the unbalanced evolution of homo sapiens

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) issued a report alleging Russian interference in the 2020 election, contradicting November statements that there was no meddling, while ignoring documented interference from top US ally Colombia.   by Dan Cohen   Part 5 - “Election integrity” as a foil for geopolitical agenda   So why does the so-called intelligence community tell us that State Department-designated Official Enemy countries tried to interfere in the elections without providing a shred of evidence while ignoring the mounds of evidence that the U.S.’s closest ally in Latin America repeatedly interfered? It’s because accusations of interference have nothing to do with protecting election integrity and everything to do with advancing a narrow, imperialist political agenda. See, back in late January, Biden had signed an arms treaty with Russia – a necessary step to prevent a hot war, but bad for the image the spy agencies and Western media present of Russia as an ev

An April 8 LA Times profile of the “KHive” attempted to put a positive spin on Twitter’s nest of Vice President Kamala Harris super fans, omitting the group’s online abuses, offline harassment, and alarming origins. Describing the KHive as “ the type of modern political army that politicians increasingly rely on for both support and defense, ” the LA Times painted its members as political realists united by a desire to defend one of the most powerful politicians in the country from unfair attacks.  It turns out that Harris’ “modern political army” was manufactured with the aid of an even larger army of fake Twitter accounts. After the term “KHive” was formally branded by MSNBC pundits like Joy Reid, KHive leaders received a boost from a Democratic Party operative-controlled bot farm. One of the people most advanced by the botnet is the widely recognized founder of KHive, Bianca Delarosa.  According to Vox , KHive credited Delarosa with organizing KHive in a Facebook group that start

globinfo freexchange   It's almost grotesque the fact that many fans of capitalism still don't realize that capitalism is dead . And it's certainly grotesque the fact that they use the same, typical and obsolete bullshit arguments (coming straight from the bankrupt neoliberal ideology), to defend it.   It was UK's PM this time, Boris Johnson, who used such an argument to defend the already dead capitalism. An argument coming straight from the dustbin of history and from the grave of one of the most unpopular and unsuccessful PMs in UK's history: Maggie, the Iron Lady. According to a Johnson's private call with Conservative MPs that has been circulated by the mainstream media, the British PM hailed the fact that more than 28 million people have been given a first jab in the UK, saying: “ The reason we have the vaccine success is because of capitalism, because of greed my friends. ”   The response to this BS not only came almost immediately, but it also came fr

Last week's cyberattack on an Iranian nuclear facility, reportedly by Israeli intelligence, is the latest gambit from the coalition of Israeli leaders, Christian fundamentalists, and hawkish Washington neocons who want to block a US return to the Iran nuclear agreement. If they're successful, millions of ordinary Iranians suffering under draconian sanctions will pay the price.   by Ariel Gold/Medea Benjamin   Just as talks between the United States and Iran were taking place last week in Vienna, a cyberattack was carried out on Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility. Reports are that the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, was behind the attack that blacked out the facility just one day after Tehran launched new advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges, and as US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was in Israel speaking about the United States’ “enduring and ironclad” commitment to the Jewish state. This is the latest in a series of Israeli attacks on Iran designed to scuttle negotiati

America’s Fight to Liberate Itself from the Grip of the Invisible Hand   Mike Konczal  Health insurance, student loan debt, retirement security, child care, work-life balance, access to home ownership—these are the issues driving America’s current political debates. And they are all linked, as this brilliant and timely book reveals, by a single question: should we allow the free market to determine our lives? In the tradition of Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine , noted economic commentator Mike Konczal answers this question with a resounding no.    Freedom from the Market blends passionate political argument and a bold new take on American history to reveal that, from the earliest days of the republic, Americans have defined freedom as what we keep free from the control of the market. With chapters on the history of the Homestead Act and land ownership, the eight-hour work day and free time, social insurance and Social Security, World War II day cares, Medicare and desegregation, free

Behind The Headlines   On March 30, several figures from the U.S. government-funded Uyghur Separatist Network demonstrated outside the Chinese Embassy, calling on the U.S. Congress to pass a bill targeting China. But it wasn’t only Uyghur separatists on hand – prominent Muslim figures including Nihad Awad, director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, joined the demonstration too. “Behind The Headlines” correspondent Dan Cohen spoke to participants and examined their claims.

globinfo freexchange     Μάλλιασε η γλώσσα του Βαρουφάκη, εδώ και ένα χρόνο, να ζητάει εξηγήσεις για τον λόγο που το καθεστώς Μητσοτάκη, εν μέσω πανδημίας, δεν παγώνει τον κατάπτυστο νόμο "Ηρακλής", που αφορά τα κόκκινα δάνεια και με τον οποίο, τα αρπακτικά ταμεία θα καρπωθούν τουλάχιστον 12 δισ. σε βάρος του Ελληνικού δημοσίου.   Φωνή βοώντος εν τη ερήμω. Ο Βαρουφάκης κοντεύει να καταντήσει γραφικός ζητώντας απαντήσεις από τους κυβερνητικούς "φωστήρες", αλλά εις μάτην. Ούτε φωνή, ούτε ακρόαση από τα Μητσοτακικά ανδρείκελα. Κάνουν πως δεν τον ακούνε, πως δεν υπάρχει καν στην αίθουσα του κοινοβουλίου. Και τι θα μπορούσαν να πούνε άλλωστε;    Υπενθυμίζουμε ότι, τον Δεκέμβριο του 2019, η κυβέρνηση Μητσοτάκη πέρασε ένα σχέδιο νόμου με την κωδική ονομασία "Ηρακλής", με στόχο να μειώσει το άνοιγμα των τραπεζών στα κόκκινα δάνεια. Σύμφωνα με το άρθρο 6, παράγραφος 1 του νόμου:                                Με απόφαση του Υπουργού Οικονομικών, που δημοσιεύεται

Corruption and supposed efforts to reduce it have become a neoconservative weapon of choice with which to operate the controls on the funding sluice gates to acolytes of the U.S.-led international neoconservative empire.   by Oliver Boyd-Barrett   Part 1 Within three months of the ascendancy of Joseph Biden to the presidency of the United States, the world teeters on the edge of nuclear war, whether by design or accident, as Russia reports that the U.S. is placing considerable pressure on Ukraine to attack the independent republics of the Donbass for which Russia provides logistical support. The U.S. European Command has raised its alert status to the highest level and warned of a “ potential imminent crisis. ” Mounting tension is an entirely foreseeable outcome of the sludge-like flow over the past four years of Democratic Party fables about Russia, RussiaGate, Ukraine, and U.S. national security, on behalf of the Incubus, a sordid network of military, defense and surveillance industr

With the potential comeback of Lula da Silva, Brazil may once again be on a path away from fascism and one that puts economic justice and anti-imperialism first.   by Alan Macleod   Part 3 - A towering figure Despite being coy about next year, Lula is behaving as if he is already president, releasing statements urging his countryfolk to wear masks and inviting U.S. President Joe Biden to an emergency coronavirus summit on vaccine equity. A towering figure in his homeland, the former street urchin and shoe-shine boy turned union leader was elected president in 2002 and served until 2011, leaving office with an 83% approval rating.    The economy grew steadily and poverty was halved under his stewardship. While the U.S. was invading Afghanistan and Iraq, Lula declared his own domestic war — against hunger. His signature policy was the Bolsa Família package; a deal whereby mothers were given cash transfers of up to $150 per month if they enrolled their children in school and ensured they

globinfo freexchange   It should be a big headline in every major media outlet. Yet, in the era of corporate feudalism (where the mainstream media are bought by big corporations), this story has passed almost unnoticed, despite the fact that it has been brought to light by a Prime Minister of a European country.   Almost buried in a "corner" of the Reuters website, the short report reveals that according to the Bulgarian PM Boyko Borissov, the EU is about to make a new deal with Pfizer-BioNTech for additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, at a significantly increased price:   The bloc is seeking the new supply deal with the two companies for up to 1.8 billion vaccines, of which is 900 million optional, to be delivered in 2022 and 2023, Reuters reported on Friday. Borissov, speaking on Sunday, said the EU was negotiating the new contract at a price of 19.5 euros ($23.22) per dose. “The prices are going up quickly,” Borissov said during a trip to a village in southern Bulga