Crisis, What Crisis? Hypocrisy and Public Health in the UK

17 November 2020 — Dissident Voice

by Colin Todhunter and Rosemary Mason

On 12 March 2020, British PM Boris Johnson, referring to COVID-19, informed the public:

We’ve all got to be clear; this is the worst public health crisis for a generation.

Since that time, we have seen lockdowns, an ongoing government-backed fear campaign, fundamental rights being stripped away, dissent censored, inflated COVID-19 death numbers and the use of a flawed PCR test to label perfectly healthy individuals as COVID-19 ‘cases’ in order to fit the narrative of a ‘second wave’.

But, just for a moment, consider an alternative scenario.

Continue reading

ASSA 2021 – part one: the mainstream dilemma

7 January 2021 — Michael Roberts Blog

by michael roberts

The annual conference of the American Economic Association (ASSA 2021) was unusual this year, for obvious reasons.  Instead of 13,000 academic and professional economists descending on an American city to present and discuss hundreds of submitted papers over a few days, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, ASSA 2021 was virtual.  Despite that, there were a host of papers presented, along with plenaries of the great and good in mainstream economics and economic policy.

Continue reading

We Are Living in an Emergency That Requires Urgent Action (a note written with Noam Chomsky): The First Newsletter (2021)

7 January 2021 — Tricontinental

Dear friends,

Greetings from the desk of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research.

The first newsletter of the new year is written in collaboration with our friend, the great linguist and prophetic voice, Noam Chomsky. What follows is a statement by Noam and me.

Xiang Wang China Extinction 2020 1Xiang Wang (China), Extinction, 2020

Continue reading

Assange saga: Real journalism is criminally insane

7 January 2021 — Asia Times

Ultimate aim of the post-truth Inquisition of whistleblower Julian Assange is his termination inside America’s gulag penal system

A mural of Australia’s Julian Assange is seen in Melbourne on January 5 after a magistrate in London ruled that the WikiLeaks founder should not be extradited to the US to face espionage charges for publishing hundreds of thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents in 2010. Photo: AFP / William West

Synchronicity is definitely fond of mirror wonder-walls.

The Julian Assange saga seemed to have entered a new chapter as he was, in theory, on his way to – conditional – freedom this past Monday, only one day after the first anniversary of the event that started the Raging Twenties: the assassination of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani.

Continue reading

Julian Assange News Links 5-7 January 2021

7 January 2021 • 15:40 — The New Dark Age

There may be some duplication due to cross-posting and may be updated throughout the day, so please check back

The US and UK may not will Assange’s death, but everything they are doing makes it more likely
https://dissidentvoice.org/2021/01/the-us-and-uk-may-not-will-assanges-death-but-everything-they-are-doing-makes-it-more-likely/

Assange saga: Real journalism is criminally insane

Proxy Jailor: Denying Assange Bail
https://dissidentvoice.org/2021/01/proxy-jailor-denying-assange-bail/

Continue reading

Revealed: UK sets up media influencing project in Venezuela amid secretive £750,000 ‘democracy promotion’ programme

6 January 2021 – Declassified UK

By Matt Kennard and John McEvoy

The UK government has established a journalism project to ‘influence’ Venezuela’s ‘media agenda’ while a Foreign Office-funded foundation is spending £750,000 on a secretive ‘democracy-promotion’ programme in the country, as Britain appears to deepen efforts to remove the Maduro government. Continue reading

American right-wing funders back GB News ready for launch

7 January 2021 — True Publica

American right-wing funders back GB News ready for launch

By TruePublica: Benjamin Ward, the Deputy Director for Europe and Central Asia Division at Human Rights Watch recently and very publicly accused Boris Johnson of systematically dismantling the democratic fabric of Britain. The illegal suspension of parliament was cited of course, but so was the gaming of appointments to parliamentary committees that scrutinise government policies. Ward also cites the dramatic increases in executive powers, the use of dictatorial decrees and hugely damaging undermining of the country’s independent legal system.

Continue reading

It Wasn’t 2020, It Was The Ruling Class Trying to Kill You

6 January 2021 — Hood Communist

Capitalism during COVID-19: colonizer/founding father Ben Franklin on the 100 dollar bill wearing a mask

By Ready for Revolution

Reflections on COVID-19, capitalism, empire, and the worst year ever from the Hood Communist editorial staff.

They Are Letting Us Die

The sick reality underlying the present situation of poor, working-class, African, and colonized people around the world is that the people who currently have the most power to address our circumstances also happen to be the least interested in our long term survival.  A decision was made in the spring that the interests of capital should supersede all consideration during the COVID-19 pandemic – that the machine should not be allowed to stop. That the trains were to run, the planes were to fly, the shelves were to be stocked, and the people were to work.

Continue reading

PSL Statement: Trump Incites Fascist Insurrection Against Congress — What Comes Next?

7 January 2021 — PSL

Photo: Trump speaking to the Jan. 6 rally outside the White House ahead of the fascist mob’s takeover of the Capitol building

Today, a fascist mob — called to action by Donald Trump and acting in obvious collusion with elements of the Capitol Police, the Department of Defense, and possibly other armed forces — stormed the U.S. Capitol building and dispersed Congress. Trump himself spoke at today’s main protest rally outside the White House as part of his campaign to desperately hang on to power. The extreme right wing that assaulted the Capitol today is united above all by the figure of Trump. Shortly before the mob marched on the Capitol he declared, “You’ll never take back the country with weakness. You have to show strength.” Trump more than anything else wants to avoid criminal prosecution once out of office, and retain his political control of the Republican Party.

Continue reading