Stuart Jeanne Bramhall's Blog: The Most Revolutionary Act , page 1349

Portrait of a Working Class Revolutionary

 

Revolution

by Russell Brand

Ballantine Books (2014)

Book Review

Russell Brand introduces his new book Revolution as an answer to a question Jeremy Paxman asked him in the interview that went viral on YouTube. Brand maintained that voting was a waste of time – that there needed to be a revolution. Paxman’s response was “And how, may I ask, is this revolution going to come about?”

This book never really answers Paxman’s question. In fact, it’s really more a memoir than a political treatise. Like his two earlier books (his 2009 My Book Wook and 2010 Booky Wook 2 ), Revolution mainly concerns Brand’s struggle with addiction. In this third book, however, he delineates a clear link between this struggle and his radicalization.

That being said, his new book is a funny, courageous, brutally honest account of the conscious personal changes that have kept him sober for the last eleven years.

Brand’s Personal Demons

Brand describes quite poignantly the demons that plague many working class people – the constant inner voices telling us we are worthless losers and will never amount to anything. This loser mentality, which starts in the working class home, is brutally reinforced in the public school system, through bullying and emotional abuse by teachers. It’s further compounded by TV advertising hammering on our worst insecurities and promising relief through the continuous purchase of products.

Brand experienced it as a constant anxiety in the pit of his stomach, which he could only relieve with drugs and alcohol, compulsive sex and eventually the adulation of an adoring audience. To overcome these addictions, he had to systematically reprogram himself to see how TV advertising was messing with his mind. A life centered around fulfilling our selfish needs is totally empty and sterile. None of us are the center of the universe. Both spiritually and scientifically (according to quantum physics), each of us in only a small part of a much larger whole.

For Brand a new-found belief in God and a recognition of the pivotal role a deeply corrupt capitalist system plays in all human misery were pivotal in this transformation.

Although I take strong exception to the way 12 step programs ram God down the throats of recovering addicts, I totally agree with Brand’s premise that activists must move out of their selfish individualism to have any hope of making successful revolution. True revolution must be aimed at the collective good. If people do it for their own selfish needs, they only end up replacing the old elite with a new one, as happened in the Soviet Union.

Stateless Participatory Democracy

What Brand favors is a political-economic system run on the lines of anarchist participatory democracy. He would have ordinary people running their own neighborhoods, communities, regions and workplaces through popular assemblies and consensus decision making. He gives the example of the popular assemblies that play a direct role in local governance in Porto Alegre Brazil.

The historical revolution he most admires is the Spanish Civil War, though this would seem to contradict his stance on strict nonviolence. Brand is inspired by the way workers pushed aside the capitalist stooges who were running the cities, factories and businesses and started running everything themselves. Unfortunately he seems to overlook the historical reality that these capitalists didn’t step aside voluntarily – that this was accomplished by force.

A Great Read

Despite being a little light on the pragmatics of mass organizing, I found Revolution a great read. Brand is incredibly witty, as well as a classic magpie who remembers everything he reads. His book attempt attempts to synthesize the views of a wide range of political thinkers and activists, though he clearly favors architect and systems theorist Buckminster Fuller, anarchist and Occupy activist David Graeber and political commentator and anarcho-syndicalist Noam Chomsky.

Also posted at Veterans Today

Petrodollar Panic? China Signs Currency Swap Deal With Qatar and Canada:

stuartbramhall:

 

 

Meanwhile China keeps chipping away at the US dollar.

Originally posted on Counter Information:

By Tyler Durden

November 13, 2014 “ICH” – “Zero Hedge“- The march of global de-dollarization continues. In the last few days, China has signed direct currency agreements with Canada becoming North America’s first offshore RMB hub,which CBC reports analysts suggest “could double maybe even triple the level of Canadian trade between Canada and China,” impacting the need for Dollars. But that is not the week’s biggest Petrodollar precariousness news, as The Examiner reports, a new chink in the petrodollar system was forged as China signed an agreement with Qatar to begin direct currency swaps between the two nations using the Yuan, and establishing the foundation for new direct trade with the OPEC nation in the very heart of the petrodollar system. As Simon Black warns, “It’s happening… with increasing speed and frequency.”

As CBC reports,

Authorized by China’s central bank, the deal will allow direct…

View original 962 more words

Drone Nation

Part 5 of Counter-intelligence: Shining a Light on Black Operations

The final episode of Counter-intelligence is dedicated to drone technology and Barack Obama’s virtual repeal of the Fifth Amendment. The Fifth Amendment of the Bill of Rights guarantees that “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.” Obama’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) allows the government to detain individuals indefinitely without charge, trial or conviction. Obama has also granted himself the authority, via executive order, to arbitrarily execute civilians (including American citizens) without due process, evidence or accountability to Congress or the courts. Both overturn hundreds of years of common law preventing the rich and powerful from using government to attack their personal enemies.

Filmmaker Scott Noble reminds us that Obama deliberately leaked details of his weekly White House “kill list” meetings. Individuals are added to the kill lists, which are maintained by the CIA and a covert unit of the U.S. military called the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC)*, following “determinations” that secret criteria are satisfied. Noble maintains the primary purpose of the leaks of the leak was to terrorize Americans into submission.

Death by Drone

Thus far, the only presidential assassinations we know of have been carried out by drones. “Drone Nation” highlights the cold impersonality of a technology that’s conveniently similar to video games teenager males are raised on. Thus it comes as no surprise that drone victims are dehumanized (they’re called “bug splats”) in the eyes of young drone operators who sit behind consoles thousands of miles away.

Nor that drone strikes typically target random groups of people, such as wedding parties. Drone technology has no capability of distinguishing between civilians and combatants. 98.5% of all the people killed by CIA drones are civilians – only 1.5% are so-called “high value targets.”

Insect-sized Drones

Even more frightening are the millions of dollars the Pentagon is shelling out for killer robot research, including hummingbird and insect sized drones that require no human operator.

By 2020 tens of thousands of drones will be flying in US skies.

The series ends with a moving tribute to all the whistleblowers who made the documentary Counter-intelligence possible.

*JSOC is covered in Part 1 of Counter-intelligence.

 

Counter-intelligence: Shining a Light on Black Operations
Scott Noble

Metanoia Films (2013)

 

photo credit: codepinkphoenix via photopin cc

 

Also posted at  Veterans Today

Obama’s Setback in Beijing

 

Did China Just Scupper the TPPA?

The Transpacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) is a secret free trade treaty Obama is negotiating with eleven other Asian Pacific countries (US, New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Japan, Chile, Peru, Canada, Mexico, Vietnam, Singapore and Brunei). The President had hoped to seal the deal at the recent Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing. Instead all 21 Pacific Rim countries have agreed to develop a roadmap for a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) treaty. The FTAAP would include China and Russia, whereas the TPPA excludes them.

China Deliberately Excluded

The TPPA is viewed as a centerpiece of Obama’s “strategic rebalancing” towards Asia. Also known as the “Asian pivot,” Obama’s intention is to counter China’s growing economic strength by isolating them economically and militarily.

The US has required the twelve countries participating in TPPA negotiations to sign a secrecy clause. Only corporations (i.e. the 600 corporations that helped write it) are allowed to see the text of the treaty. Not even Congress is permitted access. If Wikileaks hadn’t leaked large sections of the draft agreement, we wouldn’t even know it existed.

Is TPPA Really a Trade Treaty?

Scheduled to coincide with the APEC summit, November 8 was an International Day of Action against the TPPA, with major protests in New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia and the US. From the sections which have been leaked, it seems the TPPA isn’t a trade treaty at all. It’s really an investor protection treaty, granting corporations the right to sue countries for laws that potentially hurt their ability to make a profit. These lawsuits, involving hundreds of millions of dollars, would be heard by secret tribunals run by corporate lawyers. There would be no right of appeal.

In other words, the intent of the TPPA is to allow corporations to overturn the environmental, labor and healthy and safety laws and regulations of member countries. There’s even a special “transparency” clause inserted by the pharmaceutical industry that would allow them to challenge formularies (in the US this would include Medicaid and the VA) that promote cheaper generic medications.

If finalized, the TPPA would also allow oil and gas companies to overturn fracking bans, Monsanto to overturn GMO labeling laws, investment banks to overturn banking regulations and the telecommunications industry to overturn Net Neutrality laws.

Why the Secrecy?

It’s pretty obvious why Obama is trying to negotiate the TPPA in secret. Prior investor protection treaties (e.g. the Free Trade of the Americas Agreement) have gone down in flames thanks to massive public lashback, both in the US and in treaty partner countries.

Congress isn’t too happy, either, about being denied access to the draft TPPA treaty. In November 2013 Congress voted down Obama’s request for “fast track” authority on the TPPA. Fast track, otherwise known as Trade Promotion Authority, would require Congress to accept the final TPPA deal or reject it. No debate would be allowed on specific provisions.

There are rumors Obama plans to reintroduce TPPA fast track authority before Christmas, hoping for a better outcome with a new, pro-business Republican congress.

The POTUS also had hopes of ramming through an agreement on the TPPA treaty in Beijing, at a side meeting in the US embassy. It appears he did try and failed, as Pepe Escobar describes in a recent RT article Lame Duck Out of the Silk Trade Caravan.

The Effect on Australia and New Zealand

A trade deal that excludes China, their major trading partner, makes absolutely no sense for Australia and New Zealand. Kiwi and Aussie environmental and labor activists are also deeply concerned about signing an international agreement that allows multinational corporations to sue their governments in a secret corporate tribunal. They’ve worked damned hard to win laws and regulations guaranteeing minimal environmental, labor and health safety standards. If the TPPA goes through, these could all be wiped out with the stroke of a pen.

China Aims to Suppress US Influence in Asia

In an interview with Chinese media, Obama denies he was trying to isolate China by pressuring Asian Pacific countries to sign a secret trade deal that excludes them. Yet it’s pretty obvious to all concerned that’s exactly what he’s trying to do.

It’s also pretty clear that Chinese president Xi Jinping outmaneuvered him. In addition to getting all 21 APEC nations to sign onto an FTAAP feasibility study, China signed other trade deals geared towards reducing US dominance in the region.

On Monday the Chinese and Malaysian central banks signed a deal to establish a yuan clearing bank (to facilitate energy and other trade deals in local currencies rather than US dollars).

Russia and China signed a  similar deal to conduct oil trades in rubles and yuan, rather than US dollars. According to Russian president Vladimir Putin, the new agreement will significantly reduce US influence over world energy markets.

Back in October,

Back in October, China launched the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank a rival to the US-dominated World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

 

photo credit: rawEarth via photopin cc

Also published in Veterans Today

The Art and Science of State Terrorism

Part 4 of Counter-intelligence: Shining a Light on Black Operations

“Necrophilous” is Part 4 of a five part documentary by Scott Noble called Counter-Intelligence: Shining a Light on Black Operations.

In Part 4, filmmaker Scott Noble examines the sadistic fixation of the National Security State with death, pain and permanent injury of individuals and groups whose democratic yearnings conflict with the financial interests of US corporations. He likens this fixation to the psychopathology that motivates serial killers.

Necophilous is defined as having an abnormal fascination with death and the dead. Part 4 begins by examining the decision, in 1945, to drop two atomic bombs on Japan.

A nuclear bomb deliberately targets civilians, a war crime under the Geneva Convention. Truman’s claim that nuking Japan spared GIs the bloodshed of a land invasions turns out to be completely bogus.

He already knew the Japanese were on the verge of surrendering. In fact Secretary of War Henry Stimson was afraid the Japanese would surrender before the US got the chance to deploy atomic weapons – which were mainly intended to terrorize the Soviet Union.

The School of the Americas

Exhibit two is the School of the Americas (SOA), founded in 1946 at Fort Benning Georgia. More than 60,000 soldiers and police from US client states have trained in counter-insurgency techniques (aka state terrorism) at SOA. The use of deaths squads who disappear and assassinate pesky intellectuals, educators, labor leaders and human rights advocates figures prominently in the SOA curriculum.

The CIA-installed Guatemalan dictatorship first used it in the 1950s. After the CIA itself used it during Operation Phoenix in Vietnam, it would be replicated by US-backed regimes of terror throughout Latin America. The same “men in black” reappeared in Bush’s campaign to terrorize Afghans and Iraqis who resisted US occupation.

Aided by Kubark, the official CIA torture manual, the instructors at SOA are also the world’s leading experts in torture. The only purpose of torture is to induce fear and compliance in a hostile population. Despite its role in inducing false confessions, it never produces meaningful intelligence. This is confirmed by decades of research.

Total War and the War on Terror

A final form of American state terrorism is “Total War,” in which civilians are deliberately targeted for extermination.

US dedication to Total War predates the Geneva Convention that declared it a war crime. It dates back to the near total extermination of the Native Americans, followed by the mass slaughter of the Philippine population during US occupation (1898-1946), Vietnamese civilians during the Vietnam War, Clinton’s deliberate bombing of essential Iraqi infrastructure in 1991 and the use of white phosphorus and depleted uranium against civilians during the second invasion of Iraq in 2003.

In fact the War on Terror is really a War OF Terror, aimed at expanding the US empire to include seven Middle East and North African (MENA) countries: Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Lebanon and Iran.*

As Noble ably documents, plans for the American conquest of the above seven countries first crystallized in 1979 under Carter’s National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski. A fundamental aspect of this campaign has been covert US support for Islamic fundamentalism – the self-same “terrorists” we are fighting in the so-called War on Terror – in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Palestine, Afghanistan, Syria and elsewhere.

“Necrophilous” concludes by examining evidence that 9-11 was most likely an engineered false flag operation to justify the decades-long war that would be required to establish a permanent military presence in the Middle East and North Africa. The military build-up for the invasion of Afghanistan began months before the so-called “attack” on the Twin Towers.

*Retired General Wesley Clark first revealed the existence of this campaign to conquer the Middle East and North Africa during a Democracy Now interview in 2007

photo credit: Kurt and Sybilla via photopin cc

Counter-intelligence: Shining a Light on Black Operations
Scott Noble

Metanoia Films (2013)

Also posted on Veterans Today

The Petrodollar Died. So what happens next?

stuartbramhall:

 

 

An informative article about the history of the petrodollar and why it has passed its “use by” date.

Originally posted on Video Rebel's Blog:

The Petrodollar just died. Zero Hedge ran an obituary notice for the Petrodollar last week.

Reuters reports  energy-exporting countries are set to pull their “Petrodollars” out of world markets this year. This shift is likely to cause global market liquidity to fall: “this year the oil producers will effectively import capital amounting to $7.6 billion. By comparison, they exported $60 billion in 2013 and $248 billion in 2012. This is according to BNP Paribas calculations. Petrodollar recycling peaked at $511 billion in 2006.”

The Petrodollar began with the Arab oil embargo during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. Henry Kissinger devised a plan that allowed the US to finance foreign wars and to force colonized nations to pay for their own occupation. The US went off the Gold Exchange standard when President Nixon said on Sunday August 15, 1971 that the dollar would no longer be converted to gold on demand by foreign…

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The History and Purpose of False Flag Operations

Part 3 of Counter-Intelligence: Shining a Light on Black Operations

“The Strategy of Tension” is Part 3 of a five part documentary by Scott Noble called Counter-intelligence: Shining a Light on Black Operations. In it, filmmaker Scott Noble offers a textbook examination of the use of “false flag operations” to manipulate public opinion and our elected representatives.

While “white” propaganda is openly acknowledged by the country that disseminates it (e.g. Voice of America), with “black” propaganda the state sponsor is hidden. A false flag operation is an extreme form of black propaganda (usually involving murder) which is falsely blamed on an enemy.

The CIA has a long history of planting bombs and creating mayhem to achieve specific political objectives. In 1953, CIA operatives posed as communists to plant bombs and threaten Iranians opposed to democratically elected people who didn’t support Mohammad Mossadegh. The instability this created laid the groundwork for a military coup that removed Mossadegh from power and replaced him with the fascist US-friendly despot Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

In a 2002 false flag operation, members of the opposition shot and killed their own protestors and blamed it on the Venezuelan military. They then used this atrocity to justify the CIA-sponsored coup against Chavez. This false flag was exposed when it came out that a video condemning the event was filmed before it actually occurred.

Operation Gladio

Most of Part 3 concerns Operation Gladio, an extensive network coordinated by the CIA, MI6 (British intelligence) and NATO, which orchestrated numerous false flag bombings, kidnappings and mass shootings throughout Europe between 1945 and the early nineties. By blaming the bombings and other terrorist acts on leftists and communists, the mission of Gladio was to discredit left leaning parties and to install repressive governments that were more friendly to US interests.

In Italy, Gladio was linked to the Masonic P2 (Propaganda Duo) Lodge, the mafia and Italian bankers, industrialists and fascists. In 1978, Gladio operatives kidnapped Italian prime minister Aldo Moro and murdered him. This was just after he went against Henry Kissinger’s warning not to incorporate the Italian communist party into his coalition government.

In Belgium, Gladio operatives pursued a strategy of storming supermarkets and mowing down shoppers with machine guns. By posing as leftists, they hoped to generate support for a right wing government that would agree to house American nuclear missiles on Belgian soil.

A Common Pretext for War

False flag events are also a common strategy for instigating war. In 1931, the Japanese blew up their own railroad and blamed it on Manchurian dissidents to justify the invasion of Manchuria. Eight years later, Hitler staged a false flag attack on a Polish radio station to justify the invasion of Poland.

Some false flag events are totally fictitious – the enemy is merely accused of an atrocity which hasn’t actually occurred. The best example is the so-called Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964, in which the Johnson administration accused the North Vietnamese of torpedoing the USS Maddox. Johnson used this non-event to justify a full scale land invasion of Vietnam.

That’s Just a Conspiracy Theory

Whistleblowers, researchers, historians and journalists who expose false flag events are commonly accused of indulging in conspiracy theories. The implication is that only people who are mentally unbalanced or grossly misinformed have any interest in exposing historical events that have been purged from the public record. According to Noble, this is a remarkably effective tactic for suppressing public discussion of government misconduct.

Counter-intelligence: Shining a Light on Black Operations

Scott Noble

Metanoia Films (2013)

photo credit: ¡Que comunismo! via photopin cc

Also posted at Veterans Today

New Zealand Kicks Off Global Protest Against TPPA

Thousands marched in 17 New Zealand cities yesterday, with nearly 200 taking over the streets in New Plymouth (pop 55,000). The Transpacific Partnership Agreement is another “free” trade agreement like NAFTA and GATT (the treaty that formed the World Trade Organization).

Only this trade deal is being negotiated in total secret. Obama has forced the leaders of 11 other countries to keep the TPPA negotiations secret until it’s signed. Neither Congress nor any members of parliament have seen the text.

What we do know about the TPPA is that it gives immense power to global corporations. If the text is released before the treaty is signed, it will face the same massive public opposition that scuppered the Free Trade of the America Agreement (FTAA). It’s only because Wikileaks has leaked portions of the TPPA that we know anything about it.

Here in New Zealand, we are mainly concerned about provisions in the TPPA allowing private corporations to sue governments if their environmental, labor or health and safety laws interfere with their ability to make a profit. Kiwi activists have worked hard to win regulations guaranteeing minimal environmental, labor and health safety standards. If our prime minister signs the TPPA, some secret corporate tribunal in Geneva could dismantle all these laws.

The 12 countries negotiating the TPPA are the US, New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Japan, Chile, Peru, Canada, Mexico, Vietnam, Singapore and Brunei.

You can read about our New Plymouth protest (and watch a video clip) at the Taranaki Daily News site.

Activists in North America will be demonstrating against the TPPA (or TPP as they call it) the entire week.

Protests will be happening in California, Florida, Oregon, Washington DC, Colorado, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. To join in – and learn what else you can do (especially if you live in other states) – go to Stop Fast Track Week of Action

 

Obama Gives Republicans (and Israel) the Finger

 “The F***s Up Everything”

There’s an article on the Fox News site this morning entitled “Source Says Reported Letter from Obama to Ayatollah F***s Up Everything.”

It quotes a pre-election article from the Wall Street Journal that Obama secretly wrote Ayatollah Khameni in mid-October stressing that any cooperation on dealing with the Islamic State, or ISIS, was tied to Iran striking a deal over its nuclear program. The U.S., Iran and other negotiators are facing a Nov. 24 deadline for such a deal.

The congressional source told Fox News that the letter would upset the inroads they’ve tried to make with “the Sunni league,” noting that the president should have informed Congress of this back-channel if it was in fact going on.

“This f***s up everything,” the source said.

Just to clarify “the Sunni league” refers to the despotic dictatorships in Saudi Arabia and Qatar that stone people for blasphemy and behead even more people than ISIS. And which have been the primary funders and arms suppliers for ISIS and the jihadist mercenaries attempting to overthrow Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina issued a joint statement Thursday night saying it was “outrageous that, while the cries of moderate Syrian forces for greater U.S. assistance fall on deaf ears in the White House, President Obama is apparently urging Ayatollah Khamenei to join the fight against ISIS.”

The move will also anger AIPAC, the powerful pro-Israeli lobby group. Israel seems really keen on provoking an all-out war between the US and Iran.

It’s gratifying to see the President show some backbone. The move, in my view, is long overdue.

Read more here:  Reportedly letter fs up everything

Photo credit: Wikimedia commons

Also posted at Veterans Today

The CIA Role in Narcotics Trafficking

 

Part 2 of Counter-intelligence: Shining a Light on Black Operations

“Deep state” is Part 2 of a five part documentary by Scott Noble called Counter-Intelligence: Shining a Light on Black Operations. Historian and former diplomat Peter Dale Scott coined the term Deep State to describe the shadow government that operates outside our so-called democratic institutions to service the needs of America’s wealthy elite.

This episode focuses on close historical links between the Mafia and CIA and the role of narcotics trafficking in all major CIA covert operations. CIA drug trafficking serves two main purposes. In addition to providing off the books (not reportable to Congress) income for clandestine operations, it’s also a source of ready-made criminal networks. The latter are valuable as a conduits for weapons delivery to CIA mercenaries and as lethal enforcers of corporate interests against labor and human rights activists.

Scott, who is interviewed at length, stresses the instrumental role of the CIA in ALL global narcotics trafficking. The converse is also true. Citing the French Connection (centered in Marseilles) and the Golden Triangle (in Southeast Asia) as prime examples, he makes the case that all major narcotics hubs collapse following CIA withdrawal from the region.

“Deep State” also shines a light on current drug operations in Afghanistan and Columbia. At present Afghanistan is the world’s leading heroin producer,  a direct result of CIA involvement in the region. Colombia, in turn is the world’s largest purveyor of cocaine, thanks to the CIA decision to use Colombia to “block the spread” of communism from Cuba to the rest of Latin America.

According to filmmaker Scott Noble,  all major Wall Street banks have engaged in laundering profits from illicit narcotics. Illegal drugs are America’s third biggest commodity, with the wealthy elite siphoning off the vast majority of drug profits. They also rake in immense profits from the prison industrial complex, a growth industry that owes its existence to the so-called War on Drugs. Wells Fargo and other Wall Street banks are major investors in the prison privatization industry.

Counter-intelligence: Shining a Light on Black Operations
Scott Noble

Metanoia Films (2013)

photo credit: jimforest via photopin cc

Also posted at Veterans Today