20 February, 2021 — The Grayzone
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No comments on Reuters, BBC, and Bellingcat participated in covert UK Foreign Office-funded programs to “weaken Russia,” leaked docs reveal
Reuters, BBC, and Bellingcat participated in covert UK Foreign Office-funded programs to “weaken Russia,” leaked docs reveal
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Biden Launches Campaign to Silence Critics of Killer Vaccine
22 February, 2021 — Global Research
By Mike Whitney
Imagine if an ordinary working man went on a rampage and killed 929 people and maimed 316 others. The media would naturally call such a man a serial killer or a homicidal maniac. Now imagine if a big pharmaceutical company did the same thing by releasing a vaccine that killed and maimed a similar number people. Would the drug company be treated the same as the working guy? Would their product be denounced as a “killer vaccine” and shunned by the public, or would they be praised on the cable news channels, provided lavish funding by the government, granted full immunity from liability for personal injury, waved through the regulatory process, and had the red carpet rolled out for their spectacular nationwide “Product Launch” extravaganza?
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A note to readers about ‘social media’ and going Analogue
22 February 2021 — The New Dark Age
You may have noticed the lack of Twitter and Facebook links in articles published here. There are two reasons for this: Firstly, WordPress have made embedding Twitter cumbersome and time-consuming with their latest ‘improvement’. But more importantly, I’ve decided to boycott so-called social media (I gave up my Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts years ago), which means removing links, made all the easier by WordPress’ latest change to the way the editor works.
[C]an we consider that the digital world in general has now reached the point (perhaps long past the point) where it serves the oppressors far more than it serves us? Has our habit of evaluating the benefits of technology in strictly personal terms been trumped by its use by empire for economic, political, social and militarized rule? – David Perez
So I noticed the latest Off Guardian piece is entitled, ‘ Liberation by Unplugging? https://off-guardian.org/2021/02/22/liberation-by-unplugging/ so maybe the idea of going Analogue is spreading?
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Gangster Capitalism: UK Govt’s Costs
22 February 2021 — Good Law Project
Tomorrow, the High Court will hear our application for a cost capping order in our judicial review of Government’s decision to award huge PPE contracts to questionable counterparties.
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UK: The government’s latest “eviction ban” isn’t keeping our members safe
22 February 2021 — London Renters Union
In its announcement last week, the government said there’s now an “eviction ban” until March 31. In reality, they’ve already given the green light to landlords and bailiffs to evict tens of thousands of people. The old rules said that you could only be evicted if you were in 9+ months rent debt and that debt was from before the start of the pandemic. A new loophole the government has tried to keep quiet means that people who are in six months of rent arrears from any time can now be evicted.
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The US ‘Genocide’ Accusation Against China
22 February 2021 — Consortium News
The claim relies on data abuse and baseless claims by a far-right ideologue, Gareth Porter and Max Blumenthal report.
By Gareth Porterand Max Blumenthal
The Grayzone
Both President Joe Biden and his Secretary of State Anthony Blinken have endorsed former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s last-minute accusation of “genocide” against the Muslim Uyghur population in China’s Xinjiang province.But an investigation of published work by the researcher Pompeo relied on to level his genocide allegation reveals a pattern of data abuse and fraudulent assertions that substantially undermines the incendiary charge.
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Fight Like Malcolm X!
21 February 2021 — Internationalist 360°
Malcolm X was assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem on Feb. 21, 1965, through a plot by the FBI and New York Police Department. Today, we remember Malcolm as a militant community organizer, revolutionary internationalist, and fighter for Black liberation by any means necessary:
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Health Officials Make Crucial Error in Vaccine Recommendation
16 February 2021 — Mercola
Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola Fact Checked
Story at-a-glance
- Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., looked into whether he should still get a COVID-19 vaccine since he’d already had the infection, uncovering research that showed vaccination offered no benefit to those who have previously been infected
- In a high-profile report issued by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, 15 scientists stated that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine had “consistent high efficacy” of 92% or more among people with evidence of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection
- According to Massie, the CDC’s statement is wrong and there is no efficacy demonstrated in Pfizer’s or Moderna’s trials among participants with evidence of previous SARS-CoV-2 infections
- It took multiple calls to the CDC and more than a month before the agency finally corrected the error, but Massie believes the wording still misleadingly suggests vaccination is effective for those previously infected
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UK: Half a million renters need your help
19 February 2021 — Generation Rent
Thank you for taking action to end the Rent Debt Crisis.Your work is essential in our campaign to get private renters the support they need.
We are now moving onto the next stage of our campaign and we need you to take action again.
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Global Breaking News on GMOs and Pesticides 19 February 2021
19 February 2021 — Sustainable Pulse
Editors’ picks
UK Supermarket Co-op Backs Strong Regulation of Gene-Edited Crops
In response to a civil society appeal for UK supermarkets to back strong regulation of new gene-edited crops and animals, the Co-op has made a clear statement of its support. The #NotInMySupermarket campaign is a response to the current UK government consultation on removing regulations and labelling from plants and animals in the food chain […]
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Gangster Capitalism: Good Law Says ‘We’ve won’
19 February 2021 — Good Law Project
The High Court has ruled “The Secretary of State acted unlawfully by failing to comply with the Transparency Policy” and that “there is now no dispute that, in a substantial number of cases, the Secretary of State breached his legal obligation to publish Contract Award Notices within 30 days of the award of contracts.” We have won the judicial review we brought alongside Debbie Abrahams MP, Caroline Lucas MP, and Layla Moran MP.
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Drama on Downing Street
19 February 2021 — DesSmogUK
It’s the climate soap opera that’s gripped the nation in recent weeks, and it shows no signs of ending quite yet.By now, you’ll be familiar with the main plot points. Campaigners have long opposed plans for a new coal mine in Whitehaven, West Cumbria, which if approved would release nine million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year into the atmosphere for the next quarter of a century, just as the UK tries to radically reduce its emissions to net zero by 2050.
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How to Write About Iran: A Guide for Journalists, Analysts, and Policymakers
16 February 2021 — McSweeney’s
Whether you are working from your DC office or your home in LA or New York, here’s all you need to know to become an expert on Iran.
1. Always refer to Iran as the “Islamic Republic” and its government as “the regime” or, better yet, “the Mullahs.”
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US-Indian Strategic Construct of Western Indian Ocean Runs into Headwinds
14 February 2021 — Indian Punchline
India’s campaign to isolate Pakistan is not taken seriously by the international community. India’s Pakistan policy seems to have landed in a cul-de-sac.
The AMAN-21 naval exercise, the biennial event hosted by Pakistani Navy since 2007, in Karachi and the Arabian Sea from February 11-16 draws special attention. As many as 45 navies are reportedly participating, which makes AMAN probably the biggest event of its kind in the Indian Ocean or anywhere. Not only that, the participants include the US, UK, Turkey, Russia, China, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and some unnamed countries from East Africa.
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US Sanctions, Crisis in EU-Russia Relations: Does Russia Hold the Key to German Sovereignty?
17 February, 2021 — Asia Times
A more sovereign Germany closer to Russia and China may be the straw that breaks the US hegemon’s back
By Pepe Escobar
Last week we traced the necessary historical and geopolitical steps to understand Why Russia is driving the West crazy.And then, last Friday, right before the start of the Year of the Metal Ox, came the bombshell, delivered with customary aplomb by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
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Why Politicians and Doctors Keep Ignoring the Medical Research on Vitamin D and Covid
18 February 2021 — Jonathan Cook
It is probably not a good idea to write while in the grip of anger. But I am struggling to suppress my emotions about a wasted year, during which politicians and many doctors have ignored a growing body of evidence suggesting that Vitamin D can play a critically important role in the prevention and treatment of Covid-19.
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Sometimes Marx’s Capital Is a Pillow, Sometimes It Obliges Us to Deepen Our Struggles: The Seventh Newsletter (2021)
18 February 2021 — Tricontinental
Dear friends,
Greetings from the desk of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research.
In 1911, a young Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969) arrived in France, which had colonised his homeland of Vietnam. Though he had been raised with a patriotic spirit committed to anti-colonialism, Ho Chi Minh’s temperament did not allow him to retreat into a backward-looking romanticism. He understood that the people of Vietnam needed to draw from their own history and traditions as well as from the democratic currents set loose by the revolutionary movements around the world. In France, he became involved in the socialist movement, which taught him about working-class struggles in Europe, although the French socialists could not bring themselves to break with the colonial policies of their country. This frustrated Ho Chi Minh. When the socialist Jean Longuet told him to read Karl Marx’s Capital, Ho Chi Minh found it hard going and later said that he mainly used it as a pillow.
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All the warfare of the future’: Drones, new technology and the Integrated Review
18 February 2021 — Drone Wars
At the beginning of March, the government will publish its long-awaited Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, known (thankfully) as ‘The Integrated Review’. It’s purpose is to “define the Government’s ambition for the UK’s role in the world and the long-term strategic aims for our national security and foreign policy.”
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Review: Scott Anderson, Four CIA spies at the dawn of the Cold War — a tragedy in three acts (2021)
17 February 2021 — Eric Walberg
Written by Eric Walberg Эрик Вальберг/ Уолберг إيريك والبرغ
These portraits are a riveting expose of the Cold War as it took shape even as peace was achieved in 1945. As I read, I marveled at the herculean efforts of millions of talented, gung-ho players, devoting themselves and untold trillions of dollars, all to ‘defeat communism’. But I kept asking myself: isn’t that what Hitler was trying to do? Wasn’t it the Soviet army that turned the tide at Stalingrad, liberated Berlin, not to mention all of eastern Europe and Russia itself? Was there to be no place for communism in the post-WWII order?
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The WEF Agenda Behind Modi Farm Reform
17 February 2021 — Counter Currents
In September 2021 the UN will hold a Food Systems Summit. The aim will be to reshape world agriculture and food production in the context of the Malthusian UN Agenda 2030 “sustainable agriculture” goals. The recent radical farm laws from the government of Narenda Modi in India are part of the same global agenda, and it’s all not good.
The New Dark Age 