When New Year’s Meant Freedom

Some white Americans still try to dismiss the evils of slavery, pretending that many slaves were happy serving their white masters. But the morning of Jan. 1, 1863, showed a different reality when President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and blacks celebrated, as William Loren Katz recalls. By William Loren Katz When the Emancipation Proclamation…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/when-new-years-meant-freedom.html

Probing Bernie Sanders’s Identity

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders may be a strong voice on income inequality but his positions on military spending and foreign policy are muddled and his criticism of ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s neocon-oriented world view is muted, as anti-war activist David Swanson notes in this book review. By David Swanson Every time I write about a…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/probing-bernie-sanderss-identity.html

Mideast’s Expected and Unexpected

At year’s end, it’s often worthy to think back on how you thought the year would go and compare it to what actually happened. For writers who have made predictions, it represents a more public challenge, as ex-CIA official Graham E. Fuller explains. By Graham E. Fuller Having rashly ventured last year into making predictions…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/mideasts-expected-and-unexpected.html

Dangerous Punditry on Syria

Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen has built a long record of getting nearly every major issue wrong over many decades but still eagerly dispenses the latest conventional wisdom emerging from Official Washington’s misguided “group thinks,” as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar noticed regarding Syria. By Paul R. Pillar Ill-fated U.S. military adventures abroad have had various…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/dangerous-punditry-on-syria.html

Is WP’s Cohen Dumbest Columnist?

From the Archive: Official Washington operates with a reverse “meritocracy,” the more clueless the pundits are the more esteem they seem to get – as long as they conform to the latest “group think.” Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen is a prime example, Robert Parry noted in 2007. By Robert Parry (Originally published on June 19, 2007) Granted it would be…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/is-wps-cohen-dumbest-columnist.html

One County’s Global Warming Failure

Exclusive: Even communities where many citizens agree that global warming is a threat to humankind – and have the money to take action – find that the politics of doing something can be complicated and seemingly insurmountable, like the case of Arlington, Virginia, reports Robert Parry. By Robert Parry The difficulty of the United States and thus…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/one-countys-global-warming-failure.html

A Shaky Promise on Global Warming

The Paris climate conference produced an international agreement for curtailing global warming, but resistance from some leaders, particularly Republicans in the U.S., makes the prospect for its implementation doubtful and thus dangerous, writes Lawrence Davidson. By Lawrence Davidson Paris was certainly 2015’s center for ticking bombs. The year was bracketed by major terrorist attacks in…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/a-shaky-promise-on-global-warming.html

The Misinformation Mess

Exclusive: As Americans approach Election Year 2016, the crisis of misinformation is growing more and more dangerous. On issues from foreign policy to the economy, almost none of the candidates in the race appears to be addressing the real world, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry New York Times columnist Paul Krugman marvels at the right-wing…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-misinformation-mess.html

The Obsessive Putin-Bashing

Official Washington says it welcomes freedom of thought, but there is a startling absence of diverse opinions especially on key foreign-policy topics, such as Russia’s President Putin. In those cases, shallow “group think” prevails and belligerent “information warfare” rules, as Gilbert Doctorow observes. By Gilbert Doctorow The U.S. establishment writers on Russia are one and all…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-obsessive-putin-bashing.html

Congress’ Off-Point Iran-Bashing

The U.S. Congress, still in thrall to Israeli leaders and the neocons, cited Islamic State terrorism as an excuse to clamp down on travel to Iran even though Iran has nothing to with ISIS or other Sunni jihadists, unlike Saudi Arabia and Persian Gulf states that were left off the list, notes ex-CIA analyst Paul R.…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/congress-off-point-iran-bashing.html

The Grimmer Story Behind ‘Trumbo’

Exclusive: After World War II, the Red Scare built the careers of redbaiters like Joe McCarthy and Richard Nixon while undermining the legacy of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and stifling prospects for progressive politics in America, a tale touched on by the movie, “Trumbo,” writes James DiEugenio. By James DiEugenio The post-World War II years could have shaped…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-grimmer-story-behind-trumbo.html

A Christmas Message of Peace

Despite the commercialism of Christmas, some positive messages break through, often in movie classics, such as Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” and Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol.” But another entry should be “Joyeux Noel,” a movie about the soldiers’ Christmas truce in 1914, writes Gary G. Kohls. By Gary G. Kohls On Christmas Eve,…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/a-christmas-message-of-peace.html

A Brief Moment of Christmas Peace

The impromptu Christmas truce of 1914 was a rare moment when human solidarity overrode the demands of hatred and war, when the guns fell silent over the Western Front of World War I and enemies became briefly friends, as Michael Winship recalls. By Michael Winship Last Friday night, I went to a small off-Broadway theater…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/a-brief-moment-of-christmas-peace.html

America’s Dying Democracy

Democracy, as a noble principle of self-governance, is fading away in big ways and small, with special interests seizing control of both media and politicians and with the people increasingly manipulated and misinformed. In this impassioned appeal, Bill Moyers calls it “the fight of our lives.” By Bill Moyers In the fall of 2001, in…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/americas-dying-democracy.html

The Coming Saudi Crack-up?

Exclusive: President Obama, like generations of Western leaders, has coddled the oil-rich Saudi monarchy by tolerating its reactionary politics, its financing of radical Islam and its military support for Sunni jihadist terrorism. But the spoiled Saudi leaders may finally be going too far, as Daniel Lazare describes. By Daniel Lazare Is the Saudi monarchy coming apart at…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-coming-saudi-crack-up.html

The Myth of ‘Taking Out’ ISIS

“Tough-guy-gal-ism” remains the dominant rhetoric of Official Washington as politicians and pundits compete to outdo each other in advocating bloody remedies for “taking out” the Islamic State. But the armchair warriors misunderstand the problem and offer no solution, writes ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar The perceptions and the politics in the United States regarding…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-myth-of-taking-out-isis.html

A Call for Proof on Syria-Sarin Attack

One reason why Official Washington continues to insist that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “must go” is that he supposedly “gassed his own people” with sarin on Aug. 21, 2013, but the truth of that allegation has never been established and is in growing doubt, U.S. intelligence veterans point out. MEMORANDUM FOR: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, and Foreign…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/a-call-for-proof-on-syria-sarin-attack.html

Trump Schools ABC-TV Host on Reality

Exclusive: The spectacle of clueless U.S. media personalities, like George Stephanopoulos, chastising Donald Trump for getting facts wrong would be funny if it weren’t indicative of a political-media system failing the American people and what’s left of the democratic Republic, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry Mainstream media and politicians are fond of denouncing Republican presidential…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/trump-schools-abc-tv-host-on-reality.html

The Murder of Yitzhak Rabin

Israel’s decisive turn to the dark side of Jewish terrorism and religious-based repression of the Palestinians can be marked by the murder of Prime Minister Rabin by a right-wing Jewish extremist in 1995, a moment that also inflicted a fatal wound on the peace process, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar describes. By Paul R.…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-murder-of-yitzhak-rabin.html

Seeing ‘Evil’ Everywhere

Today’s American politics sees demons everywhere – from “evil” foreign leaders to excessive fears about “terrorism” – while more mundane threats like crumbling roads, loss of good-paying jobs and inadequate health care get short-shrift, misplaced priorities addressed by ex-CIA official Graham E. Fuller. By Graham E. Fuller It is depressing to witness the ongoing vitriolic…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/seeing-evil-everywhere.html

In Case You Missed…

Some of our special stories in November focused on the realities behind the Syrian crisis, Turkey’s dangerous provocations toward Russia, the many failings of the mainstream U.S. media, and disclosures about Ukraine Finance Minister’s self-enrichment at U.S. taxpayers’ expense. “Syria at a Crossroads” by Nicolas J S Davies, Nov. 1, 2015 “Rubio Follows the Big…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/in-case-you-missed.html

Get Two Books for the Price of One

From Editor Robert Parry: Another way to help Consortiumnews reach its end-of-year fundraising goal is to buy one of my books – Fooling America, Lost History, Secrecy & Privilege or America’s Stolen Narrative – through the Web site and we’ll also send you a copy of Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush for…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/get-two-books-for-price-of-one.html

Neocons Object to Syrian Democracy

Exclusive: President Obama has infuriated Official Washington’s neocons by accepting the Russian stance that the Syrian people should select their own future leaders through free elections, rather than the neocon insistence on a foreign-imposed “regime change,” reports Robert Parry. By Robert Parry The Washington Post’s editorial board is livid that President Barack Obama appears to have accepted…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/neocons-object-to-syrian-democracy.html

The Real Obstacle to Syrian Peace

Despite Russia and the U.S. coming together on Friday to back a U.N.-approved peace plan for Syria, major obstacles remain, including the on-the-ground reality that U.S. “allies,” such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey, have armed and financed powerful jihadist forces that won’t compromise, as Gareth Porter explains. By Gareth Porter The anti-Assad coalition led by the…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-real-obstacle-to-syrian-peace.html

A GOP Split on Neocon Orthodoxy

The mainstream U.S. media remains focused on the acrimony of the GOP presidential race while less noticed is a growing split among top candidates over the neocon foreign policy prescription of regime change and more regime change. Several hopefuls are deviating from that orthodoxy, notes James W Carden. By James W Carden On Tuesday night, the…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/a-gop-split-on-neocon-orthodoxy.html

Political Carnival Pays Off for TV

As the U.S. presidential race – especially on the Republican side – descends into the political equivalent of a rowdy reality TV show, the TV networks are thrilled by higher-than-expected ratings and loads of political ads bought by secretive groups, say Bill Moyers and Michael Winship. By Bill Moyers and Michael Winship Television news has…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/political-carnival-pays-off-for-tv.html

Challenging US Overseas Military Bases

Though the U.S. government denies that it runs an empire, it maintains a bristling global network of military bases unprecedented in world history, including some where the population strenuously protests the presence, as retired Col. Ann Wright noted in a speech on Dec. 15 in Okinawa. By Ann Wright I am honored to speak at…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/challenging-us-overseas-military-bases.html

Sam Parry Receives ‘Gary Webb Award’

Sam Parry has received the “Gary Webb Freedom of the Press” award in recognition of Sam’s central role in creating Consortiumnews.com as the first investigative news magazine based on the Internet. The award was granted by the Board of Directors of the Consortium for Independent Journalism as part of the site’s 20th anniversary. In 1995, Sam…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/sam-parry-receives-gary-webb-award.html

Saudis’ Anti-Terror Window-dressing

Faced with greater public awareness of its role promoting Sunni jihadist terror, Saudi Arabia has announced a 34-nation “anti-terrorism coalition,” but it may be just window-dressing for Riyadh’s anti-Shiite agenda, not a serious move against extremism, an issue addressed by ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar The leaders of Saudi Arabia in particular, but also several…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/saudis-anti-terror-window-dressing.html

America’s Unpredictable Imbalance

A shrinking middle class and excessive fear of terrorism have combined to destabilize the American political system, opening avenues for an authoritarian demagogue like Donald Trump and but also for a democratic socialist like Bernie Sanders, writes Lawrence Davidson. By Lawrence Davidson Converging avenues of fear are eroding the political and social status quo in…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/americas-unpredictable-imbalance.html

Rethinking Donald Trump

Donald Trump’s freewheeling and narcissistic presidential campaign has earned the consensus contempt of the mainstream media and establishment politicians, but that’s partly because he has dared challenge dangerous orthodoxies, like the neocon/liberal-hawk mania for “regime change,” writes Sam Husseini. By Sam Husseini The Establishment so wants everyone to unfriend Donald Trump’s supporters on Facebook, there’s even…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/rethinking-donald-trump.html

How the Puppets Beg

Congress may have averted a government shutdown but it has done so at the expense of making evermore concessions to its super-rich puppet-masters whose strings are both patently obvious and increasingly invisible – all the better for the puppets to beg, as Bill Moyers and Michael Winship explain. By Bill Moyers and Michael Winship There…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/how-puppets-beg.html

The Danger After Putin

Exclusive: America’s neocons are lusting for their ultimate “regime change” – destabilizing Russia and getting rid of President Putin – but they ignore the likelihood that the leader after Putin would be a much more hardline nationalist, a prospect addressed by Gilbert Doctorow. By Gilbert Doctorow As in Soviet times, Russian taxi drivers remain among…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-danger-after-putin.html

If your church makes Christianity “cool” and comfortable, you should find a new church

This might upset some of you. Maybe that goes without saying.

I read in an article on TheBlaze about Rich Wilkerson, a reality TV star and “celebrity pastor” of a big, hip church in Miami that looks and sounds like a rock concert venue. Pastor Rich believes that his congregants “aren’t looking for religion” because they “don’t want to be told what to do,” but they are looking for a “relationship with a higher power.” Pastor Rich explains that the Gospel isn’t a message of behavior modification. Modifying behavior is totally uncool, yo.

Now, my commentary today isn’t only about him. I’m just using him as a jumping off point. He is, after all, just one of the countless Christian “pastors” who preach this comfortable, trendy, undemanding brand of Christianity. It’s a type very popular with people who want the vague feeling of “spirituality” but none of the challenges and sacrifices that go with it.

I said this might upset you because I go after a few modern Christian sacred cows here. Particularly, I think the phrase “personal relationship with Jesus” is potentially problematic (though not inaccurate, if considered the right way) because it contributes to the propagation of this heretical brand of Christianity. I explain why.

But more importantly, as Christians, our actions DO matter. Faith is not just something you think or feel. Faith is not just the mere acknowledgment of Jesus. Satan himself acknowledges Jesus, yet he’s still in hell. Clearly, there is more to this “faith” thing.

As Christians, our faith must be active, uncomfortable, sacrificial, even painful. If it is not, then it is not faith. Yes, faith is all we need, but we also need to come to a better understanding of what faith IS, exactly.

Pastor Rich (and Steven Furtick and Joel Osteen and the rest of the feel-good celebrity pastors) tell us that we can basically do whatever we want. They tell us Christianity is meant only to be fun and bring us pleasure. But that is not Christianity at all. What they are preaching is paganism, and they need to be called out:

CLICK HERE TO READ

The post If your church makes Christianity “cool” and comfortable, you should find a new church appeared first on The Matt Walsh Blog.

from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/if-your-church-makes-christianity-cool.html

Twisting the Facts on Iran Nukes

Part of the credibility crisis afflicting the world’s officialdom is the tendency to issue reports that start with the politically desired conclusion and then twist words and facts accordingly, a problem apparent in a U.N. report on Iran’s alleged nuclear program, as Gareth Porter explains. By Gareth Porter Many government reports The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/twisting-facts-on-iran-nukes.html

America’s Debt to Bradley Manning

From the Archive: The U.S. mainstream media is again embracing a U.N. report critical of Iran’s alleged past work on a nuclear bomb, but leaks from Pvt. Bradley (now Chelsea) Manning exposed Yukiya Amano, the key U.N. official, as a front for U.S. and Israeli interests, as Robert Parry reported in 2011. By Robert Parry (Originally published Dec. 24,…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/americas-debt-to-bradley-manning.html

Seeking a Belated Agent Orange Cleanup

The U.S. war crime of spraying one-eighth of Vietnam with the defoliant Agent Orange continues to wreak havoc four decades later with severe health consequences for Vietnamese civilians, U.S. veterans and their families, prompting a new bill to address this tragedy, writes Marjorie Cohn. By Marjorie Cohn The war in Vietnam resulted in the deaths of more than…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/seeking-belated-agent-orange-cleanup.html

A Blind Eye Toward Turkey’s Crimes

Exclusive: The alleged ties between Turkish President Erdogan and Islamist terrorists in Syria is an embarrassment for the Obama administration and the U.S. news media, which would prefer to look the other way rather than face up to the danger created by an out-of-control NATO “ally,” writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry Theoretically, it would be a…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/a-blind-eye-toward-turkeys-crimes.html

On the Trail of Turkey’s Terrorist Grey Wolves

From the Archive: Turkey, as a NATO country near Russia’s border, developed a powerful “deep state” where intelligence operatives, terrorists and gangsters crossed paths and shared political alliances, a grim reality that author Martin A. Lee explored in 1997 and a dark legacy that reaches to the present. By Martin A. Lee (Originally published in…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/on-trail-of-turkeys-terrorist-grey.html

Closing the Wrong Visa Loopholes

After the San Bernardino terror attack, Congress rushed to address security gaps in visa-free travel but addressed the wrong ones, leaving out visitors from “allied” countries such Saudi Arabia which have actually produced terrorists who attacked the U.S., note Georgianne Nienaber and Coleen Rowley. By Georgianne Nienaber and Coleen Rowley Only a few crickets chirped…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/closing-wrong-visa-loopholes.html

How ‘Obscure’ Bureaucrats Cause Wars

Exclusive: Official Washington’s anti-Russian “group think” is now so dominant that no one with career aspirations dares challenge it, a victory for “obscure” government bureaucrats, like Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, as Jonathan Marshall explains. By Jonathan Marshall History isn’t just made by impersonal forces and “great men” or “great women.” Sometimes relatively obscure men and women…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/how-obscure-bureaucrats-cause-wars.html

A Moment of Hope on the Climate

Republican politics – especially the party’s growing separation from science-based reality – remain a major obstacle to a global consensus on climate change, but the Paris agreement shows that the world is capable of overcoming these “climate deniers,” as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar describes. By Paul R. Pillar The principal significance of the Paris…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/a-moment-of-hope-on-climate.html

Why Consortiumnews Exists

From Editor Robert Parry: America’s political crisis – from the crazy rhetoric coming from Republican presidential hopefuls to the deceptive propaganda emanating from the Obama administration – could not have happened without a corresponding crisis in the U.S. news media. Which is why Consortiumnews exists. Frankly, if the mainstream media had been doing its job…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/why-consortiumnews-exists.html

The Complex Legend of Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra was a complex and flawed individual – known in his later years for alleged mob ties and angry outbursts – but he also was an extraordinary artist who spoke out against racism and bigotry at a time when such stands were controversial and risky, as Michael Winship recalls. By Michael Winship As concerts and…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-complex-legend-of-frank-sinatra.html

Blocking Democracy as Syria’s Solution

Exclusive: The long-cherished neocon dream of “regime change” in Syria is blocking a possible route out of the crisis – a ceasefire followed by elections in which President Assad could compete. The problem is there’s no guarantee that Assad would lose and thus the dream might go unfulfilled, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry The solution to the crisis in…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/blocking-democracy-as-syrias-solution.html

A GOP Terror Talking Point

Republican presidential candidates have a favorite talking point – that President Obama won’t use the precise phrase “radical Islamic terrorism” even though he describes the problem in similar terms. Thus, the complaint is ridiculous and even a bit dangerous, writes ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar One of the more inane memes…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/a-gop-terror-talking-point.html

Clearly, We Need More Shame And Judgment In Our Society

I want you to read and share this, but I will warn that it’s disturbing. Our culture of shamelessness and acceptance has created or exacerbated many evils, but few as nauseating as this one.

The guy in the picture below is a 52 year old “transgender” who pretends he is a 6 year old girl. He abandoned his wife and 7 children to go live with his “adopted parents.” Horrifically, there are real children in the house with this pervert. They have been forced to take part in the role play.

Obviously, the children should be removed from the home and all of the adults involved should be committed to a hospital for the criminally insane. But really, this transaged transgender is no different from any other transgender. The two things are completely comparable and it is impossible to reject one while accepting the other.

Meanwhile, as I chronicle in this piece, there have been efforts in recent weeks and months to normalize a wide variety of other perversions. We’ve heard about transabled (people who think they should be disabled), transracialed (people who think they should be a different race), and even “otherkin” (people who think they’re a different species).

And it doesn’t stop there. Movements are growing to bring about the acceptance and tolerance of incestuous couples and pedophiles, too.

Our culture is in a free fall, my friends. And there are many reasons for it, but ultimately it comes back to the removal, first, of absolute truth, and then the eradication of judgment and shame.

It’s that last point I want to concentrate on today. Shame exists for a reason. And when you have a society where everyone thinks they should never feel it, you end up with this. Please read and share:

Click here to read.

The post Clearly, We Need More Shame And Judgment In Our Society appeared first on The Matt Walsh Blog.

from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/clearly-we-need-more-shame-and-judgment.html

Cornering Russia, Risking World War III

Official Washington is awash with tough talk about Russia and the need to punish President Putin for his role in Ukraine and Syria. But this bravado ignores Russia’s genuine national interests, its “red lines,” and the risk that “tough-guy-ism” can lead to nuclear war, as Alastair Crooke explains. By Alastair Crooke We all know the…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/cornering-russia-risking-world-war-iii.html

The Courage from Whistle-blowing

Exclusive: Courage, like cowardice, can grow as an action by one person influences decisions by others, either toward bravery or fear. Thus, the gutsy whistle-blowing by some NSA officials inspired Edward Snowden to expose mass data collection on all Americans, recalls ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern. By Ray McGovern When Edward Snowden in early June 2013 began to reveal classified…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-courage-from-whistle-blowing.html

Chicago Police Adopt Israeli Tactics

Exclusive: The Chicago police slaying of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, like other recent police killings of blacks, may resemble the actions of an occupation military, in part, because Chicago and other U.S. cities have learned from Israel’s occupation of Palestine, writes retired JAG Major Todd E. Pierce. By Todd E. Pierce After more than a year of stonewalling and…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/chicago-police-adopt-israeli-tactics.html

Israel’s Moral Erosion

Amid global anger over militants citing the Koran as a defense for terrorism, less attention gets paid to Israel citing God’s will as expressed in the Bible as the moral justification for stealing Palestinian land, an ethical crisis that is eroding Israel’s world standing, writes Alon Ben-Meir. By Alon Ben-Meir I have long maintained that…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/israels-moral-erosion.html

Congress Plays Santa to the Rich

As Congress rushes to wrap up business before the Christmas holidays, it traditionally dangles pricy ornaments – favors to rich donors – on an omnibus bill called a “Christmas tree,” one activity that has survived the current legislative dysfunction, writes Michael Winship. By Michael Winship I was planning to write a festive poem to Congress…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/congress-plays-santa-to-rich.html

A Day When Journalism Died

Exclusive: Dec. 9 has a grim meaning for the Republic, the date in 2004 when investigative reporter Gary Webb, driven to ruin by vindictive press colleagues for reviving the Contra-cocaine scandal, took his own life, a demarcation as the U.S. press went from protecting the people to shielding the corrupt, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry Looking back over my four decades in the…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/a-day-when-journalism-died.html

Putting the ISIS ‘Crisis’ in Context

The hysteria over Islamic State terrorism is driving talk of a new U.S.-led ground war in the Middle East – this time an invasion of Syria under the guise of a “safe zone” – but such rash actions would only make matters worse, writes ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar Emotional and…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/putting-isis-crisis-in-context.html

Cruz Threatens to Nuke ISIS Targets

Exclusive: Republican presidential campaign rhetoric is red-hot regarding Islamic terrorism, with Sen. Cruz suggesting the use of nuclear weapons to see “if sand can glow in the dark,” a threat even more troubling than Donald Trump’s call to temporarily bar Muslims from entering the U.S., writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry As Republican presidential candidates lined up to one-up…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/cruz-threatens-to-nuke-isis-targets.html

The Religious Element of Terrorism

The history of religions – especially monotheistic ones such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam – are rife with examples of cruelty, war and even genocide done in God’s name. So should people avoid the phrase “Islamic terrorism,” asks William Blum. By William Blum Is it terrorism or is it religion? Does the question matter? From…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-religious-element-of-terrorism.html

The Terror from the Gun

On the campaign trail and the cable networks, it’s all ISIS all the time as Americans react with fear and fury over the San Bernardino massacre. But the U.S. crisis of gun violence goes way beyond the few cases of Islamic terrorism, says Lawrence Davidson. By Lawrence Davidson I was waiting for a doctor’s appointment…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-terror-from-gun.html

Why Syria’s Options Are So Bad

The incoherence of Western policy toward Syria goes back decades to Cold War covert schemes that thwarted a democratic turn — and to more recent neocon insistence on “regime change,” not negotiations. Those choices have now left the West with a set of unpalatable options, says Ted Snider. By Ted Snider In Syria, the West…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/why-syrias-options-are-so-bad.html

Translating Obama’s Speech into Candor

President Obama’s primetime speech on terrorism sought to calm a jittery nation, but by omitting relevant details, he left many thoughtful Americans scratching their heads. To clarify the unspoken parts of Obama’s speech, Norman Solomon has translated the speech into the language of candor. By Norman Solomon Here is a condensed version of President Obama’s speech from the Oval…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/translating-obamas-speech-into-candor.html

The Incredible Shrinking President

Exclusive: Trying to soothe American fears about “terrorism,” President Obama glossed over the dangerous contradictions in his own policy, particularly the fact that Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other “allies” have been helping Al Qaeda and ISIS, notes Daniel Lazare. By Daniel Lazare President Barack Obama came off well in his nationwide address on the San…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-incredible-shrinking-president.html

Twenty Years of Truth-telling

From Editor Robert Parry: Consortiumnews is now 20 years old. We began in late November 1995 as the first investigative news magazine based on what was then a new phenomenon, the Internet. Our goal was then – and still is today – to provide a home for serious, independent investigative journalism. Over those two decades,…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/twenty-years-of-truth-telling.html

The Tricky Definition of ‘Terrorism’

The classic definition of terrorism as violence against civilians to make a political point may make sense but the term’s elastic use – even applied to attacks on U.S. soldiers operating in foreign lands – has transformed the word into an epithet that depends on one’s preferred bias, writes John V. Whitbeck. By John V.…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-tricky-definition-of-terrorism.html

Real Question for President Obama

Part of Official Washington’s problem is that most journalists – at least those called on at presidential news conferences – represent the same “group think” that pervades the government, meaning President Obama doesn’t get asked truly probing questions, as William Blum notes at Anti-Empire Report. By William Blum Questions to ask President Barack Obama the next time…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/real-question-for-president-obama.html

Obama’s Credibility Crisis

Exclusive: Inside Official Washington’s bubble, the Important People believe their “group think” is the envy of the world, but the truth is that their credibility has collapsed to such a degree that their propaganda can’t even match up with the head-chopping videos of the Islamic State crazies, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry Like the old story of…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/obamas-credibility-crisis.html

Trump’s Heresy on Israel

The appeal of Donald Trump’s bigoted comments has exposed an unpleasant truth about the Republican Party, which has been flirting with racism since Richard Nixon’s Southern Strategy, but his refusal to toe the line on Israel also highlights the groveling by other candidates, notes ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R. Pillar With less…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/trumps-heresy-on-israel.html

PBS Joins the MSM’s Syria-Russia Bias

Mainstream U.S. media systematically excludes points of view on world affairs that deviate from Official Washington’s “group think.” With no lessons learned from the Iraq-WMD debacle, the MSM only lets on establishment or right-wing pundits with conformist points of view on crises with Syria and Russia, notes Rick Sterling. By Rick Sterling PBS Newshour is considered high-quality journalism by many North Americans.…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/pbs-joins-msms-syria-russia-bias.html

Suffering from Global Warming First

Indigenous people who live close to the land are seeing the effects of global warming sooner and more alarmingly than many urban dwellers and thus are demanding a strong voice in the Paris Climate Summit, as Native and Indian leader Andrea Carmen told Dennis J Bernstein. By Dennis J Bernstein Among the world’s people already…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/suffering-from-global-warming-first.html

What to Do about the ISIS ‘Caliphate’

While the first necessity in dealing with a threat like ISIS is to finally get Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to cut off its financial and military life lines, the terror group’s claim to a territorial caliphate presents a unique problem for the international community, as ex-CIA official Graham E. Fuller explains. By Graham E.…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/what-to-do-about-isis-caliphate.html

A Way Forward on Israel-Palestine

Prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace have rarely looked dimmer – with Prime Minister Netanyahu unwilling to make concessions and President Obama incapable of applying pressure, but one option would be to abandon the so-called Quartet and embrace the Arab Peace Initiative, says Alon Ben-Meir. By Alon Ben-Meir During several meetings I recently had with European Union officials in Brussels,…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/a-way-forward-on-israel-palestine.html

Who Wants to Weaponize Outer Space?

U.S. military hardliners are pushing for military dominance of outer space – and U.S. diplomats are blocking international efforts to ban its weaponization – but the Obama administration pretends that Russia and China are the problem, as Sam Husseini explains. By Sam Husseini The recent box-office hit “The Martian” – directed by Ridley Scott and…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/who-wants-to-weaponize-outer-space.html

Learning to Love the ‘Drone War’

The mainstream U.S. news media is so in the tank on the “war on terror” that it ignores critical information that the American people should know, such as the public complaint from four former Air Force drone operators that the lethal program is killing innocents and creating terrorists, writes John Hanrahan. By John Hanrahan The…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/learning-to-love-drone-war.html

When Mass Killings Aren’t ‘News’

The 24/7 coverage of the San Bernardino mass killing, perpetrated by a Muslim husband and wife, has alarmed and frightened Americans, but there is next to no mainstream interest in disclosures about far worse mayhem carried out by the U.S. government’s lethal drone program, writes David Swanson. By David Swanson We now know this. A…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/when-mass-killings-arent-news.html

Israel’s ‘Successful’ Defeat on Iran

Israel’s defeat in its bid to get Congress to block President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran may have represented a loss of face, but the fight generated lots of money and set a marker for Obama and his successors on the price to pay for crossing Israel’s lobby, writes Trita Parsi. By Trita Parsi A…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/israels-successful-defeat-on-iran.html

Humanity’s ‘Hail Mary’ on Global Warming

The growing crisis over global warming must be addressed seriously now or require risky “geoengineering” strategies as a last resort in the not-too-distant future, a dangerous “Hail Mary” pass for humanity’s survival, as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar explains. By Paul R. Pillar Some observers of the climate conference in Paris, and of the preparations leading…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/humanitys-hail-mary-on-global-warming.html

How Republicans Shred the Republic

The anti-government ideology that drives today’s Republican Party claims to support the U.S. Constitution but is actually its antithesis. Rather than “We the People” providing for the “general Welfare,” the goal is to starve government and cede all power to the rich and ruthless, as Bill Moyers and Michael Winship explain. By Bill Moyers and Michael…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/how-republicans-shred-republic.html

NATO Picks a New Fight with Russia

Exclusive: The Obama administration and much of Official Washington have dangerously lost touch with reality, ginning up a costly new Cold War with Russia even as expensive wars continue in Afghanistan and Iraq/Syria. The latest provocation against Russia is to invite Montenegro into NATO, writes Jonathan Marshall. By Jonathan Marshall If insanity means trying the same…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/nato-picks-new-fight-with-russia.html

Obama Ignores Russian Terror Victims

Exclusive: President Obama has displayed a stunning lack of sympathy for the Russian civilians killed in an ISIS plane bombing in Egypt and for two Russian military men slain as victims of U.S. weapons systems in Syria, putting insults toward President Putin ahead of human decency, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry Normally, when a country…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/obama-ignores-russian-terror-victims.html

Global Angst over US Secrecy Fetish

With the reach of U.S. surveillance now global – and with the U.S. military deployed all over the world – anger at President Obama’s unprecedented crackdown on whistleblowers who disclose the U.S. government’s abuses and crimes has gone international, as this Norwegian opinion piece by Victor Wallis shows. By Victor Wallis The more extreme the crimes of state, the more the…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/global-angst-over-us-secrecy-fetish.html

Obama Taunts Putin over Syria

President Obama mocked Russian President Putin for not fixing Syria during the past month and chided him about Moscow’s Afghan quagmire in the 1980s, proving that Obama has either no self-awareness or no sense of irony given the U.S. misadventures in both countries, as Sam Husseini describes. By Sam Husseini President Barack Obama’s remarks about Russian President…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/obama-taunts-putin-over-syria.html

The West’s Deadly Mideast Fantasies

Exclusive: Madness or at least self-deception now dominates the West’s approach to the Middle East, with ostensibly rational leaders like Barack Obama and Francois Hollande fueling public hysteria about terrorism and pursuing “regime change” strategies proven to fail, as Mike Lofgren explains. By Mike Lofgren Around the time of the 2003 Iraq invasion and the silliness…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-wests-deadly-mideast-fantasies.html

Propagandists Count On Your Ultra-Short Memory

Discrediting The Fairy Tale Of Man Made Climate Change Through Their Own Words

In honor of the climate summit in Paris, lets take a closer look at the predictions that climate hysterics have made. Propagandists succeed because they realize the masses (that means you) can’t retain the details of news stories churned out at blistering speeds in modern society.

Taking advantage,  they lie fearlessly knowing that hardly a soul will recall in 6 months time nevermind 5 years how wildly inaccurate and reckless their speech and warnings have proven to be. In this video, Paul Joseph Watson does society a valuable service by reminding us of all the discredited prophesies of doom and despair that climate alarmists have made in the recent past. The composite of their failures should teach us to never trust them again.

If climate change is not about authentic climate change and drastic situations like water covering NYC, what is it about?

As if having unenforcable emission standards weren’t bad enough, politico says this

And therein lies the sticking point on which negotiations actually center: “climate finance.” Climate finance is the term for wealth transferred from developed to developing nations based on a vague and shifting set of rationales including repayment of the “ecological debt” created by past emissions, “reparations” for natural disasters, and funding of renewable energy initiatives.

 

The issue will dominate the Paris talks. The INDCs covering actual emissions reductions are subjective, discretionary, and thus essentially unnegotiable. Not so the cash. Developing countries are expecting more than $100 billion in annual funds from this agreement or they will walk away. (For scale, that’s roughly equivalent to the entire OECD budget for foreign development assistance.)
 
Somehow, the international process for addressing climate change has become one where addressing climate change is optional and apparently beside the point. Rich countries are bidding against themselves to purchase the developing world’s signature on an agreement so they can declare victory — even though the agreement itself will be the only progress achieved.

This is a great time to listen in to the climate change chatter to try and figure out what propagandists are actually seeking with this climate change charade.

The post Propagandists Count On Your Ultra-Short Memory appeared first on PropagandaGuard.

from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/propagandists-count-on-your-ultra-short.html

Near Boiling Point on Global Warming

Rising global temperatures – if they exceed 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels – threaten to unleash havoc across the planet, including mass dislocations of desperate people that will make the current flood of Syrian refugees look like a tiny warm-up, writes Nat Parry. By Nat Parry With more than 40,000 negotiators from 196 governments descending…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/near-boiling-point-on-global-warming.html

Fretting the Wrong Entry Program

Politicians are scoring points with a frightened U.S. population by hyping the supposed danger of letting in up to 10,000 Syrian refugees, but a much greater or actual risk exists in the current gaps in a visa-waiver program, write Coleen Rowley and Georgianne Nienaber. By Coleen Rowley and Georgianne Nienaber All the hyped political angst regarding the…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/fretting-wrong-entry-program.html

The Issue of Anti-Abortion Terrorism

There have long been double standards when using the word “terrorism,” with acts by political or ideological allies spared the label while it is ladled over the actions of an adversary, a dilemma that has reappeared in the attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado, writes ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar. By Paul R.…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-issue-of-anti-abortion-terrorism.html

The US-Russia Proxy War in Syria

Exclusive: The risk of Syria becoming a proxy war between the U.S. and Russia became real last week when Turkey and Syrian jihadists used U.S.-supplied weaponry to shoot down a Russian warplane and rescue helicopter, killing two Russians, a danger that ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern explores. By  Ray McGovern Belatedly, at a sidebar meeting with Russian…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-us-russia-proxy-war-in-syria.html

Help Truth-telling on ‘Giving Tuesday’

From Editor Robert Parry: The idea of giving to an investigative news site on “Giving Tuesday” may seem a bit odd – after all, there are many worthy charities that address immediate human needs – but the truth is that nothing good can come if the people don’t have a reliable source for truth. And,…
from Propaganda Guard
http://propagandaguard.blogspot.com/2015/12/help-truth-telling-on-giving-tuesday.html