Report Back from Venezuela

CODEPINK Venezuela image

I was on this trip. There is so much to report. The commune movement for local democracy and self-reliance is amazing with thousands of communes, both urban and rural, nationwide. Meanwhile this important work which is crucial for the future of humanity is being crushed by the sanctions imposed on Venezuela by the US government.

I encourage everybody to attend this webinar to learn the truth of what’s really going on in Venezuela. The lies perpetrated by the US government acting on behalf of the US-based oil companies and former Venezuelan oligarchs will be dispelled.

I Have a Dream

I hope to live so long so as to see a comparable sign somewhere here in the USA having staked out territory free from the subjugating, precarious, dehumanizing, kleptocratic, capitalist, fascist, police state we are living in at present.

Functional Definition of Fascism

CPAC and the fascist international

With the ascendency once again of fascism in the world, it is important to have a clear definition for fascism. The following definition developed by historian Robert Paxton in 2004 is in my opinion the best one I’ve yet come across:
“Fascism may be defined as a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraint, goals of internal cleansing and external expansion.”

British Court Approves Julian Assange Extradition to the US

File:Julian Assange - 9060712888 (cropped).jpg - Wikimedia Commons

The British court’s ruling to extradite Julian Assange to the United States to face charges there, boosts fascism and state secrecy, sending a chilling message to the practice of journalism everywhere. The vendetta against Julian, pursued by deranged actors inside the US government seeking revenge for his exposing their ‘secrets’, is being carried out.

Today is a low point in the history of press freedom and democracy. Without a free press reporting on state actions, government can perpetrate atrocities in our name, without our consent, undermining our safety and security.

Once regarded as a paragon of  press freedom supporting democracy in the world, with this act, the United States government is following in the tradition of the worst of fascist states in their destruction of a free press. Long live the free and unfettered press!

A People’s Guide to the War Industry

A People’s Guide to the War Industry is an excellent series about the war industry with truth telling like you’ve never heard before. Imagine if even a fraction of these resources were reallocated to just, peaceful, compassionate & caring causes…

Why is the “…world is failing to grasp the extent of threats posed by biodiversity loss and the climate crisis?” This is no simple question and the answer is complicated. One part of the answer for me comes from a book I read years ago entitled Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. If you haven’t yet read this book, you might want to consider it.

Excerpts from this newly published report: “Environmental deterioration is infinitely more threatening to civilisation than Trumpism or Covid-19…” and “Dealing with the enormity of the problem requires far-reaching changes to global capitalism, education and equality…”