the unbalanced evolution of homo sapiens

The Grayzone   Red Lines host Anya Parampil speaks with Alena Douhan, UN Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, about her recent trip to Venezuela. In her first interview since the publication of the preliminary findings of her mission to Venezuela, Professor Douhan discusses her main take aways from the visit, her method for investigating, as well as the response to her report. 

The Grayzone   Haitian president Jovenel Moïse has cracked down on a wave of popular protest as he tries to cling to power. While tens of thousands of Haitians have taken to the streets in the face of government repression, the Biden administration is backing Moïse's effort to remain in office for at least another year.  Haitian activist and radio host Daoud Andre discusses the background to Moïse's power grab; the continued US deportations to Haiti; the enduring popularity of Jean-Bertrand Aristide -- twice overthrown in US-backed coups; and how the Biden administration's support for Moïse continues a long legacy of US attacks on Haiti's popular movements and backing of right-wing autocrats. 

Neoliberal fascists continue the purge of the real Left and give us a small taste of what will happen under a Biden presidency   Confirmed: Biden never wanted the Green New Deal and now he has a perfect excuse to bury it    Liberal plutocrats win a critical battle with their Biden puppet in the capitalist civil war and Trump keeps helping them   The Andrew Yang corporate media blackout: more evidence that the liberal elites hand-picked their unpopular puppet Kamala Harris

globinfo freexchange   An early February short report by Associated Press passed rather unnoticed. Yet, it could be probably considered the best proof for what this blog claims for many years now. In short, the Western economic model is about to be transformed into something even worse than capitalism, towards a kind of 21st century corporate feudalism. And the US state of Nevada is about to become the testing field for such a transition in the most official way! As the AP reported [emphasis added]: Planned legislation to establish new business areas in Nevada would allow technology companies to effectively form separate local governments. Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak announced a plan to launch so-called Innovation Zones in Nevada to jumpstart the state’s economy by attracting technology firms, Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Wednesday. The zones would permit companies with large areas of land to form governments carrying the same authority as counties, including the ab

It is now difficult to distinguish where the deep state ends and the fourth estate begins and Ben Nimmo’s move from NATO to NATO-aligned think tank to Facebook is just another example of this phenomenon.   by Alan Macleod   Part 2 - “Disinformation agents” For example, in 2019, U.K. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn revealed secret Conservative Party documents showing negotiations the Tory government had with the U.S. over the privatization of the National Health Service (NHS). With just days to go before the U.K. general election, the scandal could have toppled the government and brought into power the most radical antiwar, anti-establishment government in the country’s history. Corporate media went into overdrive to spin the news, and Nimmo was a key part of this, immediately announcing, without evidence, that the documents “ closely resemble…a known Russian operation. ” His supposedly expert conjecture allowed the story to become “ Corbyn’s links to Russia ” rather than “ Tories pri

An investigative analysis takes apart a hackneyed piece of propaganda authored by an international alt-right clique with links to the Pentagon.   by Raul Diego   Part 1 A now-deleted fact sheet published by the U.S. State Department on January 15, 2021, claimed that for over a year, “ the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has systematically prevented a transparent and thorough investigation of the COVID-19 pandemic’s origin. ” The official release of that fact sheet focuses on the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV); a controversial research lab in the Hubei province of China which has been the target of well-earned suspicions over its work on bat-borne zoonotic diseases like SARS-CoV-2, better known as the COVID-19 coronavirus. Missing from the State Department’s missive is the intimate bond that this particular laboratory has to American scientific institutions and to a tight-knit group of individuals with direct links to the U.S. intelligence apparatus and the biodefense establishment. Na

Ecuador’s presidential candidate Yaku Pérez supported coups in Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. His US-backed party Pachakutik and supposedly “left-wing” environmentalist campaign is being promoted by right-wing corporate lobbyists.   by Ben Norton  Part 2 - “Left-wing” support for right-wing coups in Latin America   Yaku Pérez Guartambel says he wants Ecuadorians to use fewer cars and plant more trees. With campaign photos often showing him riding a bicycle at rallies, Perez’s image seems custom tailored to appeal to the sensibility of Western green activists. Pérez is especially critical of the Correista movement for its reliance on extraction. He has proposed an end to mining in Ecuador and a restriction of oil extraction. Ecuador is a developing, formerly colonized country and thus relatively poor compared to Global North imperialist nations. But it has an advantage: large oil and mineral reserves. These resources have been key to the political and economic program of Co

Secretive Cabinet Office 'Clearing House' for Freedom of Information requests also accused of “blacklisting” journalists; openDemocracy launching a legal bid for transparency   Peter Geoghegan/Jenna Corderoy/Lucas Amin   Part 4 - Long legal battle for transparency   openDemocracy first asked for copies of the Clearing House lists back in 2018. The Cabinet Office refused this Freedom of Information request but, 23 months later, in July 2020 the ICO finally decided that the lists – including the advice that the Cabinet Office provides on dealing with FOI requests – should be disclosed to the public.  While the Cabinet Office eventually disclosed some material from the Clearing House list, it is keeping its advice to departments secret and is appealing against the ICO’s decision. openDemocracy , represented by the law firm Leigh Day, will now be submitting evidence to an information tribunal hearing to determine whether this information about the Clearing House should be made pub

The US State Department is pushing a politicized vote recount, overseen by the coup-sponsoring OAS, after socialist Andrés Arauz won Ecuador’s election in a landslide. Meanwhile Colombia’s ex-president warns his country’s “radical right” is “interfering” with “slander” and a “dirty game.”   by Ben Norton  Part 1 A popular socialist candidate, Andrés Arauz, won the first round of Ecuador’s historic presidential election by a landslide on February 7. The leftist’s overwhelming victory prompted the US State Department, the right-wing government of neighboring Colombia, and the Organization of American States (OAS) to mobilize to prevent him from entering office. Arauz won the first round of the election with 33 percent of the vote, a full 13 percent greater than the second-place candidate, conservative banker Guillermo Lasso. His opponents are now seeking to force a vote recount under the supervision of the OAS, while simultaneously launching a smear campaign relying on blatant disinforma

Going Underground   Dr. Vandana Shiva speaks about the recent avalanche in Uttarakhand which has left hundreds missing and the causes behind it. How the World Bank’s actions in the 1991 was arguably the start of Indian farmers vs global capitalism. Why India’s farmers are organising en masse to oppose Modi’s neoliberal farming laws, 1 in 4 farmers on Earth being Indian. Multinational farming corporations and their war on India’s independent farmers. The history of the spread of GMO technology such as ‘Roundup’. Why a transition away from industrial farming back to small-scale farming is needed to fight climate change.