News about Venezuela remains pretty fragile. Consider - U.S. billionaires (with Canadian billionaire hangers-on) see Latin Americans as their very own cheap labour. That's what all empires do. Like all empires, it also keeps Latin America as a very cheap source of resources - as in oil and mining and agriculture. And, like all empires, it has been murdering and torturing Latin Americans from the start - well over a hundred years ago and in numbers I have never seen - but which must go far, far beyond a few hundred thousand. (If you include the theft of California and Texas from Mexico, that makes it more like 180 years ago.)
So why and how aren't we hearing about what's happening? Putin has thrown down one hell of a challenge to the U.S. And Putin, unlike Trump, is not a man who acts rashly. And Trump, who almost always acts rashly, is amazingly quiet about Venezuela. (We get far, far more from him about the Mexican border.)
What is it Putin hopes to achieve? (He doesn't need Venezuela oil.) Why is China showing interest? Is this the first step of a wider plan to weaken the American hold on it's empire? (That seems a much more dangerous goal than a Putin would plan. The U.S. does that sort of thing all the time - as in Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and 80 or so other countries around the world. But that has never been Putin's style.) So what's the game plan? And why aren't our news media asking the obvious questions?
________________________________________________________________
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/30/who-is-paying-for-monsantos-crimes-we-are
I lived in a province in which the local oil and forest baron sprayed his forest with Roundup. And when the provincial medical officer warned about this, she was simply disposed of. And so far as I know, the spraying is still going on and, since the the province's oil baron and forest owner has never shown any interest in dealing with this, it will go on a lot more.
_____________________________________________________________
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/30/brazil-bolsonaro-regime-military-dictatorship
Bolsonaro is president of Mexico, a thorough fascist, and a man much admired by Donald Trump. And many, perhaps most, American presidents have loved the Boner's of this world. So much for the American love of democracy.
_______________________________________________________________
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/29/winston-churchill-policies-contributed-to-1943-bengal-famine-study
When I was fifteen or so, I read Winston Churchill's History of the English-Speaking Peoples. I was captivated by his beautiful sense of the English language.
Later, I would learn he was a vicious and murderous racist. And much of his 'History' was a glorification of racism.
_________________________________________________________________
Trump is not the only one who thinks that migrants are evil. Europe, in general, seems to support the idea of those fleeing murder, rape, torture being sent back to their homelands.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/27/rescued-migrants-hijack-merchant-ship-off-libya
_______________________________________________________________
https://www.thetelegram.com/opinion/columnists/gwynne-dyer-conquest-is-always-an-option-296184/
_____________________________________________________________
https://lfpress.com/opinion/columnists/dyer-ukraine-presidential-election-no-laughing-matter
_______________________________________________________________
https://www.thenation.com/article/retirement-crisis-insecurity-inequality/
I suspect that a study of Canada would show similar results. But it's not possible to do much about it. Let's get real.
The very wealthy refuse to pay income tax. And when you're very wealthy, that means a loss to the country of huge sums to billionaires. It's the same story we meet when we deal with public education. That has been run on the very cheap from the start.
We face tremendous social demands. But the world of greed isn't going to pay a cent. And that is going to lead to one hell of a crisis. In the U.S., it's made worse by absurd overspending on 'defence' - which really means for offence that benefits the rich - who won't pay for it.
_________________________________________________________________
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/30/huge-victory-our-oceans-trump-effort-open-arctic-oil-and-gas-drilling-ruled-illegal
________________________________________________________________
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/30/israeli-forces-kill-17-year-old-live-fire-40000-palestinians-mark-great-march-return
Some people are critical of Jews because they are racists. That was the case in Germany - and over much of the world in the 1940s. But today you don't need to be a racist to criticize Israel. Israel is now the racist state. And, for a great many Jews, Israel is not the society they cheered for in 1948.
________________________________________________________________
https://countercurrents.org/2019/03/30/imperialisms-threats-overwhelm-situation-venezuela-roundup-10/
___________________________________________________________
https://countercurrents.org/2019/03/30/trump-threatens-war-if-russia-protects-venezuela/
Our news media have seen fit not to deal with this. But it's possible. And it has implications I'd rather not think about.
_____________________________________________________________
https://countercurrents.org/2019/03/30/our-precious-land/
____________________________________________________________
https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2019/03/29/JWR-Cassandra-of-Government/
At first, I thought the Liberals could survive this. Now, I'm not sure It's handling of the matter has not been intelligent.
(The Tyee is almost all about Canada - and within that framework, it is excellent.)
________________________________________________________________
https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/russiagate-a-trump-boosting-triumph-of-diversion-and-inauthentic-opposition/
______________________________________________________________
Here's more news on Venezuela than our news media have been giving us.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/51343.htm
Unlike Trump, Putin is not one to push an impossible goal. So how come the Russians are taking a hard line?
_________________________________________________________________
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/51347.htm
________________________________________________________________
I really don't know what to think of this article - though I would certainly agree with parts of it - especially the collapse of Britain, and the role of Canada as a colony of the American empire. I would also disagree with some parts. In particular, I thought the idea of British desire for it was what caused the American civil war is just silly.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40585.htm
_____________________________________________________________
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/03/28/news/doug-ford-government-appoints-tory-climate-denier-board-overseeing-ontarios
What can I say, Doug Ford, premier of Ontario, is a lout who just loves looking into mirrors.
Here is a man who refuses to listen to most of the world's top scientists who say we're into a climate change crisis. Doug Ford's reaction has been to dismiss everything they say. He has, in fact, increased the threat of climate change, and put a man in charge of ignoring it - a man as ignorant as he is.
Doug Ford, who airily dismisses all the the world's scientists, is a man with barely more than a high school education (high school plus job training. That's it.) And he has no training whatever in science. Think hard....what does this tell us about Conservative voters in Ontario?
_____________________________________________________________
And here is just one sample of how our news media twist the news.
https://theantimedia.com/massive-protests-across-yemen/
________________________________________________________________
https://geopoliticsalert.com/us-weapons-syria-militants
This should not surprise us. We've known almost from the start (though our news media never told us) that the U.S. was supplying weapons and money to the people it commonly called 'terrorists'.
_______________________________________________________________
https://truthout.org/articles/lawyers-worldwide-urge-international-court-investigate-israeli-crimes/
These lawyers don't seem to be anti-semites. (If they are, then a lot of my friends who are devout Jews are also anti-semites.)
_______________________________________________________________
https://truthout.org/articles/trumps-2020-budget-rewards-the-wealthiest-individuals/
________________________________________________________________
https://truthout.org/articles/every-war-is-a-war-against-children/
So much for Trump's constant bragging about American soldiers as 'heroes'.
________________________________________________________________
The American empire will not last forever, of course. They've all died. They've been doing it for thousands of years. Commonly, like the British Empire, it can become a satellite of the new empire - whatever that might be. And it can happen quickly. Britain went from world power to American puppet in less than ten years. And Canada, in light of a collapsed Britain, gave up on the British Empire to become an American puppet too. Serving the King was all the rage in 1939. but that become a dead letter very shortly after the war. (That's why Trudeau very quickly supported the illegal behaviour of the U.S. in Venezuela. That's why Canada contributed troops to fight American wars in Korea and Afghanistan. That's why it has had scattered units protecting American interests - as it did with Haiti.)
Canada fought a war in South Africa for Britain - a war that had nothing to do with Canada, and which had no possible justification. That was the old story of being suckered in to fight wars for one's master. The call it 'patriotism'.
I would even argue that Canada had no reason to join World War One. That was Britain's war. It had nothing to do with us. Nor is true that Britain would have done the same for us. In fact, the U.S. threatened Canada with war in 1904 - and Britain absolutely refused to help Canada - even diplomatically. But then 1914 came - and it was all God Save the King.
But now the British Empire is gone. And what Trudeau and his like say is God Save the American president. Canadians died fighting wars for Britain, and now for the U.S. And Canadian business leaders now push Canadian governments to fight wars for the same reason as Canada fought in the boer war - the desire of business leaders (not to fight themselves - oh no) but to kiss up to American business so they can get a piece of the profits.
We have honoured none of the promises we made to the Canadian people in 1945. The Canadian Legion should have realized this a long time ago. But it didn't and it won't. That's because it is managed by governments and by its leaders to play up a false patriotism and ignore realities.
So it is in 2019 that the west is still plundering regions like Africa for business profit - all of which goes to billionaires who don't pay taxes. We are killing others and damaging ourselves to create profits for billionaires. And we are doing this in a world in which both sides have thousands of nuclear missiles.
This is not what Canadians fought and sacrificed and died for in 1939.
And -
Our business leaders seem to have no sense of human survival as they pursue profits with no interest in the consequences. Almost every war in history has been fought to make big money for the already rich. And the rich have never given the slightest sense that this is in any way a problem.
We now live in a world that can be destroyed within minutes by massive stocks of nuclear weapons. (Yes. We would use them. That's why we have them.) Add to that the fact that our very wealthy are ignoring climate change because dealing with it might hurt their profits. Thus a Donald Trump and a Doug Ford and a wimpy Trudeau are seriously prepared to end the life of this planet.
We have a ruling class interested only in its own greed, and with no sense of the future.
________________________________________________________________
So why and how aren't we hearing about what's happening? Putin has thrown down one hell of a challenge to the U.S. And Putin, unlike Trump, is not a man who acts rashly. And Trump, who almost always acts rashly, is amazingly quiet about Venezuela. (We get far, far more from him about the Mexican border.)
What is it Putin hopes to achieve? (He doesn't need Venezuela oil.) Why is China showing interest? Is this the first step of a wider plan to weaken the American hold on it's empire? (That seems a much more dangerous goal than a Putin would plan. The U.S. does that sort of thing all the time - as in Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and 80 or so other countries around the world. But that has never been Putin's style.) So what's the game plan? And why aren't our news media asking the obvious questions?
________________________________________________________________
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/30/who-is-paying-for-monsantos-crimes-we-are
I lived in a province in which the local oil and forest baron sprayed his forest with Roundup. And when the provincial medical officer warned about this, she was simply disposed of. And so far as I know, the spraying is still going on and, since the the province's oil baron and forest owner has never shown any interest in dealing with this, it will go on a lot more.
_____________________________________________________________
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/30/brazil-bolsonaro-regime-military-dictatorship
Bolsonaro is president of Mexico, a thorough fascist, and a man much admired by Donald Trump. And many, perhaps most, American presidents have loved the Boner's of this world. So much for the American love of democracy.
_______________________________________________________________
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/29/winston-churchill-policies-contributed-to-1943-bengal-famine-study
When I was fifteen or so, I read Winston Churchill's History of the English-Speaking Peoples. I was captivated by his beautiful sense of the English language.
Later, I would learn he was a vicious and murderous racist. And much of his 'History' was a glorification of racism.
_________________________________________________________________
Trump is not the only one who thinks that migrants are evil. Europe, in general, seems to support the idea of those fleeing murder, rape, torture being sent back to their homelands.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/27/rescued-migrants-hijack-merchant-ship-off-libya
_______________________________________________________________
https://www.thetelegram.com/opinion/columnists/gwynne-dyer-conquest-is-always-an-option-296184/
_____________________________________________________________
https://lfpress.com/opinion/columnists/dyer-ukraine-presidential-election-no-laughing-matter
_______________________________________________________________
https://www.thenation.com/article/retirement-crisis-insecurity-inequality/
I suspect that a study of Canada would show similar results. But it's not possible to do much about it. Let's get real.
The very wealthy refuse to pay income tax. And when you're very wealthy, that means a loss to the country of huge sums to billionaires. It's the same story we meet when we deal with public education. That has been run on the very cheap from the start.
We face tremendous social demands. But the world of greed isn't going to pay a cent. And that is going to lead to one hell of a crisis. In the U.S., it's made worse by absurd overspending on 'defence' - which really means for offence that benefits the rich - who won't pay for it.
_________________________________________________________________
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/30/huge-victory-our-oceans-trump-effort-open-arctic-oil-and-gas-drilling-ruled-illegal
________________________________________________________________
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/30/israeli-forces-kill-17-year-old-live-fire-40000-palestinians-mark-great-march-return
Some people are critical of Jews because they are racists. That was the case in Germany - and over much of the world in the 1940s. But today you don't need to be a racist to criticize Israel. Israel is now the racist state. And, for a great many Jews, Israel is not the society they cheered for in 1948.
________________________________________________________________
https://countercurrents.org/2019/03/30/imperialisms-threats-overwhelm-situation-venezuela-roundup-10/
___________________________________________________________
https://countercurrents.org/2019/03/30/trump-threatens-war-if-russia-protects-venezuela/
Our news media have seen fit not to deal with this. But it's possible. And it has implications I'd rather not think about.
_____________________________________________________________
https://countercurrents.org/2019/03/30/our-precious-land/
____________________________________________________________
https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2019/03/29/JWR-Cassandra-of-Government/
At first, I thought the Liberals could survive this. Now, I'm not sure It's handling of the matter has not been intelligent.
(The Tyee is almost all about Canada - and within that framework, it is excellent.)
________________________________________________________________
https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/03/29/russiagate-a-trump-boosting-triumph-of-diversion-and-inauthentic-opposition/
______________________________________________________________
Here's more news on Venezuela than our news media have been giving us.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/51343.htm
Unlike Trump, Putin is not one to push an impossible goal. So how come the Russians are taking a hard line?
_________________________________________________________________
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/51347.htm
________________________________________________________________
I really don't know what to think of this article - though I would certainly agree with parts of it - especially the collapse of Britain, and the role of Canada as a colony of the American empire. I would also disagree with some parts. In particular, I thought the idea of British desire for it was what caused the American civil war is just silly.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40585.htm
_____________________________________________________________
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/03/28/news/doug-ford-government-appoints-tory-climate-denier-board-overseeing-ontarios
What can I say, Doug Ford, premier of Ontario, is a lout who just loves looking into mirrors.
Here is a man who refuses to listen to most of the world's top scientists who say we're into a climate change crisis. Doug Ford's reaction has been to dismiss everything they say. He has, in fact, increased the threat of climate change, and put a man in charge of ignoring it - a man as ignorant as he is.
Doug Ford, who airily dismisses all the the world's scientists, is a man with barely more than a high school education (high school plus job training. That's it.) And he has no training whatever in science. Think hard....what does this tell us about Conservative voters in Ontario?
_____________________________________________________________
And here is just one sample of how our news media twist the news.
https://theantimedia.com/massive-protests-across-yemen/
________________________________________________________________
https://geopoliticsalert.com/us-weapons-syria-militants
This should not surprise us. We've known almost from the start (though our news media never told us) that the U.S. was supplying weapons and money to the people it commonly called 'terrorists'.
_______________________________________________________________
https://truthout.org/articles/lawyers-worldwide-urge-international-court-investigate-israeli-crimes/
These lawyers don't seem to be anti-semites. (If they are, then a lot of my friends who are devout Jews are also anti-semites.)
_______________________________________________________________
https://truthout.org/articles/trumps-2020-budget-rewards-the-wealthiest-individuals/
________________________________________________________________
https://truthout.org/articles/every-war-is-a-war-against-children/
So much for Trump's constant bragging about American soldiers as 'heroes'.
________________________________________________________________
The American empire will not last forever, of course. They've all died. They've been doing it for thousands of years. Commonly, like the British Empire, it can become a satellite of the new empire - whatever that might be. And it can happen quickly. Britain went from world power to American puppet in less than ten years. And Canada, in light of a collapsed Britain, gave up on the British Empire to become an American puppet too. Serving the King was all the rage in 1939. but that become a dead letter very shortly after the war. (That's why Trudeau very quickly supported the illegal behaviour of the U.S. in Venezuela. That's why Canada contributed troops to fight American wars in Korea and Afghanistan. That's why it has had scattered units protecting American interests - as it did with Haiti.)
Canada fought a war in South Africa for Britain - a war that had nothing to do with Canada, and which had no possible justification. That was the old story of being suckered in to fight wars for one's master. The call it 'patriotism'.
I would even argue that Canada had no reason to join World War One. That was Britain's war. It had nothing to do with us. Nor is true that Britain would have done the same for us. In fact, the U.S. threatened Canada with war in 1904 - and Britain absolutely refused to help Canada - even diplomatically. But then 1914 came - and it was all God Save the King.
But now the British Empire is gone. And what Trudeau and his like say is God Save the American president. Canadians died fighting wars for Britain, and now for the U.S. And Canadian business leaders now push Canadian governments to fight wars for the same reason as Canada fought in the boer war - the desire of business leaders (not to fight themselves - oh no) but to kiss up to American business so they can get a piece of the profits.
We have honoured none of the promises we made to the Canadian people in 1945. The Canadian Legion should have realized this a long time ago. But it didn't and it won't. That's because it is managed by governments and by its leaders to play up a false patriotism and ignore realities.
So it is in 2019 that the west is still plundering regions like Africa for business profit - all of which goes to billionaires who don't pay taxes. We are killing others and damaging ourselves to create profits for billionaires. And we are doing this in a world in which both sides have thousands of nuclear missiles.
This is not what Canadians fought and sacrificed and died for in 1939.
And -
Our business leaders seem to have no sense of human survival as they pursue profits with no interest in the consequences. Almost every war in history has been fought to make big money for the already rich. And the rich have never given the slightest sense that this is in any way a problem.
We now live in a world that can be destroyed within minutes by massive stocks of nuclear weapons. (Yes. We would use them. That's why we have them.) Add to that the fact that our very wealthy are ignoring climate change because dealing with it might hurt their profits. Thus a Donald Trump and a Doug Ford and a wimpy Trudeau are seriously prepared to end the life of this planet.
We have a ruling class interested only in its own greed, and with no sense of the future.
________________________________________________________________
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