A New Year
but the Same Old Hypocrisy

What irony as T-rump's inauguration protesters (and those who were simply in the area) face years in prison for exercising their rights that old “tiny hands” wants to protect the rights of Iranian protesters. In Saudi Arabia protests are not tolerated, but they are our allies. In Israel they treat Palestinians (especially those that protest) inhumanely, but they are our ally and seemingly our foreign policy directors. Meanwhile, we circle North Korea with aircraft carriers and line up missiles on their border and then holler about their aggressiveness? And perhaps the biggest hypocrisy, T-rump calls for more global warming as cold weather descends (largely due to climate chaos). All the while the news media misleads and distracts.

Let's start with the influence of the CIA on media...

Jim Risen was interviewed several times this week about his reporting on deep state.
Risen's autobiographical article and his battles with the NYT
https://theintercept.com/2018/01/03/my-life-as-a-new-york-times-reporter...
The intercepted podcast this week is an hour long conversation between Jim Risen and Jeremy Scahill about reporting on the CIA and “deep state”. (1.1 hour with text)
https://theintercept.com/2018/01/03/all-the-news-unfit-to-print-james-ri...
you can also watch a 12 min clip of the interview on video here:
https://theintercept.com/2018/01/04/james-risen-long-fight-reporting-gov...
...and Democracy Now! also had an extended interview with him (with text)
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/1/5/the_biggest_secret_james_risen_on (45 min)
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/1/5/how_the_ny_times_us_government (30 min)

For more on the relationship of “deep State” and media, Scheer and Whitney discuss how the CIA controls major news agencies and respected literary publications (such as the Paris Review).
(30 min with text) https://www.alternet.org/media/cias-60-year-history-fake-news-how-deep-s...

Largely unbeknownst to the general public, many media executives and top journalists of almost all major US news outlets have long been members of the influential Council on Foreign Relations. As one Council member explained, the goal has indeed been to establish an “empire” h/t Plato's republic https://swprs.org/the-american-empire-and-its-media/

Jimmy Dore and the crew do a great job of showing how corporate media is literally brainwashing the public comparing the UN vote against the embassy move with Jake Tapper's reporting of the outcome. Worth the watch and a nice piece to send to anyone you might know who watches CNN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwyJ6Wx5lKU (26 min)

...and of course there is the continued narrative of Russiagate and now Bannon's new book to keep people distracted. Max Blumethal shares his views (16 min with text)
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:20862:Max-Blumenthal-on-%27Fire-and-Fury...

Glenn Greenwald, “When they (media outlets) clam up and hide behind corporate and lawyer statements and refuse to provide basic transparency about their own behavior, how do they then have credibility to turn around and demand transparency from government institutions and officials or from corporations, when they refuse to provide it themselves?” (video and text)
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/1/2/glenn_greenwald_on_trump_russia_probe

Norm Solomon also takes on Russiagate quite well
https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/fueled-social-media-americas-...

Don't forget the role of Social Media...
Here's a warning from anonymous and the developers of Facebook...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39RS3XbT2pU (15 min)

“...the U.S. government, according to Facebook, now has the power to dictate to Facebook who it is who’s allowed to use that platform to communicate with the world, and who will be blocked and who will be banned.” Glenn Greenwald explains (video or text)
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/1/2/glenn_greenwald_is_facebook_operat...
https://theintercept.com/2017/12/30/facebook-says-it-is-deleting-account...

Then there's corporate spying and government collusion. Amazon is providing the government with private information stored in their cloud.
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/amazon-gives-record-quantity-consumer-...

The Intel chip inside your computer can be hacked. All Mac systems and iOS devices are vulnerable to the recently discovered security flaws known as Spectre and Meltdown, Apple has confirmed. (2 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sOELX4dObk

...and a final spy story. The Counterintelligence Staff, created in 1954, had been headed for 20 years by James Jesus Angleton, a legendary spy who deployed the techniques of literary criticism learned at Yale to find deep patterns and hidden meanings in the records of KGB operations against the West. But Angleton was also a dogmatic and conspiratorial operator whose idiosyncratic theories paralyzed the agency’s operations against the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War, and whose domestic surveillance operations targeting American dissidents had discredited the CIA in the court of public opinion. https://theintercept.com/2018/01/01/the-complex-legacy-of-cia-counterint...

So no wonder we're in such a mess (and so unpopular) around the world considering the CIA's control of big media and the desire of both entities to propagate war....

The Middle East

Ralph Nader talks to legendary progressive lawyer and former U.S. Attorney General, Ramsey Clark, about the conflicts in the Middle East. (And a discussion about the difference between “progressives” and “liberals” and why the distinction is important.)
https://ralphnaderradiohour.com/ramsey-clark-progressive-vs-liberal-redux/ (1 hour podcast)

Iran

Glenn Greenwald on Iran Protests: Trump Tweets “Time for Change” While Backing Dictators Worldwide. “Iran is an extremely sophisticated and complex country of 80 million people. And I think that when it comes to analyzing exactly what’s driving the protest in Iran, we ought to defer to Iranians, people who are steeped in Iran’s civil society, and ought to avoid the sort of overnight experts who tend to pop up in the West and opine on these matters from afar without much knowledge.” (video and text)
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/1/2/glenn_greenwald_on_iran_protests_t...

Iran for some reason is a useful bogeyman, but it has a military budget the size of Singapore’s and it is difficult to see any way in which it significantly affects US interests in the region in any negative way. Israel and Saudi Arabia see it as a budding regional hegemon and are afraid of it. They keep complaining about Iranian influence in Yemen, but little is visible while Saudi Arabia and Trump have bombed that poor country back to the stone ages.
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/americas-biggest-mideast-foreign-polic...

Vijay explains his views on the Iranian protests and draws comparisons with Venezuela.
https://www.alternet.org/world/iran-erupts-protest-against-poverty-sanct...
Juan Cole adds his analysis
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/irans-protests-economic-political/

Does anyone think T-rump cares about Iranian protesters?
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/trump-doesnt-actually-care-iranian-pro...

Can Iranian protesters achieve their demands while President Trump capitalizes on them to sabotage the Iran nuclear deal and push regime change? Trita Parsi of the National Iranian American Council and Dr. Eskandar Sadeghi of the University of Oxford (20 min with text)
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:20847:Trump%27s-Call-for-Regime-Change-C...

A truism about U.S. politics and media is that once a foreign leader or a country has been demonized everything written or said about the subject will be skewed to the negative, a rule reflecting Washington’s groupthink and careerism, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar notes about Iran.
https://consortiumnews.com/2018/01/04/gazing-at-iran-through-a-distorted...

David Ickes had a piece up on the tube – Stop the BS. The US and Israel are at war with Iran.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEkchBkS01I (26 min)

Does history repeat itself? The CIA has publicly admitted for the first time that it was behind the notorious 1953 coup against Iran's democratically elected prime minister Mohammad Mosaddeq
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/19/cia-admits-role-1953-irani...

I speculated this summer these reports were released in order to prompt a reaction from Iran in order to justify military intervention by the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. I would add the embassy move to Jerusalem is also a poke in the eye.
https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB435/#_ftn1

Israel's governing Likud party has called for annexing the Occupied West Bank, and the Knesset has passed a law that seeks to cement control of East Jerusalem. Shir Hever says the moves are a response to growing Israeli isolation in the wake of a recent UN vote and the defiance of jailed Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi (11 min with text)
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:20840:Israel-Responds-to-%27Threat%27-of...

Sixteen-year-old Ahed Tamimi was back in court Thursday, with the judge ruling for the third time that her detention is extended, this time for another five days. The reasoning for the judge’s rulings to extend her detention is that she “poses a risk” to the military and the Israeli government’s case against her. The risk she poses is in her refusal to submit to the Israeli demand that Palestinians acquiesce to their own occupation. Israeli logic is that Palestinians should cooperate with their own oppression.
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/state-israel-afraid-16-year-old-ahed-t...

Musab Tamimi, the 17-year old cousin of jailed Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi, has been shot dead by Israeli forces at a protest in the occupied West Bank. Musab, who was unarmed, is the latest Palestinian youth to die at the hands of Israelis after 35 were killed in 2016. Hundreds like Ahed are also tried by Israeli military courts each year (11 min with text)
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:20846:Can-Global-Pressure-Protect-Palest...

Turkey is none too happy with the US after we convict a Turkish banker of helping Iran. (6 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnAcpNeBp80

China is allying with Pakistan as we turn our backs (2 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTxB7CSaV64

We're creating a mess in North Korea too.

Following more belligerence from President Trump's Twitter account, North and South Korea have announced their first direct talks in years. It's a big step towards rapprochement, says journalist Tim Shorrock, but the U.S. could be a major obstacle (video and text)
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:20861:North-and-South-Korea-Talk%2C-but-...

The Trump administration was very opposed to President Moon Jae-in of South Korea’s proposals for talks. The North—the Trump administration position is that there can be no talks until North Korea commits to denuclearization. (video and text)
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/1/4/north_and_south_korea_leaders_agree

Here's a distinguished soldier's view of our foreign policy...
“The truth is, I fought for next to nothing, for a country that, in recent conflicts, has made the world a deadlier, more chaotic place. When you take the journey of dissent, you lose friends, alienate family, confuse confidants and become a lonely voice in your professional world. “
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/officers-path-dissent/

...and for a final view of our foreign policy.
Giving war a chance has not worked out well, to put it mildly, in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Honduras, Yemen, Libya, Syria or Ukraine.  All remain mired in violence and chaos caused by U.S. invasions, bombing campaigns, coups and covert operations. In every case, U.S. policy decisions have either made these countries’ problems worse or are entirely responsible for the incredible problems afflicting them.  Many of those decisions were illegal or criminal under U.S. and/or international law.  The human cost to millions of innocent people is a historic tragedy that shames us all.  In every case, the U.S. could have made different decisions, and in every case, the U.S. can still make different decisions.
https://consortiumnews.com/2018/01/03/giving-war-too-many-chances/

The Economy

Low interest rates, "quantitative easing," and the mitigation of antitrust laws led to more mergers and acquisitions in 2017, but that's only going to fuel greater wealth inequality and tighten the corporate grip on the political system, explains economist Michael Hudson (15 min with text)
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:20818:2017-A-Banner-Year-for-Corporate-M...

Richard Wolff discusses consumerism and capitalism (3.5 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPyFjXRPvto

Richard Wolff interviews David Jette about public vs private banking, with a focus on public banking in North Dakota. (3.5 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTZAmxohBw8

Max and Stacy discuss American Christmas debt (first 15 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNoOS3G9xZQ
...and review the early history of bitcoin (on the 9th birthday) – first 15 min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ektKtroaR4o

The Environment

The Climate of 2017 from the leading climate scientists...a powerful montage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNBYkA9Mdeo (16 min)

It's a little long, but this is a rational and clear-eyed conversation about climate chaos and the social implications. Christian Parenti discusses climate change and our current political landscape. Parenti is a sociologist trained at the London School of Economics and is currently an economics professor at John Jay College. They ask Christian what it was like to straddle the realm between academia and journalism; prospects of climate catastrophe; climate change and climate justice; and the role of both politics and the state in any real solutions for a way forward. (1.1 hour)
https://soundcloud.com/leftoutpodcast/christian-parenti

For other interviews....and a couple of short teasers from the interview posted above -
https://soundcloud.com/leftoutpodcast

However, our approach is to expand drilling to all our coastlines. The proposal has already received a lot of pushback from both sides of the aisle. Mitch Jones of Food & Water Watch says there's still time to harness that widespread opposition and stop the expansion of extreme energy extraction before the policy change can take effect. (7 min with text)
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:20858:Trump-Administration-Proposes-Open...
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/01/04/trump-administration-condem...

States are fighting back with some success. An Oregon appeals court ruled that restricting fossil fuel infrastructure is constitutional, overruling a lower appeals court decision. It's an important victory in the fight against climate change, and for local self-determination
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:20856:Oregon-Court%3A-Banning-Fossil-Fue...

Ocean dead zones with zero oxygen have quadrupled in size since 1950, scientists have warned, while the number of very low oxygen sites near coasts have multiplied tenfold.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/04/oceans-suffocating-d...
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/01/05/new-study-big-ag-climate-cr...

While coverage of hurricanes, wildfires, and other major weather events frequently dominated newspaper headlines and television segments in 2017, the "proportion of pieces that mentioned climate change in climate-relevant contexts was decidely low," Arkush writes—even though scientific research has frequently demonstrated the link between climate change and extreme weather.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/01/05/corporate-media-failed-conn...

New research shows that some northern regions have been getting hit with these extreme cold spells more frequently over the past four decades, even as the planet as a whole has warmed. While it may seem counterintuitive, the scientists believe these bitter cold snaps are connected to the warming of the Arctic and the effects that that warming is having on the winds of the stratospheric polar vortex, high above the Earth's surface.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/27092017/polar-vortex-cold-snap-arcti...

A growing body of research is finding that as there are more years with historically low sea ice levels, there is an associated uptick in wobbly jet streams.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/27122017/arctic-antarctic-sea-ice-she...

The Challenge...
A Decade of Crisis on the horizon
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/human-destiny-will-make/

The Visionless Society - Nice article from Chris Hedges interviewing Ralph Nader
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-visionless-society/

Onward to the apocalypse (1.5 min cartoon)
https://www.truthdig.com/cartoons/tweet-pocalypse-video/

So the hypocrisy will continue. It's not spy vs. spy, it's spy vs. citizens. It is difficult to create the evil empire we have become without misleading and distracting citizens from the real actions and consequences of our government...at home and abroad. Corporate media and their collusion with a rogue “deep State”, the CIA and other groups within the hidden government, have an agenda to create global discord in order to enrich arms manufacturers and the like. Can we stop the march to war with Iran? One hopes. For that is where I find myself...clinging to hope. I wish you all peace and solace in this ever more volatile world.