Podcast correction: I misspoke when talking about Imam Gulen’s charter schools in the United States. I said that he operated thousands of schools. He actually operates over a hundred. Sorry for that gross mischaracterization.
As I said in the podcast there is a lot of information here. The show notes provide all of the articles that I discussed in the podcast. I have also provided some really excellent resource pages on Graham Fuller and Imam Gulen for those interested. And for anyone that truly wants to understand the reality of the “war on terror” and how it functions I have provided a link to an incredible interview series between James Corbett and Sibel Edmonds on Gladio B.
This is an update to my most recent post on the recent presidential election in Venezuela. As I stated previously the corporate/controlled American media will soon be espousing rhetoric about election fraud. Anytime a nation that is critical of western hegemony has an election the talking head all complain that is was not free and fair. Inevitably they proclaim how wonderful and fair Americas electoral system is. Anyone out there with a half a brain knows this to be totally false. But for those who don’t know, or aren’t convinced, I implore you to check out Bev Harris’ website http://www.blackboxvoting.org/
It is an invaluable resource on the rampant fraud that takes place within Americas electoral system. Bev Harris documents numerous local, state, national elections where democracy has been circumvented. Much of this revolves around the ubiquitous electronic voting machines being used in America. Most of the machines are produced by a single company, Diebold, which has a long history of covering up flaws within their operating systems. The site includes a PDF copy of Bev Harris’ excellently researched book, “Black Box Voting Book”, as well as links to numerous videos documenting voter manipulation and fraud. Many Americans will be horrified at the level or corruption that takes place in our electoral system. All elections that use electronic voting machines are fraudulent. The data is easily manipulated or changed in favor of one candidate over the other. So before condemning Venezuela lets take a minute and look at our own voting system.
Here is a great interview that Lew Rockwell conducted with Bev Harris on the whole issue. It is a great introduction to electronic voter manipulation.
I also suggest watching the HBO documentary “Hacking Democracy.” This film features Bev Harris and her crusade to educate people to the dangers of electronic voting machines. It seems as if the full version is no longer available on YouTube. But I will try and find another free copy of the film. Check in for updates on that within the next few days.
The votes are for the Venezuelan presidential election. 78.71% or eligible voters participated in the highly charged election. 99.12% of the votes have been counted, with Maduro scraping by with 50.66% of the votes versus Caprilles 49.07%. According to the script Caprilles has leveled numerous accusations of voter fraud and irregularities against the Chavistas. There’s just no way that the people of Venezuala could possibly have made the decision to willingly vote for Maduro. No never! It must have been fraud.
In the very near future we can expect the corporate/controlled media here to start spouting off nonsense about the dictatorial tactics of Chavez’s protege. The attacks against the late Chavez, and the Bolivarian movement as a whole, have been relentless. Apparently the taboo of speaking ill of the dead only extends to Maggie Thatcher. The fact that 200 international observers have signed off on the recent election means nothing to the likes of FOX News, CNN, MSNBC, New York Times, and especially the White House. Of course when Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi ran for president in Yemen, in an election where he was the only candidate on the ballot, the likes of Hillary Clinton and Nobel Peace prize murder Barack Obama proclaimed the election “free and fair”.
The knee jerk reaction of those in America to condemn Maduro illustrates the level of pervasive propaganda against those who stand against US imperialism. We are inundated with a constant stream of lies and distortions meant to fool us into thinking that a corporate stooge of America is somehow good for the people of Venezuela. Now let me be absolutely clear here; I am not now nor have I ever been a supporter of Chavez and his movement. People who read this blog will know that I not only oppose socialism but all forms of government authority. The state is the most destructive instrument that mankind has invented. There is no doubt that Chavez was a great lover of the state and it’s numerous tentacles of control and coercion. Yet, the constant attacks against him by the American media an public sicken me more than Chavez ever could. There is one reason and one reason only for this relentless assault on Venezuela. Chavez was against western imperialism and dominance over his country and people. Let me repeat that again for clarity. Chavez was against letting his nation become a puppet of Washington, and having its resources exploited by western corporations. For that noble act we are expected to condemn him as a ruthless dictator who wants to destroy America. Just as with Iran, the mere fact that Chavez did not play ball with us is enough to make Washington foam at the mouth. Again this is not some sort of endorsement of Chavez and his movement. Many anti-imperialists seem to think that they are supposed to support Chavez and his policies by default because he was against western aggression. This is one of the biggest fallacies with in the anti-imperialist movement. Just because your against American hegemony doesn’t mean your some of commie.
There is no doubt that Chavez was authoritarian. His complete take over of media and the spiraling level of gang violence and murder in the country are just two of the more disconcerting aspects of his legacy. But Chavez was no more dictatorial than the western/US backed regimes in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Yemen, Iraq, Libya, Columbia, Honduras, Turkey, Uzbekiatan, Tajikistan, Kazhakstan, and Afghanistan to name just a few.
So on this post election day why not take a second and think critically for a change. You may be pleasantly surprised.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has fast become the corporate controlled medias go to source on violence inside the country. Every major newspaper and outlet uses their “reports” to determine the death toll of civilians inside Syria. Surprise surprise, it turns out that they are funded by the EU and an unnamed European country. The unnamed country is most likely Great Britain, and this has been widely known by anyone with a functioning brain. The New York Times, as always about two years too late, has revealed to the general public that in fact the Syrian Observatory is nothing more than a western funded propaganda machine. The fact that the Observatory is nothing more than a sole individual named Rami Abdul Rahman who relies on Skype conversations still seems to not be an issue for media organizations and the corporate/government funded “Human Rights groups.” As Tony Cartalucci points out in a recent article, people seem to have forgotten that the evidence that “Curve Ball” and Dr. Silman Bouchuiquir have turned out to be nothing more than lies and distortions. No doubt the NYT and others will continue to quote this lying warmonger as they function as nothing more than a stenographer for the power elite.
It is really no surprise that in the very near future New York City will have military style drones flying all over the place as the New York Post just reported. Unfortunately New York has fast become one of the least free cities in the US when it comes to privacy and basic civil rights. It is even less surprising that the Dear Leader of New York, Kim Jong Bloomberg, is so flippant about the whole affair. Speaking on his weekly radio show the dictator of New York had these wonderful things to say about the prospect of the completion of the security state in New York City:
“You can’t keep the tides from coming in…”
Yes you can. That is in effect why your are mayor. To stop the tides of oppression and surveillance of the citizens of new York City.
“We’re going to have more visibility and less privacy. I just don’t see how you could stop that”
You could do your job and protect the good people of New York and not let drones monitor everything we do.
“It’s scary. What’s the difference if a drone is up in the air or on a building”
There isn’t much of a difference except that drones can be outfitted with missiles designed to obliterate people. But at least he admits its scary.
“I mean, intellectually, I have trouble making a distinction. And you know you’re going to have face recognition software. People are working on that.”
Again really horrifying.
“The argument against using automation, it’s this craziness– oh, it’s big brother. Get used to it. When there’s a murder, a shooting, a robbery of something the first thing the police do is go to every single building in the neighborhood and say let’s see your security camera,”
With this statement the Dear Leader basically shows his true colors. Stop whining about having no privacy and submit to the power of the security state. This is all to help victims of murder, robbery, and shootings (presumably shootings of either cops or white people in New York) These drones flying are not going to be for spying on Muslims or political dissidents such as those in the Occupy movement. This is the classic “we are just doing this for your safety” excuse. When the drones do come to New York, those pushing for them will assure us that all the proper oversight will be followed and no abuses will take place. And of course if your not doing anything wrong then you don’t have anything to worry about. Right?
According to the government stenographers at the LA Times the CIA is in the process of setting up a drone program in Syria. You can basically hear the CIA officers dictating what to say to the “journalists”. This marks the third such “exclusive” by a western news outlet purporting to show the links between the rebels/foreign terrorists in Syria and America and Europe. The Guardian recently reported that the the French, British and American government were arming and training rebels in Jordan to go and fight in Syria. Of course anyone who reads the alternative media already knew that this was the case a long time ago. Sibel Edmonds and James Corbett reported on the West training and arming militants in Jordan 15 months before the Guardian and Der Spiel were instructed by foreign intelligence agencies to report it. True to form as a collaborator in the Western imperialist campaign, the LA Times frames the new drone program as a contingency plan to safeguard America from Al Qaeda and “extremists” operating in Syria. Alas this is just cover for America and Western Europe’s imperialist crusade against the rest of the world.
For an article without western spin I would read this one from RT.
After hemming and hawing about the hunger strike in the Guantanamo Bay prison, the US government has finally admitted that there are in fact prisoners on hunger strike. As with all scandals involving the state the government is attempting to downplay this as much as possible. It is only conceding that 14 inmates are on hunger strike. This is in stark contrast with what the detainee’s lawyers are saying. According to several lawyers representing the 166 individuals held with out trial, around 130 prisoners in Camp 6 are on hunger strike. Lawyers have claimed that several of the individuals were coughing up blood, as well as looking emaciated. The freedom loving US government flippantly states this is a fabrication. Guantanamo spokesman Navy Capt. Robert Durand had this to say in regards to the hunger strike “Refusing prepared meals and choosing to subsist for a time on snack foods does not constitute a hunger strike.”
In other words, nothing to see here people. You can go back to worrying about Lil Wayne and stop wondering what happens in a highly secret military prison where 166 men languish in legal limbo. There are only a few inmates refusing food and they are sneaking potato chips and cookies when no one is looking.
Dear faithful readers of Porkins Policy Review I will be featuring a podcast in the very near future. I am in the midst of researching and setting up the podcast as we speak. Hopefully there will be a new podcast every 2 weeks, but don’t quote me on that. The topics will mostly be on geopolitical such as AFRICOM, Global War on Terror, government drug trafficking, national security state etc. I will also be focusing on more domestic issues such as the left right political paradigm, influence of Big Pharma on America, predictive programing. You get the idea. I really hope that the readers of this blog will take the time and give the podcast a chance.
I can tell you now that the first podcast will be discussing the issue of western backed destabilization in countries such as Mali, Malaysia, Syria, Balochistan, and Iran.
The Freedom of The Press Foundation obtained an unedited audio recording of Bradley Manning’s full statement he made in court two weeks ago. Please go and listen to it. This is the first time we have had an opportunity to hear PFC. Manning explain in his own words why he did what he did.
Porkins Policy Review 