Quod ratio non quid, saepe sanavit mora

I wasn't really sure how to title this post, which is chiefly about what I believe was the final 'column' of Consortium News founder Bob Parry, before his untimely death on January 27, 2018. It is an outstandingly honest, determinative, yet at the same time very disquieting, manifesto on the demise of journalism in the United States which requires a complete reading from start to finish (easily done in one sitting). If I were to go against my better judgement and highlight a small piece of the manifesto, it would be the following:

What is perhaps most alarming about the past year of Donald Trump is that the mask is now gone and, in many ways, all sides of Official Washington are revealed collectively as reflections of Donald Trump, disinterested in reality, exploiting “information” for tactical purposes, eager to manipulate or con the public. While I’m sure many anti-Trumpers will be deeply offended by my comparison of esteemed Establishment figures with the grotesque Trump, there is a deeply troubling commonality between Trump’s convenient use of “facts” and what has pervaded the Russia-gate investigation.

It isn't just the narrow issue of Russia-gate, nor for that matter Ukraine-gate, which has supplanted or perniciously extended the former, that concerns me here. It even extends beyond the mostly "bi-polarized" political context that Parry refers to in his excellent manifesto on journalism. In fact, Parry hints at it when he mentions Seymour Hersh, and the staging of the chemical weapons attacks in Syria. Perhaps one positive (and accidental) outcome of the whole Trump affair is the sudden return to prominence of the term "Deep State". While necessarily ambiguous a term, the amorphous and secretive "Deep State" manifests itself concretely and precisely through journalism - that of the establishment or "mainstream" media.

It is an uphill battle to effectively thwart the lies, half-truths and outright propaganda of the mainstream media. Yet it becomes a necessity in a world of false flags, used to justify innumerable wrongs. Nonetheless as difficult and "uphill" a task it may be, one must be relentless. Why? In the end, quod ratio non quid, saepe sanavit mora!

Remembering George Duke

Fabulous recording of...:

George Duke was born in San Rafael, California and raised in Marin City. At four years old he became interested in the piano. His mother took him to see Duke Ellington in concert and told him about this experience. "I don't remember it too well, but my mother told me I went crazy. I ran around saying 'Get me a piano, get me a piano!'" He began his formal piano studies at the age of 7 at a local Baptist church.

Talk about musical empathy among band members!

My message is simple: VOTE FOR BERNIE

The Outcome of the Special Counsel Investigation (ie. "Russiagate")

It is time for the final word on the Special Counsel investigation conducted by special prosecutor Robert Mueller from May 2017 to March 2019. The report, which purported to get to the bottom of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and suspicious links between Trump associates and Russian officials, was finally released, hence the curtain can finally be brought down on the whole affair. In this respect, the assessment by British former diplomat turned political activist, human rights campaigner, blogger and whistleblower, Craig Murray, hits the nail squarely on the head:

Mueller, as a matter of determined policy, omitted key steps which any honest investigator would undertake. He did not commission any forensic examination of the DNC servers. He did not interview Bill Binney. He did not interview Julian Assange. His failure to do any of those obvious things renders his report worthless.

Unfortunately, we know ahead of time that the curtain most certainly won't be brought down on this whole affair. In fact it will fester and grow well into the future. The reason for that is laid out succinctly in the following *MUST-WATCH* video.



By the way, as a footnote, there is something absolutely profound that Gabor Maté says at 25:33 on the above video concerning 'disillusionment': "Would you rather be illusioned or disillusioned?". I recognized it right away as the identical point made by my mentor and friend Calvin Hernton during a discussion in one of the Black Literature classes he gave us in college back in the late seventies.

The Old and the New in the Year of the Pig

With the new year almost upon us, some green shoots are appearing to signal the renewal of the (human) spirit:

The feeling of commiseration is the beginning of humanity; the feeling of shame and dislike is the beginning of righteousness; the feeling of deference and compliance is the beginning of propriety; and the feeling of right or wrong is the beginning of wisdom. ~~ Mencius

Of course, the new "geen shoots" I am referring to are these: "Kudos to the New York Times for hiring [Michelle] Alexander as a columnist and letting her say this...:"

[Martin Luther King’s] was a lonely, moral stance. And it cost him. But it set an example of what is required of us if we are to honor our deepest values in times of crisis, even when silence would better serve our personal interests or the communities and causes we hold most dear. It’s what I think about when I go over the excuses and rationalizations that have kept me largely silent on one of the great moral challenges of our time: the crisis in Israel-Palestine.
I have not been alone. Until very recently, the entire Congress has remained mostly silent on the human rights nightmare that has unfolded in the occupied territories. Our elected representatives, who operate in a political environment where Israel’s political lobby holds well-documented power, have consistently minimized and deflected criticism of the State of Israel, even as it has grown more emboldened in its occupation of Palestinian territory and adopted some practices reminiscent of apartheid in South Africa and Jim Crow segregation in the United States.
Many civil rights activists and organizations have remained silent as well, not because they lack concern or sympathy for the Palestinian people, but because they fear loss of funding from foundations, and false charges of anti-Semitism. They worry, as I once did, that their important social justice work will be compromised or discredited by smear campaigns.
Similarly, many students are fearful of expressing support for Palestinian rights because of the McCarthyite tactics of secret organizations like Canary Mission, which blacklists those who publicly dare to support boycotts against Israel, jeopardizing their employment prospects and future careers.

More HERE.

Elsewhere, however, things remain unperturbed in their darkness:

We now have proof that the U.S. has been dispatching New Zealand human intelligence officers, sending them on overseas missions. And not simply to Afghanistan or Iraq. But in one case, to infiltrate a multitude of political parties contesting the 2012 Presidential elections of an ally – France.

I seem to recall officials of the U.S. government accusing another government of precisely this behavior.

What more can we witness amidst this darkness?:

A further WikiLeaks release shows that the U.S. weren’t only involving New Zealand in spying on France for political reasons alone. They were ordering us to steal commercial and trade secrets as well.

Oh, really?

Wasn't a foreign firm accused in the U.S.A. of doing just that?

According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, U.S. federal prosecutors are preparing a criminal indictment against Huawei for stealing trade secrets. The report, which cites sources with knowledge of the indictment, specifically mentions Huawei’s actions surrounding a T-Mobile smartphone testing tool known as “Tappy.” The report notes that the current investigation is far enough along that an indictment may come soon.

Pot bottom calling the kettle black? Whence will renewal be complete?