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Corporatism and Fascism
Corporatism and Fascism
Individual Honor versus Unpleasant History The Battle Still Rages Over What Vietnam Means
By John Grant
"The experience we have of our lives from within, the story we tell ourselves about ourselves in order to account for what we are doing, is thus a lie -- the truth lies rather outside, in what we do."
-- Slavoj Zizek
More Controversial Obama Appointments
More Controversial Obama Appointments
by Stephen Lendman
Throughout his tenure, he ignored the best, brightest, most honorable and well qualified. He chose cabinet and other top picks he should have spurned.
Italians Reject Austerity
Italians Rejects Austerity
by Stephen Lendman
It's high time voters somewhere did. It transfers wealth to bankers, other corporate favorites and rich elites.
It wrecks economies. It creates poverty, unemployment and human misery. It turns countries into dystopian backwaters.
Imperial America's in Good Hands with Philip Gordon
Imperial America’s in Good Hands with Philip Gordon
by Stephen Lendman
He's an American diplomat. He's a foreign policy specialist. He's Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. His portfolio includes 50 countries.
He's moving on. More on that below.
Austerity When Stimulus Is Needed
Austerity When Stimulus Is Needed
by Stephen Lendman
On December 31, 1933, The New York Times published John Maynard Keynes "Open Letter" to Franklin Roosevelt.
On November 25, 2008, the London Guardian republished an abridged text. It urged:
Hawkish Senators Want War on Iran
Hawkish Senators Want War on Iran
by Stephen Lendman
Permanent war is official US policy. Bipartisan complicity supports it. Doing so violates international, constitutional and US statute laws.
America is a lawless rogue state. It's been so for decades. It's by far the world's worst. It wages war on humanity. It does it at home and abroad.
Supreme Court Authorizes Lawless Wiretapping
Supreme Court Authorizes Lawless Wiretapping
by Stephen Lendman
America's Supremes are notoriously hard right. Equal justice under law is just a figure of speech. Rule of law principles and egalitarian fairness don't matter. Power politics corrupts the High Court. It lacks legitimacy.
Droning On: The US and the M Word
By Dan DeWalt
‘If the President Does It, It Isn’t Illegal’
-- Richard M. Nixon
Hollywood-Style History
Hollywood-Style History
by Stephen Lendman
Hollywood's complicity with Washington is longstanding. Movie moguls are duplicitous. The only thing they like like better than good films are good deals.
Washington's requests are prioritized. Scripts feature pro-Western propaganda. "Operation Hollywood" explains.
America's Draconian Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
America's Draconian Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
by Stephen Lendman
It's an anti-hacking law. It criminalizes accessing computer systems "without authorization."
"(E)xceeds authorized access" terminology was left undefined. Misinterpretations and abuse followed. Overzealous prosecutors take full advantage.
Obama's Asia Pivot
Obama's Asia Pivot
by Stephen Lendman
In late 2011, Obama prioritized reasserting America's Pacific presence. His Asia pivot was announced.
It involves advancing America's military footprint. Doing so aggressively is planned. China's growing economic might and military strength are targeted. So is checking Russia at the same time.
University of Ottawa Racism, Censorship and Abuse of Power
University of Ottawa Racism, Censorship and Abuse of Power
by Stephen Lendman
In June 2008, Allan Rock became university president. He's a former Canadian politician and UN ambassador. He's a pro-Israeli flack. He supports its worst crimes.
His administration is unprincipled. It's marked by secrecy, political censorship, abuse of power, and repudiation of fundamental university values.
Sequester Chicken
Sequester Chicken
by Stephen Lendman
On March 1, $85 billion in automatic sequestered cuts are scheduled. Congress may or may permit them. Obama calls instituting them dire. On February 19, he said.
"(They) won't help the economy, won't create jobs, will visit hardship on a whole lot of people."
A new video by Class War Films: 'Financial Crime'
Class War Films, the brainchild of three filmmakers, Lanny Cotler, and Paul and Jason Edwards, have offered to provide ThisCantBeHappening! with occasional short videos on topics like this, military spending, political fraud, financial crime, etc. They are working on creating a website, which will be called ClassWarriors.org, which should be functioning "soon" we are informed.
We're happy here at TCBH! to be able to help get their films out to a wider public.
More Economic Straight Talk
More Economic Straight Talk
by Stephen Lendman
There's far too little of it around. TV talking heads shun it. All's well in the world, they say. They don't dare report accurately. Their jobs depend on manipulative deception.
Financial truisms bear repeating. Money creation madness assures trouble. Irrational exuberance follows. So do bubbles.
UNESCO Peace Prize to a War Criminal
UNESCO Peace Prize to a War Criminal
by Stephen Lendman
It shouldn't surprise. Nobel committee members prioritize doing it. America's Presidential Medal of Freedom honors genocidists. So does Israel's equivalent award.
UNESCO is the UN's educational, scientific and cultural organization. It stresses "building peace in the minds of men and women."
Talkin’ ‘bout My Generation: In Defense of Baby Boomers
By Dave Lindorff
I’m fed up with the trashing of the Baby Boom generation.
Sure you can find plenty of scoundrels, freeloaders, charlatans and thugs who were born between 1946 and 1964, but you can find bad and lazy people in every generation. In fact, the so called “Greatest Generation” who preceded the Boomers abounds in them. That doesn’t prove anything.
Targeting Jeremy Hammond
Targeting Jeremy Hammond
by Stephen Lendman
America is no democracy. It never was an isn't now. Obama enforces police state harshness. It's official policy. Lawless entrapment reflects it. More on that below.
CISPA Is Back
CISPA Is Back
by Stephen Lendman
It shouldn't surprise. The 2011 Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) never really went away. It ducked and covered for another day.
It's more about destroying personal freedom than online security. It gives government and corporate supporters unlimited power to access personal/privileged information online.
Aaron Schwartz and the Fight for Information Freedom
By Alfredo Lopez
In the madness of our media-fed consciousness, the greatest threat to an informative news story is time. Given enough time, and the dysfunctional and disinformative way the mainstream media cover news, even the most important and revealing story quickly dies out.
That is, unless we who use alternative media keep that story alive.
Israel's War Criminal of the Year Award
Israel's War Criminal of the Year Award
by Stephen Lendman
Imagining honoring crimes of war, against humanity and genocide. Imagine calling war on humanity honorable.
Imagine granting a nation's highest civilian award for waging it. It shouldn't surprise. Obama will receive Israel's Presidential Medal of Distinction. More on him below.
Straight Talk on US/Israeli Relations
Straight Talk on US/Israeli Relations
by Stephen Lendman
Harry Truman recognized Israel minutes after its May 14, 1948 independence was declared. He was the first world leader to do so.
Weeks earlier on March 25, he met secretly with Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann. He pledged support. A special bond was established.
Meet 6 Politicians Getting Rich from America's Endless Wars
War is a racket, and perpetual war is a money-printing machine. Though the defense industry as a whole contributes relatively little to members of Congress compared to, say, the pharmaceutical lobby, it remains an incredibly powerful and influential lobby. Below are the six members of the House whose primary industry donor in the 2012 election cycle was the "defense" sector. (Numbers are from the Center for Responsive Politics, unless otherwise noted.)
1. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA): $566,100 in 2012 cycle defense sector donations.
It's impossible to talk about defense industry beneficiaries without mentioning Buck McKeon. He became the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee in 2009, and then the chairperson after the GOP took the House in the 2010 election. Donations from the defense sector to his 2012 campaign dwarfed all other House campaigns, with McKeon bringing in a whopping $566,100.
That big pile of money certainly seems to have made McKeon a friend to the military. As part of the House, McKeon doesn't have the opportunity to vote on Defense Secretary nominee Chuck Hagel, but he still publicly opposed the appointment, due to Hagel's presumed willingness to back defense spending cuts. A statement on McKeon's website reads in part, “[Hagel's] refusal to shut the door on further defense cuts put him at stark odds with the current Defense Secretary and military leaders.” McKeon is also, predictably, against a round of planned automatic cuts to domestic spending and the military budget, known as the sequester, which he has said could “start costing lives.”
Regarding the US' longest war, McKeon thinks it hasn't gone on long enough. He has called the planned troop drawdown next year, “needlessly fraught with risk,” and said that “our hard-fought gains are fragile and reversible.” If that language sounds familiar, it's because he said almost the same thing regarding troops leaving Iraq. "I remain concerned that this full withdrawal of US forces will make that road tougher than it needs to be,” he said in a statement posted on his website. “These shortcomings could reverse the decade of hard work and sacrifice both countries have endured to build a free Iraq.”
McKeon is predictably hawkish on Iran, consistently supports providing military aid to Israel, and is in favor of expanding military powers as contained in the 2012 NDAA act, which critics say allows for the indefinite detention of US citizens by the military.
Economic Straight Talk
Economic Straight Talk
by Stephen Lendman
Things aren't as good as they seem. Dire economic conditions masquerade as sound. Media scoundrels twist reality.
Big Lies proliferate. Repetition convinces most people hard times are good or not as bad as their personal situations suggest.
Two Years of Bahraini State Terrorism
Two Years of Bahraini State Terrorism
by Stephen Lendman
February 14 marked the second anniversary of Bahrain's uprising. Earlier protests erupted sporadically.
In mid-February 2011, major ones did nonviolently. They continue virtually daily. At issue is King Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa's tyranny.
Escalating Tyranny in America
Escalating Tyranny in America
by Stephen Lendman
America's no democracy. It wasn't established to be one. It never was and isn't now.
Latter day framers today would be called a Wall Street crowd. They included money-lenders, investors, speculators, merchants, politicians, planters, and lawyers. High-mindedness wasn't on their agenda.
Medals for Murder
Medals for Murder
by Stephen Lendman
Extrajudicial killing is official US policy. Drone wars normalize it. Obama decides who lives or dies. He appointed himself judge, jury and executioner.
He's got final kill list authority. His secret memo authorized Anwar al-Awlaki's assassination. Anyone anywhere in the world can be murdered on his say.
LAPD High Crimes
LAPD High Crimes
by Stephen Lendman
Michael Ruppert is a former LAPD cop. He knows its dark side well. He witnessed it firsthand.
Obama's Failed State
Obama's Failed State
by Stephen Lendman
Obama's State of the Union address didn't surprise. It reflected rogue leadership. It was beginning-to-end demagogic boilerplate.
Defending the indefensible took center stage. Rhetoric substituted for progressive policies. Bombast assured business as usual.
The LAPD Got their Man How They Wanted Him: Dead
By Dave Lindorff
It was clear from the outset when fired LAPD cop Chris Dorner began his campaign of terror against his former employer that the California law enforcement establishment, led by the LAPD itself, had no interest in Dorner surviving to face trial where he could continue to rat out the racist and corrupt underbelly of the one of the country’s biggest police departments.
