Putin and Catalonia

Thomas Riggins

Anything that weakens NATO and the UE and splits the unity of the ruling capitalist group in the West -- such as secessionist movements, rogue political parties on the left (not the fascist groups) should be encouraged because it discomforts the number one imperialist world alliance headed by the U.S. Turnabout is fair play and Russia is still smarting from the US/NATO break up of Yugoslavia and Serbia and its coup in Ukraine against the legally elected president because he wouldn't break friendly relations with Russia and become a EU puppet. The Russian bourgeoisie is infinitely weaker than the transnational monopoly capitalist bourgeoisie which controls the globalized world economy and is headed by the US financial capitalists and their allies and can be used as an unwitting Trojan Horse by the left. El País, by the way, is a mouthpiece for the monopoly capitalists and no friend of the real left as are most Social Democrats and Center or Center/Left alliances: "The paper has criticized figures such as Che Guevara and his idea of armed struggle.More recently, it has also shown its clear opposition to the popular leftist movement in Spain Podemos.El País has also been critical of the so-called "populist left" in Latin America. In April 2002, it termed the failed coup in Venezuela as a "coup against a tyrant", accusing Hugo Chávez of authoritarianism and of eliminating the separation of powers.[46] The paper criticized Chávez again regarding the Venezuelan constitutional referendum of 2007, accusing him of holding the referendum without the least "minimal guarantees", of restricting the actions of the National Electoral Council, and of tampering with the electoral roll.[47] The Venezuelan government, through the Ministry of Popular Power for Communication and Information, considers El País to be one of the Spanish newspapers most critical of the left-wing governments of Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Bolivia."-Wikepedia

Putin encourages independence movement via envoy to Catalonia

Dimitri Medoyev, from partially recognized republic of South Ossetia, arrived this week in Barcelona for meetings with business figures

ELPAIS.COM

Bugs' Fate is Our Fate

Thomas riggins

"Bugs" may not be our favorite animals but we are part of the same web of life and the bugs are telling us something about our fate as well. Birds eat bugs and so we have another article: "Global BIRD POPULATIONS Face Dramatic Decline In Coming ...
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/12/..." and" World's OCEANS in 'shocking' decline - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13796479
Jun 19, 2011 · World's oceans in 'shocking' decline. ... they warn that ocean life is "at ... the environmental changes are much more rapid," Professor Rogers told BBC News." "And World WILDLIFE populations halved in 40 years - told BBC News
www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29418983
World wildlife populations halved in 40 ... of FISH populations if we are to have an accurate picture of the rate of population decline for species in that ..." And Decline of Earth's PLANT LIFE threatens human life
www.peoplesworld.org/article/decline-of-earth-s-plant...
A recent scientific study comparing the role of plants in the sustainability of life on Earth and the current rapid destruction of such life has convinced many ..." ECT., etc. 

Planet Earth is suffering a sickness unto death and we humans (specifically our capitalist world order) is responsible for this environmental disaster due to human caused climate change. Our response? We install a President who is a climate denier and who puts climate deniers in charge of every agency and department of government designed to protect the environment -- Trump is an existential threat to the existence of the entire human race -- but not as an individual but as a representative of the economic and political forces of U.S. and ultimately trans national financial (monopoly) capitalism. Our solution -- to fritter around trying to figure out which corporate Democrat with which to replace him (smell the coffee: all the Democrats are corporate since, whatever their domestic views, they all support the military industrial complex, military expansion and NATO [even Bernie!] and fighting the fossil fuel industry and international capital is all sound and fury, signifying nothing: our last best hope is the new rebirth of the international Communist and workers movement, the leftward change going on in China, and the growth, small as it is -- but growing -- of socialist consciousness in the U.S. -- and this should be the major thrust of the CP since the DSA will only lead people down a blind alley -- it's do or die folks.

More than 75 percent decrease in total flying insect biomass over 27 years across Germany: Changes in weather, land use, habitat do not explain overall decline

SCIENCEDAILY.COM

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Ex Oriente Lux?

Thomas Riggins

"In his speech, Mr. Xi referred repeatedly to social tensions unleashed by economic inequality, pollution and inadequate access to health care, schools and housing." The real test for President Xi is how he solves these problems -- the solution to which is the true test of a committment to socialism. We have been told socialism is good in theory but doesn't work in practice, well China may be the last chance to make it work in practice so let's root for him. The West had ended up with Trump and the future of humanity appears to be doom and gloom -- it's time once again for ex Oriente lux.

Xi Jinping Opens China’s Party Congress, His Hold Tighter Than Ever

Warning of deep and complicated changes but describing the outlook as “extremely bright,” the president is set to make himself the indispensable man.

NYTIMES.COM

Inside the DPRK via The New York Times

"The North Koreans insist that the U.S. make the first move and drop its sanctions and “hostile attitude” — which won’t happen." Well, this is what should happen. The world's greatest military power and most aggressive country, which doesn't hesitate to overthrow governments and invade countries to further its own interests, is threatening to wipe out a small country with a population smaller than Texas, has caused this crisis by constantly threatening and provoking the North Koreans with joint military games with South Korea, publicly announcing a first strike nuclear policy, and stationing its armed forces in adjacent countries for the purpose of imperialist control of the Pacific region under the guise of "defense." War or peace is our hands and we should make the first moves and drop our hostile attitude and work to have normal diplomatic relations with the DPRK. (Mr. Kristof's first two recommendations for solving the crisis are good but the four additional recommendations are part and parcel of the hostile and unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of another country which the U.S. thinks it has the right to do. Let the U.S. mind its own business and let the North Koreans deal with their internal affairs themselves.)

Opinion | Inside North Korea, and Feeling the Drums of War

A visit to the reclusive country reveals the perilous moment we’re in.

NYTIMES.COM

Who is Provoking Whom: Donald Trump vs Kim Jong-un?

Why does the Times say "North Korea has provoked a conflict with the United States and its Asian allies in recent weeks with its sixth test of a nuclear bomb and its first successful tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles that could potentially deliver a warhead to the United States mainland." Why not "the United States has provoked North Korea by refusing to agree to a no nuclear first strike policy, by stationing nuclear weapons in the seas and islands around North Korea, in staging joint war games with South Korea practicing how to invade North Korea." It's obvious who is the bully and who wants a war. Pogo got it right all those years ago.

Trump Says Tillerson Is ‘Wasting His Time’ on North Korea

Undercutting his secretary of state, the president told him not to bother with negotiations. “Save your energy Rex,” he wrote on Twitter.

NYTIMES.COM|BY DAVID SANGER

More US Provocations Worsen Korean Crisis

Thomas Riggins

I don't know why so many people seek to equate Kim Jong-un with Donald Trump. We know from our own experience that Mr. Trump is a problematic leader but we don't know anything about Mr. Kim except what our own hostile media chooses to report or what South Korean Intelligence informs us of. What we do know is diplomacy has failed because President Bush called it off and the US hasn't moved to restart it and if the US bullies and threatens North Korea the way it has Panama, Libya, and other countries that Mr. Kim won't be bullied. This whole crisis was the doing of US misleadership.



North Korea Says It Has the Right to Shoot Down U.S. Warplanes
The country’s foreign minister also said the North considered President Trump’s threatening comments about the country and its leadership “a declaration of war.”
NYTIMES.COM

North Korea Is Not The Problem

Thomas Riggins

This article is really slanted against the North Koreans: "rogue dictator," etc., why not "rogue president" for Trump (leaving the Paris climate agreement). The North Koreans are making rational demands and the US is refusing to act rationally . They have agreed to negotiate for an end to their nuclear weapons program for 1. a no first strike guarantee from the US; 2. an end to provocative joint military exercises with the South Koreans (war games to threaten the North); 3. initiate steps to sign a peace treaty to officially end the state of war leading to normal diplomatic relations. The only "rogue" behavior is the US refusing every rational solution to the problem and insisting that North Korea give up its major defensive bargaining chip against continual US bullying (its weapons program) before we will negotiate! Anyone with a half a brain can see this whole problem is the result of the US wanting to throw its weight around in this region (as in every other) of the world. North Korea is not the problem.

Trump Says U.S. Is Paying ‘Extortion Money’ to North Korea

In a Twitter post, the president said the country has been paying North Korea for 25 years, though it was not clear what money he was referring to.

NYTIMES.COM

Trumpty Dumpty After Charlottesville

Trumpty Dumpty sat in his bower,

Trumpty Dumpty fell out of his tower,

And all of Fox News and the President's men

Couldn't put Trumpty Dumpty together again.

Russia-gate and the Democrats (Robert Parry's View)

Thomas Riggins

We can thank the Clintoncrat leadership in the DP and Congress as well as the GOP for the war rhetoric or worse surrounding the DPRK"s defense program. I hope the elements on the left that still mourn for the HRC gang will abandon their support for US imperialism (objectively if not subjectively) and get back to supporting working class internationalism. HRC was a necessary evil in the fight to prevent Trump's victory, now she is an unnecessary evil and we should acknowledge the fact and get on with the fight against Trump.

Russia-gate's Fatally Flawed Logic

Exclusive: By pushing the Russia-gate “scandal” and neutering President Trump’s ability to conduct diplomacy, Democrats and Congress have encouraged his war-making side on North Korea, writes Robert Parry. By Robert Parry There was always…

CONSORTIUMNEWS.COM

Russia worse off without the USSR by Thomas Riggins

This article indicates that the decline of Russia, despite its resurgent military, is entirely due to the fall of the Soviet Union and abolishment of Soviet socialism based on central planning (which allowed Russia to rise from a semi-feudal backwards peasant country to a major industrialized world power) and its replacement by a capitalist economic system manipulated by oligarchs. The NYT, of course, doesn't put it quite that way, but it's there if you read between the lines (it's the unconscious subtext).

Russia’s Villages, and Their Way of Life, Are ‘Melting Away’

Contrary to President Vladimir V. Putin’s claims of population growth, rural areas — long considered the wellspring of Russian culture and identity — are dying.

NYTIMES.COM

Cold War Games

Thomas Riggins

Just substitute USA for Russia, CIA for KGB and other relevent substitutions and this article could be a Russian oped about the US and its attempts to interfer and subvert the Russian government. This is what the cold war was all about and it really is not in Russia's interests to start it up again but it seems that both military and political forces in the USA that benefited and profited from the cold war would like to restart it. The Russians are reacting to our pokes and pushes, they are not deliberately trying to antagonize us. (New York Times Comments)

Opinion | The Russians Were Involved. But It Wasn’t About Collusion.

Russian intelligence was probably behind Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with Kremlin-linked people last year, and they meant for it to be discovered.

NYTIMES.COM

Richard Dawkins and Free Speech

Thomas Riggins

Considering all the different views people have it seems impossible not to express religious and political views that might "hurt people." Richard Dawkins has said some incredibility stupid things about Islam and Moslems but should he be banned from giving a talk on evolution, or science, or atheism when he is internationally recognized as a scholar in these fields? 

The station's general manager says “We believe that it is our free speech right not to participate with anyone who uses hateful or hurtful language against a community that is already under attack.” So he cancelled Dawkins' talk. His comment amounts to "We believe in free speech as long as we agree with it." Well we couldn't use "hurtful" language against the Nazi movement since it's a community being attacked.
Granted that as a scientist Dawkins should not get carried away with his emotions and make really dumb unscientific pronouncements about Islam but pointing them out should be sufficient remedy without attacking free speech rights.
Examples: Nobody calling himself a "rationalist" would make this stupid Dawkins tweet: "I think Islam is the greatest force for evil in the world today. I've said so, often and loudly." There is no such thing "Islam" tout court -- there are Sunni's, and Shites, and Alawites, and Sufi's, etc., and many permutations of all the above -- saints and sinners just like any other group of humans. Such a general tweet is just foolish ("evil" isn't even a useful term for a rationalist).
" In 2015, he wondered whether Ahmed Mohamed — the boy in Texas who was suspended after bringing a homemade clock to school that officials said resembled a bomb — wanted to get arrested given that the episode led to an invitation to the White House and crowdfunding." Dawkins must think the young man has prescience.
Just like the rest of us Dawkins says stupid things and doesn't always let logic and science overrule his emotions. As a "passionate rationalist" we can hope he will be more rational and less passionate but even if he isn't he shouldn't be censored and have his talks canceled by hypocrites.

Richard Dawkins Event Canceled Over Past Comments About Islam

A Berkeley radio station canceled an event promoting Mr. Dawkins’s new book, citing past comments and tweets that it said had “hurt people.”

NYTIMES.COM

Chit-Chat or After Dinner Conspiracy?

Thomas Riggins

Undisclosed? They sat and talked in full few of the people at the dinner. This article is so slanted it looks like the liberal version of a report by Bill Riley. Look at this ridiculous comment the NYT reproduces from one of its hearsay sources who wasn't even there: “We have the worst relationship as a country right now with Russia that we have in decades, and yet we have these two leaders that, for reasons that do not make sense and have not been explained to anyone’s satisfaction, are hellbent on adoring each other,” Mr. Bremmer said. “You can take everything that’s been given to us, and it doesn’t add up.” Really? 1. It makes perfect sense to try and improve the "worse relationship" so Trump's initiating a one on one talk at a dinner is a positive development. The idea that he was lured into this by Putin (expressed elsewhere in the article) is laughable -- he went over to talk with him on his own. 2. Nothing either of them has done indicates that Putin is "hellbent on adoring" Trump (or vice versa). This is just propagandist hyperbole more suited to the NY Post but becoming more frequent these days in the NYT as well. What doesn't add up is the nonsense passing as "news" concerning Russia and Putin in the mainstream media. There are millions of our fellow citizens completely ignorant of anything going on outside of their own backyards, their occasional contact with the press should alleviate not reinforce this ignorance. They should especially check out, online, The People's World (while occasionally succumbing to this meme it provides a much more realistic portrayal of realty than the mainstream corporate reality).

Trump and Putin Held a Second, Undisclosed, Private Conversation

There is no official American record of the prolonged discussion between the two presidents on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit meeting.

NYTIMES.COM

Democratic Party Base Must Oust Corporate Leadership

Thomas Riggins

There are two sides to every story and this one by Robert Parry (one of our best investigative reporters) points out that while the Clinton campaign, and past presidential candidates, have all engaged in the same kind of "dirt search" as Trump Jr, the Russiangate narrative of the corporate media and reactionary Clinton-wing of the DP is ignoring the past to make Trump's behavior stand out. Seen in historical context, this is what is going on. Trump is an ultra-right domestic extremist who has an anti-working class agenda and must be fought against with all means possible. The focus must be on his disastrous environmental policies and betrayal of the interests of the people on behalf of private business interests. The DP under Clinton essentially abandoned its alliance with working people and sought a new base in the upper middle class professionals and moderate to liberal independents. A major sector of the US economy is based on the military industrial complex [MIC] and prospers from military spending and the active promotion of armed conflicts and confrontations around the world. The MIC uses three main sticks to beat the American people into line in supporting its goals --1) Iran is one of the major sources of Islamic terrorism and is a major threat to the US, 2) Russian aggression is an on going problem and needs to be constantly resisted, 3) China is a growing threat to American interests. All three of these are political myths to keep the MIC in power and to befool the American people. The Clinton wing of the DP and the Republican establishment promote all three of these myths as does the corporate mass media. Trump is not a whole hearted supporter of #'s 2 and 3 (as were the Clintons, Bush and Obama) and the MIC worries that real rapprochement with Russia and not confronting the growing power of China will threatened its monopoly of power and wealth. This entire attempt to drum up a new cold war and new McCarthyism with regard to Putin is based on this and has two aims 1. to whip Trump into line or replace him with Pence 2. to sabotage the resistance of the American people to the dominance of the ultra-right by keeping the Clinton corporate wing of the DP in the leadership position of the party (which is manifested by trying to split the popular fightback by advocating alliance with the reactionary corporatist Democrats instead of exposing them for they are). The left should ignore the Russiagate red herring and concentrate on the domestic struggle against Trumpism and continue to support the peace movement internationally.

consortiumnews.com

CONSORTIUMNEWS.COM

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Academic Effort and Social Class

Thomas Riggins

"What this implies is that in order to promote meaningful sustained academic effort, researchers, educators and policymakers should consider what sorts of systemic changes to the educational environment might provide these students with concrete routes to mobility that are viable for students from their backgrounds." [In our capitalist caste system background is usually destiny.]
Beautiful! Educate the poor for "viable routes to mobility" considering their low social economic status. We already have a defacto two tier educational system -- one for the well off and one for those who wait on them (and a diminishing middle class of waiters striving to become more waited upon).
This article shows that those groups within our capitalist society that do poorly academically do so because society has stacked the chips against them and they know it. The social "science" solution of the bourgeoisie is not to get rid of capitalism but to modify "the educational environment" to make the poor better satisfied with their role at the bottom of the heap. Betsy DeVos is doing her job.

Academic motivation suffers when economic mobility seems out of reach: Students' beliefs about the possibility of social mobility have significant consequences

SCIENCEDAILY.COM

Trump. the NYT, and the Great Hearsay Email

1. The email itself wasn't sent by any Russian entity but by "Rob Goldstone, a publicist and former British tabloid reporter."
2. The email doesn't seem to be available so we have to rely on the hearsay evidence of " three people with knowledge of the email."
3. There is no evidence that this incidence has anything to do with the alleged hacking of computers by the Russian government.
4. It seems Goldstone sent his email based on hearsay he got from a chain of other people with hearsay evidence: ''One person who was briefed on the emails said it appeared that he was passing along information that had been passed through several others.'' I.e., the NYT story is about hearsay about an email containing hearsay.
5. The rest of the article is speculation about who said what and why to Mr Goldstone and what sort of information was involved other than what might have been some secret financing from Russia to the Clinton campaign (no interest in following up on that).
6. As to the notion that a political campaign might be interested to checking out some info to get dirt on another campaign, the NYT thinks " such a meeting was unusual for a political campaign.'' Really. The morally pristine high standards of American politicians and their campaign supporters may have been sullied by this meeting. This hearsay gossip of collusion is more troublesome than the actually available emails showing collusion at the top of the Democratic Party with the Clinton campaign to derail the Sanders campaign. Well, the ruling class decides what news is fit to print and if a footnote should be a headline. Marx said the ruling class determines the "truth" and ours doesn't trust Trump and hates the Russians for interfering with its plans for how the world should be run.
Trump is doing enough real damage, we don't need red herrings to distract us.

Trump Jr. Was Told in Email of Russian Effort to Aid Campaign

The president’s son was told in an email that the Russian government wanted to help Donald J. Trump’s election bid last year.

NYTIMES.COM

Proof is a Diversionary Tactic -- The New York Times

Thomas Riggins

An amazing editorial wherein the NYT just accepts as "truth" what the CIA et al announces it to be and then adds "... Mr. Putin denied involvement in the election, as he has in the past, and asked the Americans fogr proof — a familiar diversionary tactic by Russians caught red-handed." Being caught "red-handed" implies unassailable proof of an action but the reason Putin asks for proof of Russian government hacking is because the US has never provided any real proof -- just allegations that we are supposed accept because the CIA etc., says it's so! This is the same thing Trump expects when he asserts one of his alternate reality factoids and the NYT now decides that CIA factoids are acceptable and peddles its own alternate reality based on its adherence to outmoded anti-Russian cold war policies! It's nice to know that if someone asks either the US government, or now the NYT, for proof of what it says the new paradigm is "Asking for proof is a diversionary tactic." All the news fit to print indeed!

Opinion | Even Now, Does Mr. Trump Get It on Hacking?

The president, meeting with his Russian counterpart, seems too eager to put the hacking issue behind him.

NYTIMES.COM