem ironic. If the act is passed, it will truly be a dark day for America.

Monsanto is a corporation with great wealth, now controlling over 90% of soybean and corn growth in America. Family farms have been replaced by giant agri corp farms across this great vast country we call home. Farm aid and other organizations have been fighting the losing battle against this for 30 years now.

Dairy and meat farming is done in those white sheds you see from the freeway, no longer on the green pastures of home with the old farmhouses and barns. Those beautiful buildings now stand in ruin across the country. This has happened on our watch while the country slept, distracted by advertising and false information from the corporations. Monsanto and others simply pay the politicians for voting their way. This is because of "Citizens United", a legislation that has made it possible for corporations to have the same rights as people, while remaining immune to people's laws.

Both Democratic and Republican front runners are in bed with Monsanto, from Clinton to Bush, as many government branches are and have been for years. This presidential election could further cement the dominance of corporation's rights over people's rights in America. If you have a voice you have a choice. Use it.

On the human side, the film I would like you to see tells the story of a farming family in America, but the same thing is happening around the world. It is a story that takes 10 minutes of your time to see. It is a simple human one, telling the heartbreaking story of one man who fought the corporate behemoth Monsanto, and it illustrates why I was moved to write The Monsanto Years.

The film presents a rare opportunity to hear from the source as Mr. White is one of only four farmers who is still legally allowed to speak about his case as all the others have been effectively silenced.

Thanks for reading this and I hope you look at this simple and powerful film, "Seeding Fear".

Neil Young
The Monsanto Years

Comments:

# Radscal 2015-07-25

I was shocked when the Proposition for food labeling in CA lost in the last election. The polls showed it had huge support, but when the votes were tallied, it lost.

# Wally Jasper 2015-07-25

Same exact thing in Oregon and Colorado. Right before the vote, Monsanto and its allies brought out its massive wealth to flood airwaves with lies and promote fears for if the labeling initiatives won. And so the initiatives lost. Now the DARK (Deny Americans the Right to Know) act, if it passes the Senate, will cement Monsanto's outright takeover of what used to be agriculture. It will spread its poisons and its altered seeds far and wide, decimating millions of acres of land and polluting streams and ground water. This is what our "representative s" are installing in this country.

We can fight back by refusing to eat GMO products, which means basically all non-organic foods that contain corn, soy and canola oil products. And coming soon, non-organic apples and farmed salmon will be genetically modified. Support local, GMO-free farmers and buy "Non-GMO Project" labeled foods.

# pop2 2015-07-25

Interesting that many of the congressional Monsanto supporters who want to overrule state initiatives re GMO and other food labeling are the same folks who scream about states' rights.

# Street Level 2015-07-25

They have the nerve to call it the "Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015" and it passed the house. This is so 1984.

Here are the first-ever pictures from 9/11/2001 taken by Dick Cheney's staff photographer hours after the New York attack after George W. Bush's airplane ferried him from Florida to Washington, D.C., reported by Tony at Wolves in the City (which were acquired from a Freedom of Information Act request):

Never-Before-Seen Photos from Inside White House on 9/11 Show Bush and Cheney As Terror Attack Unfolded

25 July 2015

By Natalie Evans

The images, released by the US National Archives, capture the immediate aftermath as the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were attacked by terrorists

U.S. National Archives/Handout via Reuters

Dick Cheney sits with his feet up on a desk staring at a television news report as smoke pours from the stricken Twin Towers.

This never-before-seen photograph is one of a collection released showing the immediate aftermath inside the White House as the September 11 terror attacks unfolded.

U.S. National Archives/Handout via Reuters

U.S. National Archives/Handout via Reuters

In another, the then-Vice President is seen with his head in his hands as he makes a phone call from the secure basement.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice are also pictured in the President's Emergency Operations Center in Washington.

The highly-secure underground bunker below the White House's East Wing can withstand even a nuclear attack.

U.S. National Archives/Handout via Reuters

The images, released by the US National Archives in response to a Freedom of Information request, capture the reaction of Goverment officials after 9/11 terror attacks.

Cheney watches a news report after two passenger planes had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York. Both towers later collapsed.

U.S. National Archives/Handout via Reuters

A third plane struck the Pentagon and a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania. In total, 2,996 people killed.

President George W. Bush was visiting a school in Sarasota, Florida, when the attacks took place.

Images from later on September 11 show a tense-looking Bush speaking with his colleagues after his return to the White House.

The images were captured by Cheney's staff photographer, PBS reported.

The photos were released by the National Archives following a FOIA request by FRONTLINE filmmaker Colette Neirouz Hanna.

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