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US and Rogue Allies Wage Naked Aggression on Humanity
by Stephen Lendman
No nation in world history threatens humanity’s survival more than America - a rogue state masquerading as a democracy, controlled by powerful monied interests, profiting hugely from endless wars of aggression, all based on Big Lies.
America hasn’t waged a legal war since WW II. Today it manufactures fear to enlist public support for what demands condemnation and rejection - Paris and San Bernardino incidents the latest examples, straightaway called terrorist acts, true or false. Once more information is known to understand what happened and why, the damage is done. People are convinced to sacrifice freedom for alleged security not gotten - as well as support (pre-planned) wars on the phony pretext of fighting terrorism.
Western Media Cheer Venezuelan Electoral Results
by Stephen Lendman
Bolivarian social justice suffered a major body blow in Sunday’s legislative elections. How it affects Chavismo going forward remains to be seen.
Distinguished Latin American expert James Petras gave disappointed Chavistas hope, saying “(P)aralysis, and even retreat and electoral defeats of the center-left regimes, do not mean the return to the neo-liberal 1990’s, a period of privatizations, pillage and plunder, which had plunged millions into poverty, unemployment and marginality.”“(C)ollective memory” is hard-wired. “Any attempt by the newly elected officials to ‘unmake and reverse’ the social advances of the past decade will be met with (1) militant resistance, if not open class warfare; (2) institutional and political constraints; (3) and low commodity prices drastically limiting export revenues.”
US Donors Generously Support Illegal Israeli Settlement Construction
by Stephen Lendman
Israeli settlements were built on stolen Palestinian land, its residents ethnically cleansed for exclusive Jewish development.
They exist and expand illegally, greatly aided by private US donors, besides billions of dollars of military and other aid Washington provides annually.
One rogue state aids another, both guilty of horrendous high crimes against peace. A Haaretz investigation learned private US sources donated over $220 million to settlement construction from 2009 - 2013 alone - “using a network of (about 50) tax-exempt” US-based NGOs working with Israeli ones. By allowing this to continue, Washington is complicit in supporting illegal settlement construction - while duplicitously arguing against it, notably by Obama and John Kerry, their public statements and policies entirely different, both officials notorious serial liars, saying one thing, doing another.
Final Venezuelan Electoral Results
by Stephen Lendman
Final results for Venezuela’s 167-seat National Assembly weren’t known until two days after the polls closed.
On Tuesday, Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) reported opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) candidates won 107 seats to the ruling socialist coalition Great Patriotic Pole’s (GPP) 55 - a 64.07% to 32.93% majority.
Indigenous seats comprise another 1.80% of the 167 legislative body. Two seats remained undecided. CNE announced MUD candidates won them, giving them 109 seats, three short of a crucial super-majority.
When new deputies are sworn in on January 5, three independent indigenous members will be swing votes. What they’ll support or oppose is crucial going forward.
Israel Murdered 114 Palestinians Since October 1
by Stephen Lendman
Israeli cold-blooded murders continue, on average nearly twice daily, defenseless Palestinians victimized - terrorized by one of the world’s most ruthless regimes.
27-year-old Abdul-Rahman Wajeeh Barghouthi, a US citizen, was the latest victim, gunned down by Israeli soldiers.
Eyewitnesses said he was heading home after visiting his fiancee in Deir Ghassana village. After murdering him in cold blood, they saw soldiers place a knife next to his body - to hype another phony Palestinian knife-wielding attack. Eyewitnesses and video evidence revealed numerous instances of soldiers or police planting knives by the bodies of murdered Palestinians - falsely claiming their lives were threatened.
Latin America: The Aborted Neo-Liberal Offensive
James Petras
Introduction
Pundits and commentators on the Left and Right are pronouncing ‘the end of the progressive cycle in Latin America’. They cite the recent presidential elections:
1. Argentina, where hard-right Mauricio Macri was elected;
2. Brazil, where President Dilma Rousseff has appointed a neo-liberal ‘Chicago Boy’ economist, Joaquin Levy, as Finance Minister and launched an IMF-style regressive structural adjustment policy designed to reduce social expenditures and attract financial speculators; and
3. Venezuela, where Washington channeled millions of dollars to far-right parties, as well as violent extra-parliamentary and paramilitary groups, to destabilize the center-left Maduro government; right-wing Democratic Unity Coalition (MUD) won the legislative elections in December 2015 with more than 2:1 margin over the Chavista Venezuelan United Socialist Party (PSUV).
Hyping Fear
by Stephen Lendman
Most people believe the hype and Big Lies government officials and media scoundrels tell them. Propaganda rages because it works.
It’s used to enlist support for policies harming public welfare and safety, including endless wars of aggression against invented enemies, as well as crackdowns on fundamental freedoms - eroding en route to disappearing altogether on the phony pretext of creating greater security. A previous article explained the chance of being struck by lightning is much greater than becoming a terrorist attack victim.
Death by auto accident, preventable diseases, violence at home by one family member against another, alcoholism or excessive use of harmful legal drugs is infinitely higher - facts ignored to hype fear of homeland terrorism.
US Airstrikes in Syria Killing Civilians, not ISIS Fighters
by Stephen Lendman
America has a notorious record of indiscriminately killing civilians in all its wars of aggression - from aerial attacks and ground operations, including special ops.
Since US warplanes began bombing Syrian infrastructure and government targets last year on the phony pretext of combating ISIS, nearly a thousand civilian deaths were reported, likely many more ignored or forgotten in the fog of war.
A September UN report alone said the US-led coalition’s continued “airstrikes against ISIL in Syria on a near-daily basis with reports of some 865 people killed, including 50 civilians, in Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor, Hasakeh, Idlib and Raqqa since strikes began” in September 2014.
Retired US Army Col. Douglas MacGregor called Washington’s campaign completely unsuccessful from the standpoint of destroying ISIS, but it’s an enormous success story for ISIS. It is actually helping the Sunni Islamists recruit new people - more than a thousand every month from across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
The Only Way to End Israel’s War on Palestine
by Stephen Lendman
The only way is through sustained, unrelenting, committed resistance, never quitting no matter how tough the struggle.
Palestinians will never be free without ending occupation harshness, along with finally holding Israel accountable for decades of high crimes.
Longterm persistence is vital. The cost in human lives, pain and suffering is small compared to permanent enslavement - slow death, endless persecution at the hands of a ruthless occupier, a monster devouring its victims. Key also is ending US military and other aid, billions of dollars annually, as well as the latest weapons and technology, American taxpayers funding a ruthless killing machine.
Venezuelan Opposition Fails to Win Super-Majority
by Stephen Lendman
In Sunday National Assembly elections, Chavismo suffered a humbling defeat - short of disaster. Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) fascists fell short of their goal.
On its web site, Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) said MUD won 107 seats to the ruling socialist coalition Great Patriotic Pole’s (GPP) 55 - a 64.07% to 32.93 majority. Indigenous seats comprise another 1.80% of the 167 legislative body, its representatives elected solely by members of their communities.
Results for two remaining seats remain unreported as this is written - likely too close to call so perhaps recounts are being conducted before winning candidates are announced.
A previous article explained the following: A super-majority 112 or more seats would let MUD dismiss Supreme Court judges and enact constitutional changes, ending or greatly compromising social justice provisions.
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