Bulletin N° 1026

 

"Maus: A Survivor's Tale" (1981)

https://uniteyouthdublin.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/maus-a-survivors-tale-my-father-bleeds-history-by-art-spiegelman.pdf  

by Art Speigelman

(154 pages)

This non-fiction book depicts the author, Art Spiegelman, interviewing his father about his experiences as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. The work employs postmodernist techniques and represents Jews as mice, Germans as cats, Poles as pigs, Americans as dogs, the British as fish, the French as frogs, and the Swedish as deer. Critics have classified Maus as memoir, biography, history, fiction, autobiography, or a mix of genres. In 1992, it became the first and so far only graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize (the Special Award in Letters).

 

In the frame-tale timeline in the narrative present that begins in 1978 in New York City, Spiegelman talks with his father Vladek about his Holocaust experiences, gathering material and information for the Maus project he is preparing. In the narrative past, Spiegelman depicts these experiences, from the years leading up to World War II to his parents' liberation from the Nazi concentration camps. Much of the story revolves around Spiegelman's troubled relationship with his father, and the absence of his mother, who died by suicide when he was 20. Her grief-stricken husband destroyed her written accounts of Auschwitz. The book uses a minimalist drawing style and displays innovation in its pacing, structure, and page layouts.

&

« Au revoir les enfants » (1987)

https://gloria.tv/post/2yr1WQ4EWqP9DRWQuD8AbKmjp

with English subtitles

(1:44:45)

This film is based on events in the childhood of the director, Louis Malle, who at age 11 was attending a Roman Catholic boarding school near Fontainebleau. One day,(1944) he witnessed a Gestapo raid in which three Jewish students and a Jewish teacher were rounded up and deported to Auschwitz. All four were gassed on arrival. The school's headmaster, Lucien Bunel - Carmelite Father "Père Jacques de Jesus", was arrested for harboring them and sent to the concentration camp at Mauthausen. He died shortly after the camp was liberated by the American Army, having refused to leave until the last French prisoner was repatriated. Forty years later Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, granted Père Jacques the title of Righteous Among the Nations.

 

 

 

 

Subject: Popular Responses: Reactive, Proactive and the work of agents provocateurs.

 

 

February 21, 2022

 

Dear Colleagues and Friends of CEIMSA,

 

The propensity for an overwhelming conformity to the will of our oppressors is a lesson that is not lost on those who would profit from a hierarchy of domination and control. To change the social order from below (viz. to truly democratize society), requires an understanding of a historical context that is favorable to the attempt and a society in good health. With one of these two conditions lacking, control will fall into the hands of a few at the top of the hierarchy, while the rest will engage randomly in non-democratic activities and futile attempts to distract themselves from their miseries.

 

To continue our presentation of the final section of Barrington Moore, Jr.’s comparative study of the social origins of dictatorship and democracy, we open now chapter eight, “Revolution from Above and Fascism.”  Here Moore examines the social conditions which produced “the second main route” to the world of modern industry (after his analysis of “the democratic route to modern society” in the preceding chapter).  The “capitalist and reactionary route is exemplified most clearly by Germany and Japan.”

 There capitalism took hold quite firmly in both agriculture and industry and turned them into industrial countries. But it did not without a popular revolutionary upheaval. What tendencies there were in this direction were weak, far weaker in Japan than in Germany, and in both were diverted and crushed. Though not the only cause, agrarian conditions and the specific types of capitalist transformation that took place in the countryside contributed very heavily to these defeats and the feebleness behind any impulse toward Western democratic forms.

     There are certain forms of capitalist transformation in the countryside that may succeed economically, in the sense of yielding good profits, but which are for fairly obvious reasons unfavorable to the growth of free institutions of the nineteenth-century Western variety. Though these forms shade into each other, it is easy to distinguish two general types. A landed upper class may, as in Japan, maintain intact the preexisting peasant society, introducing just enough changes in rural society to ensure the peasants generate sufficient surplus that it can appropriate and market at a profit. Or a landed upper class may devise wholly new social arrangements along the lines of plantation slavery. Straightforward slavery in modern times is likely to be the creation of a class of colonizing intruders into tropical areas. In parts of eastern Europe, however, indigenous nobilities were able to reintroduce serfdom, which reattached the peasants to the soil in ways that produced somewhat similar results. This was a halfway form between the two others.

     Both the system of maintaining peasant society intact but squeezing more out of it and the use of servile or semiservice labor on large units of cultivation require strong political methods to extract the surplus, keep the labor force in its place, and in general make the system work. Not all of these methods are of course political in the narrow sense. Particularly where the peasant society is preserved, there are all sorts of attempts to use traditional relationships and attitudes as the basis of the landlord’s position. Since these political methods have important consequences, it will be helpful to give them a name. Economists distinguish between labor-intensive and capital-intensive types of agriculture, depending on whether the system uses large amounts of labor or capital. It may also be helpful to speak of labor-repressive systems, of which slavery is but an extreme type. The difficulty with such a notion is that one may legitimately ask precisely what type has not been labor-repressive. The distinction I am trying to suggest is one between the use of political mechanisms (using the term ‘political’ broadly as just indicated ) on the one hand and reliance on the labor market, on the other hand, to ensure an adequate labor force for working the soil and the creation of an agricultural surplus for consumption by other classes. Those at the bottom suffer severely in both cases.

     To make the conception of a labor-repressive agricultural system useful, it would be well to stipulate that large numbers of people are kept at work in this fashion. It is also advisable to state explicitly what it does not include, for “example, the American family farm of the mid-nineteenth century. There many have been exploitation of the labor of family members in this case, but it was done apparently mainly by the head of the household himself with minimal assistance from the outside. Again, a system of hired agricultural laborers where the workers had considerable real freedom to refuse jobs and move about, a condition rarely met in actual and preindustrial agrarian systems are  not necessarily labor repressive if there is a rough balance between the overlord’s contribution to justice and security and the cultivator’s contribution in the form of crops. Whether this balance can be pined down in any objective sense is a moot point best discussed in the following chapter when the issue arises in connection with the causes of peasant revolutions. Her we need only remark that the establishment of labor-repressive agrarian systems in the course of modernization does not necessarily produce greater suffering among the peasants than other forms. Japanese peasants had an easier time of it than did English ones. Our problem here is in any case a different one; how and why labor-repressive agrarian systems provide an unfavorable soil for the growth of democracy and an important part of the institutional complex leading to fascism.

     In discussing the rural origins of parliamentary democracy, we noticed that a limited degree of independence from the monarchy constituted one of the favorable conditions, though one that did not occur everywhere. While a system of labor-repressive agriculture may be started in opposition to the central authority, it is likely to fuse with the monarchy at a later point in search of political support. This situation can also lead to the preservation of a military ethic among the nobility in a manner unfavorable to the growth of democratic institutions. The evolution of the Prussian state constitutes the clearest example. Since we have referred to these developments at several points in this work, it will be appropriate to sketch them very briefly here.

     In northeastern Germany the manorial reaction of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, about which we shall have still more to say in quite another context, broke off the development toward the libration of the peasantry from feudal obligations and the closely connected development of town life that in England and France eventually culminate in Western democracy. A fundament cause was the growth of grain exports, though it was not the sole one. The Prussian nobility expanded its holdings at the expense of the peasantry which, under the Teutonic Order, had been close to freedom, and reduced them to serfdom. As parts of the same process, the nobility reduced the towns to dependence by short-circuiting them with their exports. Afterward, the Hohenzollern rulers managed to destroy the independence of the nobility, and crush the Estates, playing nobles and townsmen off against one another, thereby checking the aristocratic component in the more toward parliamentary government. The result in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was the ‘Sparta of the North,’ a militarized fusion of royal bureaucracy and landed aristocracy.

     From the side of the landed aristocracy came the conceptions of inherent superiority of the ruling class and sensitivity to matters of status, prominent traits well into the twentieth century. Fed by new sources, these conceptions could later be vulgarized and made appealing to the German population as a whole in doctrines of racial superiority. The royal bureaucracy introduced, against considerable aristocratic resistance, the ideal of complete and unreflecting obedience to an institution over and above class and individual - prior to the nineteenth century it would be anachronistic to speak of the nation. Prussian discipline, obedience, and admiration of the hard qualities of the soldier come mainly from the Hohenzollern efforts to create a central monarchy.

     All this does not of course mean that some inexorable fate drove Germany toward fascism from the sixteen century onward, that the process never could have been reversed. Other factors had to intervene, some very important ones, as industrialization began to gather momentum during the nineteenth century. About these it will be necessary to speak in a moment. There are also significant variants and substitutions within the general pattern that has led to fascism, subalternatives on might say if one wished to be very precise and technical, within the major alternative of conservative modernization through revolution from above. In Japan the notion of total commitment to authority apparently came out of the feudal, rather than the monarchical, side of the equation. Again in Italy, where fascism was invented, there was no powerful national monarchy. Mussolini had to go all the way back to ancient Rome for the corresponding symbolism.

     At a later stage in the course of modernization, a new and crucial factor is likely to appear in the form of a rough working coalition between influential sectors of the landed upper classes and the emerging commercial and manufacturing interests. By and large, this was a nineteenth-century political configuration, though it continued on into the twentieth. Marx and Engels in their discussion of the abortive 1848 revolution in Germany, wrong though they were on other major features, put their finger on this decisive ingredient: a commercial and industrial class which is too weak and dependent to take power and rule in its own right and which therefore throws itself into the arms of the landed aristocracy and the royal bureaucracy, exchanging the right to rule for the right to make money. It is necessary to add that, even if the commercial and industrial element s weak, it must be strong enough (or soon become strong enough) to be a worthwhile political ally. Otherwise a peasant revolution, leading to communism may intervene. This happened in both Russian and China after unsuccessful efforts to establish such a coalition. There also appears to be another ingredient that enters the situation somewhat later than the formation of this coalition: sooner or later systems of labor-repressive agriculture are liable to run into difficulties produced by competition from more technically advanced ones in other countries. The competition of American wheat exports created difficulties in many parts of Europe after the end of our Civil War. In the context of a reactionary coalition, such competition intensifies authoritarian and reactionary trends among a landed upper class that finds its economic basis sinking and therefore turns to political levers to preserve its rule.

     Where the coalition succeeds in establishing itself, there has followed a prolonged period of conservative and even authoritarian government, which, however, falls far short of fascism. The historical boundaries of such systems are often somewhat blurred. At a rather generous estimate, one might hold that to this species belong the period from the Stein-Hardenberg reforms in Germany to the end of the First World War and, in Japan, from the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate to 1918. These authoritarian governments acquired some democratic features: notably a parliament with limited powers. Their history may be punctuated with attempts to extend democracy which, toward the end, succeeded in establishing unstable democracies (the Weimar Republic, Japan in the twenties, Italy under Giolitti). Eventually the door to fascist regimes was opened by the failure of these democracies to cope with the sever problems of the day and reluctance or inability to being about fundamental structural changes. One factor, but only one, in the social anatomy of these governments has been the retention of a very substantial share in political power by the landed élite, due to the absence of a revolutionary breakthrough by the peasants in combination with urban strata.

     Some of the semiparliamentary governments that arose on this basis carried out a more or less peaceful economic and political revolution from above that took them a long distance toward becoming modern industrial countries. Germany travelled the furthest I, this direction, Japan only somewhat less so, Italy a great deal less, Spain very little. Now, in the course of modernization by a revolution from above, such a government has to carry out many of the same tasks performed elsewhere with the help of a revolution from below. The notion that a violent popular revolution is somehow necessary in order to sweep away ‘feudal’ obstacles to industrialization is pure nonsense, as the course of German and Japanese history demonstrates. On the other hand, the political consequences from dismounting the old order from above are decidedly different. As they proceeded with conservative modernization, these semiparliamentary governments tried to preserve, as much of the original social structure as they could, fitting large sections into the new building wherever possible. The results had some resemblance to present-day Victorian houses with modern electrical kitchens but insufficient bathrooms and leaky pipes hidden decorously behind newly plastered walls. Ultimately the makeshifts collapsed.

     One very important series of measures was the rationalization of the political order. This meant the breakup of traditional and long established territorial divisions, such as feudal han in Japan or independent states and principalities in Germany and Italy. Except in Japan, the breakup was not complete. But in the course of time a central government did establish strong authority and a uniform administrative system, and a more or less uniform law code and system of courts appeared. Again, in varying degrees, the state managed to crate a sufficiently powerful military machine to be able to make the wishes of its ruler’s felt in the arena of international politics. Economically the establishment of a strong central government and the elimination of internal barriers to trade meant an increase in the size of the effective economic unit. Without such an increase in size, the division of labor necessary for an Industrial society could not exist, unless all countries were willing to trade peacefully with one another.

. . .

   Still another aspect of the rationalization of the political order has to do with the making of citizens in a new type of society. Literacy and rudimentary technical skills are necessary for the masses. Setting up a national system of education is very likely to bring on a conflict with religious authorities. Loyalty to a new abstraction, the state, must also replace religious loyalties if they transcend national boundaries or compete with one another so vigorously as to destroy internal peace. Japan had less of a problem here than Germany, Italy, or Spain. (pp.433-439)

 

Moore goes on to observe that “conservative modernization” require certain conditions, not the least of which was exceptionally competent leadership.

… it takes very able leadership to drag along the less perceptive reactionary elements, concentrated among, though not necessarily confined to, the landed upper classes.  .  .  . Reactionaries can always advance the plausible argument that modernizing leaders are making changes and concessions that will merely arouse the appetites of the lower classes and bring on a revolution. Similarly, the leadership must have at hand or be able to construct a sufficiently powerful bureaucratic apparatus, including the agencies of repression, the military and the police . . . , in order to free itself from the influence of both extreme reactionary and popular or radical pressures in the society. The government has to become separate from society, something that can happen rather more easily than simplified versions of Marxism would allow us to believe.

     In the short run, a strong conservative government has distinct advantages. It can both encourage and control economic growth. It can see to it that the lower classes who pay the costs under all forms of modernization do not make too much trouble. But Germany and, even more, Japan were trying to solve a problem that was inherently insoluble, to modernize without changing their social structures. The only way out of this dilemma was militarism, which united the upper classes. Militarism intensified a climate of international conflict, which in turn made industrial advance all the more imperative, even if in Germany a Bismarck could for a time hold the situation in check, partly because militarism had not yet become a mass phenomenon. To carry out thoroughgoing structural reforms, i.e., to make the transition to a paying commercial agriculture without the repression of those who worked the soil and to do the same in industry, in a word, to use modern technology rationally for human welfare was beyond the political vision of these governments.* Ultimately these systems crashed in an attempt at foreign expansion, but not until they had tried to make reaction popular in the form of fascism.

_______

*On this score, Germany and Japan are not of course unique. Since the Second World War, Western democracy has begun to display more and more of the same traits for broadly similar reasons that, however, no longer have much to do with agrarian questions. Somewhere Marx remarks that the bourgeoisie in its declining phase reproduces all the evils and irrationalities against which it once fought. So indeed did socialism in the effort to establish itself, thus allowing twentieth-century democracy to fly its muddy and blood-spattered banner of freedom with something short of outright cynical hypocrisy.(pp.441-442)

. . .

          Why was this reactionary upsurge no more than a passing phase in England? Why did not England continue along this road to become another Germany? Anglo-Saxon liberties, Magna Charta, Parliament and such rhetoric will not do for an answer. Parliament voted repressive measures by huge majorities.

     An important part of the answer may be found in the fact that, a century before, certain extremist Englishmen had chopped off the head of their monarch to shatter the magic of royal absolutism in England. At a deeper level of causation, England’s whole previous history, her reliance on a navy instead of an army, on unpaid justices of the peace instead of royal officials, had put in the hands of the central government a repressive apparatus weaker than that possessed by the strong continental monarchies. Thus the materials with which to construct a German system were missing or but feebly developed. Still, by now we have seen enough great social and political changes out of unpromising beginnings to suspect that the institutions could have been created if circumstances had been more favorable. But fortunately of human liberties they were not. The push toward industrialism had begun much earlier in England and was to render unnecessary for the English bourgeoisie any great dependence on the crown and the landed aristocracy. Finally, the landed upper classes themselves did not need to repress the peasants. Mainly they wanted to get them out of the way in order to go over to commercial farming; by and large, economic measures would be enough to provide the labor force they needed. Succeeding economically in this particular fashion, they had little need to resort to repressive political measures to continue their leadership. Therefore in England manufacturing and agrarian interests competed with one another for popular favor during the rest of the nineteenth century, gradually extending the suffrage while jealously opposing and knocking down each other’s more selfish measures (Reform Bill of 1832, abolition of the Corn Laws in 1846, gentry support of factory legislation, etc.)

     In the English phase of reaction there were hints of fascist possibilities, particularly in some of the antiradical riots. But these were no more than hints. The time was still too early. Fascist symptoms we can see very much more clearly in another part of the world at another point in time – during a brief phase of extremism in Russia after 1905. This was extreme even by Russian standards of the day; one could make a strong case for the thesis that Russian reactionaries invented fascism. Thus this phase of Russian history is especially illuminating because it shows that the fascist syndrome 1) can appear in response to the stains of advancing industrialism independently of a specific social and cultural background; 2) that it may have many roots in agrarian life: 3) that it appears partly in response to a weak push toward parliamentary democracy; 4) but cannot flourish without industrialism or in an overwhelmingly agrarian background  - points, to be sure, all suggested by the recent histories of China and Japan too, though it is illuminating to find stronger confirmation in Russian history.

     Shortly before the Revolution on 1905 the tiny Russian commercial and industrial class showed some signs of discontent with repressive tsarist autocracy and a willingness to flirt with liberal constitutional notions. Worker’s strikes, however, and the promise obtained in the Imperial Manifesto of October 17, 1905, to meet some of the demands of the strikers, brought the industrialists safely back within the tsarist camp. Against this background appeared the Black Hundreds movement. Drawing partly on American experience, they made ‘lynch’ into a Russian word and asked for the application of zakon lyncha, lynch law. They resorted to violence in storm-trooper style to suppress ‘treason’ and ‘sedition.’ If  Russia could destroy the ‘kikes’ and foreigners, their propaganda asserted, everyone could live happily in a return to ‘true Russian’ ways. This anti-Semitic nativism had considerable appeal to backward, precapitalist, petty bourgeois elements in the cities and among the smaller nobility. However, in still backward peasant Russia of the early twentieth century, this form of rightist extremism was unable to find a firm popular basis. Among the peasants it succeeded mainly in area of mixed nationality, where the explanation of all evil as being due to Jews and foreigners made some sense in terms of peasant experience. As everyone knows, to the extent that they were politically active, the Russian peasants were revolutionary and eventually the major force in exploding the old regime.

   In India, which is equally if not more backward, similar movements have likewise failed to obtain a firm basis among the masses. To be sure, Subhas Chandra Bose, who died in 1945, expressed dictatorial sentiments, worked for the Axis, and had a very large popular following. Though his fascist sympathies were consistent with other aspects of his public record and do not seem to be the outcome of momentary enthusiasm or opportunism, Subhas Chandra Bose has gone down in Indian tradition mainly as an extreme and perhaps misguided anti-British patriot. There has also been a scattering of fascist Hindu political organizations, some of which developed the autocratic discipline of the European totalitarian party. They have reached the peak of their influence so far in the chaos and riots surrounding Partition, during which they helped to promote anti-Muslim riots and served as defense organs for Hindu communities against Muslim attacks, led, presumably, by similar organizations on the Muslim side. Their programs lack economic content and appear to be mainly a form of militant, xenophobic Hinduism, seeking to combat the stereotype that Hindus are pacific, divided by caste, and weak. So far their electoral appeal has been very small.

     One possible reason for the weakness of the Hindu variant of fascism to date may be the fragmentation of the Hindu world along cast, class, and ethnic lines. Thus a characteristically fascist appeal addressed to one segment would antagonize others, while a more general appeal, by taking on some color of universal panhumanism, begins to lose its fascist qualities. In this connection it is worth noticing that nearly all the extremist Hindu groups have opposed untouchability and other social disabilities of cast. The main reason, however, is probably the simple fact that Gandhi had already preempted the antiforeign and anticapitalist sentiment of huge masses of the population: peasants and artisans in the cottage industries. Under the conditions created by the British occupation, he was able to tie these sentiments to the interests of a large section of the business class. On the other hand, the landed élite generally stood aloof. Thus reactionary trends have been strong in India and have helped to delay economic progress since Independence. But as a mass phenomenon the large movements belong to an historical species distinct from fascism.

     Though it might be equally profitable to undertake a parallel consideration of democratic failures that preceded fascism in Germany, Japan, and Italy, it is enough for present purposes to notice that fascism is inconceivable without democracy or what is sometimes more turgidly called the entrance of the masses onto the historical stage. Fascism was an attempt to make reaction and conservatism popular and plebeian, through which conservatism, of course, lost the substantial connection it did have with freedom, some aspects of which were discussed in the preceding chapter.

     The conception of objective law vanished under fascism. Among its most significant features was a violent rejection of humanitarian ideals, including any notion of potential human equality. The fascist outlook stressed not only the inevitability of hierarchy, discipline, and obedience, but also posited that they were values in their own right. Romantic conceptions of comradeship qualify this outlook but slightly; it is comradeship in submission. Another feature was the stress on violence. This stress goes far beyond any cold, rational appreciation of the factual importance of violence in politics to a mystical worship of ‘hardness’ for its own sake. Blood and death often acquire overtones of erotic attraction, thought in its less exalted moments fascism was thoroughly ‘healthy’ and ‘normal,’ promising return to a cosy bourgeois, and even prebourgeois peasant, womb.

     Plebeian anticapitalism thus appears as the feature that most clearly distinguishes twentieth-century fascism from its predecessors, the nineteenth-century conservative and semiparliamentary regimes. It is a product of both the intrusion of capitalism into the rural economy and of strains arising in the postcompetitive phase of capitalist industry. Hence fascism developed most fully in Germany where capitalist industrial growth had gone the furthest within the framework of a conservative revolution from above. It came to light as only a weak secondary trend in such backward area as Russia, China, and India. Prior to World War II, it failed to take root in England and the United States where capitalism worked reasonably well or where efforts to correct its shortcomings could be attempted within the democratic framework and succeed with the help of a prolonged war boom. Most of the anticapitalist opposition to big business had to be shelved in practice, though one should not make the opposite error of regarding fascist leaders as merely the agents of big business. The attraction of fascism for the lower middle class in the cities, threatened by capitalism, has often been pointed out; here we may confine ourselves to a brief review of the evidence on its varying relationships to the peasantry in different countries.** In Germany the effort to establish a massive conservative base in the countryside long antedated the Nazis. As Professor Alexander Gerschenkron points out, the basic elements of Nazi doctrine appear quite distinctly in the Junkers’ generally successful efforts, by means of the Agrarian League established in 1894, to win the support of the peasants in non-Junker areas of smaller farms. Führer worship, the idea of a corporative state, militarism, Anti-Semitism, in a setting closely related to the Nazi distinction between ‘predatory’ and ‘productive’ capital, were devices used to appeal to anticapitalist sentiments among the peasantry. There are a good many indications that in subsequent years down to the depression the substantial and prosperous peasants were slowly losing ground to dwarf peasants. The depression constituted a deep and general crisis to which the main rural response was National Socialism. Rural support for the Nazis came to an average of 37.4 percent, practically identical with that in the country as a whole in the last relatively free election of July 31, 1932.(pp.444- 449)

_______

**Special studies too provide evidence for the view that the ‘little fellow’ who was having a hard time of it under capitalist conditions was the one most receptive to the Nazi appeal. In Schleswig-Holstein the village communities where the Nazis won 80 to 100 percent of the vote were in what is known as the Geest, an area of small farms on poor soil, heavily dependent on sensitive markets for young cattle and hogs. . . . Near Nuremberg, too, the Nazi vote ranged from 71 to 83 percent in an area of relatively low land values, middle-sized family farms, and generally marginal agriculture dependent on the urban market. . . . Further evidence point in the same direction is summarized and cited in Bracher, et al, Machtergreifung, 389-390.

. . .

     Italian fascism displays the same pseudoradical and propeasant features found in Germany and Japan. In Italy, on the other hand, these notions were more of an opportunistic growth, a cynical decoration put on to take advantage of circumstances. Cynical opportunism as present in Germany and Japan too, of course, but seems to have been much more blatant in Italy.

     Immediately after the 1914 war, there was a bitter struggle in the countryside between Socialist and Christian-Democratic trade unions on the one hand and the big landowners on the other. At this point, i.e., 1919-1020, Mussolini, according to Ignazio Silone, paid no attention to the countryside, did not believe in a fascist conquest of the land, and thought fascism would always be an urban movement. But the struggle between the landowners and the unions, representing the interests of hired labor and tenants, gave fascism an unexpected opportunity to fish in troubled waters. Presenting themselves as the saviors of civilization against Bolshevism, fasci – bands of idealists, demobilized army officers, and just plain toughs – broke up rural union headquarters , often with the connivance of the police, and during 1921 destroyed the leftist movement in the countryside. Among those who streamed into fascist ranks were peasants who had climbed into the middle ranks of landowners, and even tenants who hated the monopolistic practices of the unions.  During the summer of this year Mussolini made his famous observation that ‘if Fascism does not wish to die or, worse still, to commit suicide, it must not provide itself with a doctrine . . . . I do wish that during the two months which are still to elapse before out National Assembly meets, the philosophy of Fascism could be created.

     Only later did Italian fascist leaders begin to declare that fascism was ‘ruralizing’ Italy, championing the cause of the peasants, or that it was primarily a ‘rural phenomenon.’ These claims were nonsense. The number of owner operations dropped by 500,000 between 1921 and 1931; that of cash-and-share tenants rose by about 400,000. Essentially fascism protected big agriculture and big industry at the expense of the agricultural laborer, small peasant, and consumer.

     As we look back at fascism and its antecedents, we can see that the glorification of the peasant appears as a reactionary symptom in both Western and Asiatic civilization at a time when the peasant economy is facing severe difficulties. In part the Epilogue I shall try to indicate some of the recurring forms this glorification has taken in its more virulent stages. To say that such ideas are merely foisted on the peasants by the upper classes is not true. Because the ideas find an echo in peasant experience, they may win wide acceptance, the wider, it seems, the more industrialized and modern the country is.

     As evidence against the evaluation that such glorification constitutes a reactionary symptom, one might be tempted to cite Jefferson’s praise of the small farmer and John Start Mill’s defense of peasant farming. Both thinkers, however, in the characteristic fashion of early liberal capitalism, were defending not so much peasants as small independent property owners. There is in their thought none of the militant chauvinism and glorification of hierarchy and submission found in the later versions, though there are occasional overtones of a romantic attitude toward rural life. Even so, their attitude toward agrarian problems and rural society does indicate the limits that liberal thinkers had reached at their respective points in time. For such ideas to serve reactionary purposes in the twentieth century, they have had to take on a new coloring and appear in a new context; the defense of hard work and small property in the twentieth century has an entirely different political meaning from what it had in the middle of the nineteenth or the latter part of the eighteenth centuries.(pp.451-452)

 

The 17 + items below are articles and essays selected from the Anglophone media that reflect important historical events that are now taking place, and which promise to affect our lives greatly in the future.

We encourage readers to contemplate the significance of this information and to evaluate the importance of these events as they affect the lives of all of us.

 

Sincerely,

Francis McCollum Feeley

--

Professeur honoraire de l'Université Grenoble-Alpes
Ancien Directeur des Researches
Université de Paris-Nanterre
Director of The Center for the Advanced Study
of American Institutions and Social Movements
(CEIMSA-in-Exile)
The University of California-San Diego
http://www.ceimsa.org

 

a.

“Fake War With Russia Is Being USed To Hide War On YOU & Ukraine's White Supremacist Breeding Ground”

https://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/fake-war-with-russia-being-used-hide-war-on-you-ukraines-white-supremacist-breeding-ground/

with Ryan Cristián

(2:38:15)

 

+

“With Its Doomsday Clock at 100 Seconds to Midnight, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Calls for Escalating US Aggression Against Russia”

http://www.blackagendareport.com/its-doomsday-clock-100-seconds-midnight-bulletin-atomic-scientists-calls-escalating-us-aggression

by Roger D. Harris

 

+

“Hype, Lies & Psyops: How The False Flag Ukraine Narrative Was Bungled”

https://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/hype-lies-psyops-how-false-flag-ukraine-narrative-was-bungled/

with Ryan Cristián

(3:21:48)

 

+

“Russian UN ambassador responds to US 'war propaganda' in interview w/Grayzone”

https://thegrayzone.com/2022/02/15/russian-un-ambassador-us-war-propaganda-grayzone/

with Max Blumenthal and Aaron Maté

(1:36:03)

 

+

“False Predictions About Russia Invading Ukraine Are Making People Fear WW3”

https://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/false-predictions-about-russia-invading-ukraine-making-people-fear-ww3/

by Robert Inlakesh

 

+

“What Is Going to Happen in Ukraine?”

https://www.globalresearch.ca/what-going-happen-ukraine/5771066

by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies

 

===========

 

b.

 “Do You Want a War Between Russia and NATO?” 

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/56994.htm

by Pepe Escobar

 

+

“Young Ukrainians – Everyday Fears, Military Propaganda and Chauvinism”

https://www.globalresearch.ca/young-ukrainians-everyday-fears-military-propaganda-chauvinism/5771108

or https://thescotfree.com/canada/young-ukrainians-everyday-fears-military-propaganda-and-chauvinism/

by Konrad Rękas

+

“Donetsk Republic shelled – ‘Evacuate to Russia now!’”

ttps://youtu.be/2kqXKXLI8gI

with George Galloway

(26:01)

 

+

“War in Europe and the Rise of Raw Propaganda”

https://www.mintpressnews.com/john-pilger-war-in-europe-and-the-rise-of-raw-propaganda/279713/

by John Pilger

 

+

“US Confused On False Flag Definition In Ukraine Psyop & UK Boosted Account For 60% COVID Hosp./Death”

https://www.thelastamericanvagabond.com/us-confused-false-flag-definition-ukraine-psyop-uk-boosted-account-for-60-covid-hosp-death/

with Ryan Cristián

(3:42:25)

 

+

“Ukraine: The Tip of the Spear for the Imperialist Project”

http://www.blackagendareport.com/ukraine-tip-spear-imperialist-project

by Ajamu Baraka

 

===========

 

c.

 “COVID-19 The Great Reset – ‘Delete’ Humanity”

https://www.globalresearch.ca/covid-19-great-reset-delete-humanity/5736388

by  Peter Koenig

 

+

“War racket EXPLAINED: Business booming for US 'defense' contractors”

https://youtu.be/BWTHrXRI2aA

or https://www.rt.com/shows/news-on-rt-america/549782-war-racket-explained-business-booming/

with Chris Hedges

(25:44)

 

+

“The Real Reason Why Blackstone Is Courting The Pentagon”

https://unlimitedhangout.com/2020/08/reports/the-real-reason-why-blackstone-is-courting-the-pentagon/

by Whitney Webb

 

+

"US Billionaires 10 TIMES RICHER Over Last 2 Years"

https://youtu.be/Tl07xuWfstU

with reallygraceful

(7:02)

 

+

“New Data: Billionaires Bought The US Government For $14 Billion”

https://youtu.be/7hdB3VeXvMk

or https://leecamp.com/new-data-billionaires-bought-the-us-government-for-14-billion/

with Lee Camp

(28:25)

 

+

“Harmful Gig Economy

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzGmvBnThKNzFmbGpqsBdtQTHVKp?projector=1

with Chris Hedges

(26:18)

 

+

“Julian Assange's Psychological Torture“

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzGmvBnVdCszXzXsZGkZhPHFPpDt?projector=1

with Trinity Chavez

(25:52)

 

===========

 

d.

“On the ground in Ukraine on 'invasion day' & Trudeau's Martial law (w/ Gonzalo Lira)”

https://youtu.be/pNj5gk9-zPo

or https://soundcloud.com/user-901836666/on-the-ground-in-ukraine-on-invasion-day-trudeaus-martial-law-w-gonzalo-lira

with Gonzalo Lira

(audio, 1:40:04)

 

+

From: Reclaim The Net <hello@reclaimthenet.org>
Date: Feb 17, 2022
Subject: Canada to freeze assets of anyone who "indirectly" supports protests

 

Institutions are already secretly giving every citizen an "environmental, social, and governance" score

 

What was once a rating metric reserved for businesses and lenders - the ESG score - is now rather alarmingly coming to individuals as well. These attempts at "convergence" of tracking and evaluating people and business entities is by no means unique or new, but if reports are to be believed, it is gaining momentum - while private citizens seem to be largely oblivious to it.

We explore this today.

Become a supporter
here.

Get the post
here.

 

EXTREME

 

 

 

Canada orders firms to freeze assets of anyone who "indirectly" engages in Freedom Convoy protests

 

On Monday, the Canadian government announced drastic plans to freeze the bank accounts of protesters associated with the Freedom Convoy - a movement that's standing against vaccine mandates. However, the government document containing these plans, which was published by the Canadian government late Tuesday night, reveals that the financial restrictions will extend far beyond bank accounts and can be used to target anyone who's deemed to have "indirectly" engaged in the protests.

The new government order applies to a wide range of entities including banks, fundraising platforms, insurance companies, investment firms, loan companies, securities dealers, credit unions, and fraternal benefit societies.


It requires these entities to determine whether they're dealing with a "designated person" which is defined as "any individual or entity that is engaged, directly or indirectly" in prohibited activities under the Emergencies Act. These prohibited activities include any "public assembly that may reasonably be expected to lead to a breach of the peace" and include the activities of the Freedom Convoy protesters which Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau branded "illegal blockades."


If these entities determine that they are dealing with a designated person, they're required to:

  • Freeze the designated person's property (which includes funds and virtual currency)
  • Cease providing "any financial or related services" to the designated person (insurance policies that were valid prior to the invocation of the Emergencies Act on Monday and not associated with vehicles that are deemed to be engaging in prohibited activities are exempt from this provision)
  • Report the designated person to the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) or the Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS)
  • Report any "suspicious transactions" from the designated person to Canada's anti-money laundering agency FINTRAC (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada)

These entities have also been granted full immunity against civil lawsuits for any actions they take to comply with this order.

You can read the full Canadian government order
here.

According to
the state-funded Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), "banks will be working with law enforcement to decide who should be 'de-banked.'"

CBC also spoke with a senior Canadian government official who said that police could gather the names and license plate numbers of protesters and share this information with FINTRAC.


A former CSIS senior strategic analyst, Jessica Davis, added that freezing and seizing funds under these new rules is "likely to put a lot of financial pressure on the people who are participating in the protest" and that "it's going to be very difficult for them."


Canadian Justice Minister David Lametti even
suggested that these sweeping new powers would be used to target those who are part of the "pro-Trump movement" when he was asked about whether those who donated to the Freedom Convoy because of their opposition to vaccine mandates should be worried about their bank accounts being frozen.

"If you are a member of...a pro-Trump movement who's donating hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions of dollars to this kind of thing, then you oughta be worried," Lametti said.


Shortly after the Canadian government announced these sweeping financial surveillance and censorship measures, the RCMP issued an order to all FINTRAC regulated companies in Canada and
demanded that they cease transacting with 34 crypto wallets that are allegedly associated with the Freedom Convoy's fundraising efforts. The order also demands that these companies report "any information about a transaction or proposed transaction" related to these addresses.

Greg Taylor, chief investment officer of fund manager Purpose Investments Inc.,
told BNN Bloomberg Television that the Trudeau government's order had "caught everyone off guard."

Philippe Jette, senior consultant to the Rivemont Crypto Fund, described the censorship of money as "something we see in an authoritarian country, not one like Canada" and warned that "freezing accounts for political reasons is a big, big slippery slope."

 

 

Reclaim The Net accepts no advertising and is funded entirely by the community. If you support free speech, the eradication of cancel culture and restoring privacy and civil liberties, please become a supporter here.

 

 

LOCKED OUT

 

 

 

Facebook bans, locks out, Freedom Convoy admin

 

Raechel Allan-Nicholls, a businesswoman from Kelowna, a city in British Columbia, had her personal Facebook account and the Instagram page of her business suspended. She believes the accounts were suspended because she is an admin for Freedom Convoy 2022 Facebook group.

Allan-Nicholls runs Big Deal Detailing, a vehicle detailing business, through her personal and business accounts on Facebook. She told local news outlet
Coast Reporter that she no longer has access to her account.

"I have no access to my business account. I've written letters, I've gone through every possible avenue, I can think of trying to get my account back up and running,” she said.


She believes that her account was locked because she is an admin for Freedom Convoy 2022.


"I searched for all my contacts and they're all gone too. I'm kind of at a loss for words. And, I didn't do anything wrong in the sense of, you know, they don't have any justification for shutting my account down,” she explained.


She also said that her Instagram account is locked. She explained that her business page would also be gone, only she made someone else the admin. “If I hadn’t, my account would be completely gone. I mean, it's gone on Instagram, I no longer have a Big Deal Detailing and that's how I do all my business."

 

FACING THREATS

 

 

 

Ottawa café closes after Freedom Convoy donor hack led to death threats

 

The Stella Luna Gelato Café in Ottawa had to close this week after the staff received threats.

The private information of Tammy Giuliani, the owner of the cafe, was published
by the hacker of GiveSendGo, the crowdfunding platform that was running the fundraising campaign for the civil liberties protests in Canada.

Giuliani made a $250 donation to the cause on February 5th and, since the leak, has faced threats and constant phone calls jamming up the line.


Related:
Learn how to protect your identity online so you won’t be affected by data breaches

“We got a call from the team saying, ‘We’re getting phone calls here,'” Giuliani said in a phone interview with
Ottawa City News.

“I said, ‘What’s going on?’ and they said, ‘They’re threatening to throw bricks through our window. They’re threatening to come and get us.’ We said, ‘Lock the door and we’ll find out what’s going on.'”


Giuliani said she ordered the shop closed and staff to go home for their own safety. She said she intended to report the threats to police.


“Now I’m giving you $250 and taking food down to the truckers every day. Thank you for continuing to fight for Canadians across this country,” Giuliani wrote along with her donation.


The Stella Luna Gelato Café struggled during lockdowns, having to pivot its business model to serve sandwiches, Italian dishes, and takeout.


After facing the threats, Giuliani recanted her support for the Freedom Convoy protest.


“When a group of people first decided they were going to travel across the country to spread this message of solidarity, it seemed like a beacon of hope for small businesses like us,” she said. “It’s no surprise that small businesses have been on the edge. Families are at risk of losing their livelihood. I’m a sucker for a grassroots cause.


“Never in our wildest dreams did we anticipate what has transpired over the past couple of weeks,” she said. “None of us anticipated what it turned into and we certainly don’t condone it.


“In retrospect it was bad judgment, but does that mean that people have a right to threaten our staff? Does it mean people have the right to threaten to throw bricks through our window and to threaten my family? We made a mistake. Who could have anticipated it?”


Journalists have been using the hacked details to contact people that donated to the protests and asking them why they donated.


The publication of Tammy Giuliani’s donation was condemned by US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.


“I fail to see why any journalist felt the need to report on a shop owner making such an insignificant donation rather than to get them harassed, Omar tweeted. It’s unconscionable and journalists need to do better."


“I wish journalists wrote the articles they think they are writing,” Omar continued. “Sorry to say it, but your stories aren’t always balanced and often have a clear political bias. Calling it out isn’t harassment or journalist bashing. Everyone has a right to critique your story and it’s merits.”

 

BLOCKED

 

 

 

Website of rights group blocked in Hong Kong

 

The website of Hong Kong Watch, a rights group based in the UK, is now inaccessible through some networks in Hong Kong.

The site’s inaccessibility raises concerns that the island might soon experience more of the internet censorship experienced in China.


It is officially unclear why the website is being blocked. However,
Hong Kong Watch fears that the blocking could be a free speech crackdown under the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020.

The law targets secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces, with punishment of up to life imprisonment.


The law allows law enforcement agencies to ask for assistance from internet service providers on cases related to national security.


“If this is not just a technical malfunction, and Hongkongers will no longer be able to access our website because of the national security law, then this is a serious blow to internet freedom,” said Benedict Rogers, the leader of the group.


“With the steady drip of website removals, there are fears that China could begin introducing its great internet firewall into the city. With time, this could have serious ramifications for the continued presence of western technology companies in the city.”

 

CONTENT REMOVAL DEMAND

 

 

 

Senators ask YouTube CEO to remove 3D printed gun videos

 

Five Senators from the Democratic Party signed a letter to YouTube, asking the platform to crack down on “ghost gun” videos. The senators urged the platform to more strictly enforce its policy against showing how to make firearms.

Ghost guns are guns made using 3D printers. Due to the lack of serial numbers, law enforcement agencies have a hard time tracing the owner when the gun is used in a crime.


We obtained a copy of the letter for you
here.

However, rights groups argue that blueprints for ghost guns, and details on how to make and print them,
are protected speech.

In December,
NBC News conducted an "investigation" that found out that there are dozens of videos on YouTube that show how to make ghost guns. Everytown for Gun Safety, an advocacy group, also flagged several videos on making ghost guns. YouTube has since removed these videos. But according to the senators’ letter, “dozens” of such videos remain on the site.

YouTube has banned content showing how to make firearms since 2018. The senators said that the policies “must be enforced — and enforced strongly - to make any difference.”


“It cannot be the case that YouTube is entirely reactive, removing these kinds of videos only when news outlets call public attention to violative content, when gun violence prevention advocates send letters listing specific YouTube videos that violate its Community Guidelines, or when congressional staff reach out to raise concerns about such videos,” the senators wrote.


YouTube is yet to reply to the letter, which was signed by Senators Richard, Blumenthal Christopher Murphy, Edward Markey, Robert Mendez, and Cory Booker.

 

Reclaim The Net exists because of readers like you. Keep us going and become a supporter.

We appreciate your support.

 

 

Thanks for reading,

Reclaim The Net

 

===========

 

e.

“Canadian truckers respond to crackdown warnings l Digital Originals”

https://youtu.be/2rcM8I73vH8

or https://ussanews.com/canadian-truckers-respond-to-crackdown-warnings-l-digital-originals/

(2:53)

 

+

“Truckers react to Trudeau invoking Emergencies Act: 'Gained more freedom fighters’”

https://youtu.be/5NEJ6aW5DAo

by Lisa Bennatan

(audio, 3:24)

 

+

“Like Father, Like Son: How the Trudeaus Manufacture Crises to Justify ‘Emergency Measures’”

https://unlimitedhangout.com/2022/02/investigative-reports/like-father-like-son-how-the-trudeaus-manufacture-crises-to-justify-emergency-measures/

by Matthew Ehret

 

+

“Justin Trudeau is a Groomed Politician Controlled by Klaus Schwab on Behalf of Big Money”

https://www.globalresearch.ca/justin-trudeau-is-a-groomed-politician-controlled-by-klaus-schwab-on-behalf-of-big-money/5771165

by Prof Michel Chossudovsky

 

+

“Video: Trudeau & Cabinet Trained By Global Economic Cabal – Admits WEF Chairman”

https://rumble.com/vv821c-video-trudeau-and-cabinet-trained-by-global-economic-cabal-admits-wef-chair.html

with Jimmy Dore

(5:51)

 

+

“Trudeau - Is This Your Liberal Hero?”

https://rumble.com/vv9vp7-trudeau-is-this-your-liberal-hero.html

with Russell Brand

(16:09)

 

+

“Repressing the Freedom Convoy: Will Trudeau’s Act of Desperation Succeed?”

https://www.globalresearch.ca/will-trudeau-act-desperation-succeed/5770789

by Kim Petersen

 

+

“Jonathan Turley: Justin Trudeau threw gas on the fire”

https://www.foxnews.com/media/justin-trudeau-trucker-freedom-convoy-turley-draconian-measures

with Fox News Staff

(1:07)

 

===========

 

f.

“Video: Ottawa. Freedom Convoy. Livestream, February 19”

https://www.globalresearch.ca/video-ottawa-freedom-convoy-livestream-february-19/5771293

with Global Research News

(2:47:21)

 

+

“Was the hacking of Ottawa trucker convoy donors a US-Canadian intelligence operation?”

https://thegrayzone.com/2022/02/18/hacking-canadian-trucker-convoy-us-canadian-intelligence-operation/

by Kit Klarenberg

 

+

“Divisions and Chaos within the Ottawa Police. Violence and Brute Force Ordered by Trudeau Government”

https://www.globalresearch.ca/divisions-and-chaos-within-the-ottawa-police-violence-and-brute-force-ordered-by-trudeau-government/5771256

by Prof Michel Chossudovsky

 

+

“As Trudeau’s Crackdown Shows, No Protest Will Ever Be Worthy Enough for the Left”

https://www.mintpressnews.com/trudeau-canada-truckers-protest-state-of-emergency/279727/

by Jonathan Cook

 

===========

 

g.

“What the Media Won't Tell You About Canada”

https://odysee.com/@reallygraceful:3/what-the-media-won%27t-tell-you-about-2:7?r=6uKAy9g6CFxeB49sjA84PRRQbcyqdRsf

with reallygraceful

(12:16)

 

+

“Canada Data Showing Vaccinated Mostly Infected”

https://www.globalresearch.ca/canada-data-showing-vaccinated-mostly-infected/5770780

by Joel S. Hirschhorn

 

===========

 

h.

“I Read The Great Narrative (So You Don't Have To!)”

https://www.corbettreport.com/greatnarrative/

with James Corbett

(59:54)

Remember when the World Economic Forum held a conference on "The Great Narrative"? And remember when Klaus Schwab threatened to release a book on the topic? Well, guess what? It's heeeere. That's right, I read The Great Narrative and now I'm spilling the beans on the globalists plans for the technocratic future . . . and revealing the truth that we have the power to write our own narrative.

 

===========

 

i.

“Lee Camp and Roger Waters on Assange, Human Rights, & More”

https://scheerpost.com/2022/02/19/lee-camp-and-roger-waters-on-assange-human-rights-more/

with Lee Camp and Roger Waters

(24:59)

 

+

“Free Julian Assange: Snowden, Varoufakis, Corbyn & Tariq Ali Speak Out Ahead of Extradition Hearing”

https://www.democracynow.org/2021/10/25/belmarsh_tribunal

with Snowden, Varoufakis, Corbyn & Tariq Ali

(59:02)

+

“‘We want him out of prison now’: Julian Assange's lawyer Jennifer Robinson”

https://theglobalherald.com/news/we-want-him-out-of-prison-now-julian-assanges-lawyer-jennifer-robinson-7-30/

with Jennifer Robinson

(3:14)

 

+

« L'Assemblée nationale refuse l'asile politique en France à Julian Assange »

https://www.sortiraparis.com/actualites/a-paris/articles/270570-l-assemblee-nationale-refuse-l-asile-politique-en-france-a-julian-assange

par Graziella L.

 

===========

j.

“Innate Immune Suppression by SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccinations”

https://www.globalresearch.ca/excerpts-from-new-most-important-research-article/5770776

by Joel S. Hirschhorn, Dr. Stephanie Seneff, Dr. Greg Nigh, Dr. Peter McCullough, and et al

 

+

“Letter from a Coerced Mother”

https://www.globalresearch.ca/letter-coerced-mother/5771148

by Dr. Robert Malone

 

+

“Jack Dorsey, the CIA and Twitter Censorship in the Age of Covid-19”

https://unlimitedhangout.com/2020/12/investigative-reports/jack-dorsey-the-cia-and-twitter-censorship-in-the-age-of-covid-19/

by Vanessa Beeley

 

+

“‘Frequent Boosters Threaten Immune System’ – European Experts”

ttps://youtu.be/aAUzm1tTRPk

with Jimmy Dore

(14:25)

 

+

“Here’s how to detox from the COVID spike protein – from the jab or the virus”

https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/heres-how-to-detox-from-the-covid-spike-protein-from-the-jab-or-the-virus/

 

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

·         If you had COVID-19 or received a COVID-19 injection, you may have dangerous spike proteins circulating in your body

·         Spike proteins can circulate in your body after infection or injection, causing damage to cells, tissues and organs

·         The World Council for Health has released a spike protein detox guide, which provides straightforward steps you can take to potentially lessen the effects of toxic spike protein in your body

·         Spike protein inhibitors and neutralizers include pine needles, ivermectin, neem, N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and glutathione

·         The top 10 spike protein detox essentials include vitamin D, vitamin C, nigella seed, quercetin, zinc, curcumin, milk thistle extract, NAC, ivermectin and magnesium

 

===========

 

k.

de : News from Underground
envoyé : 16 février 2022

à : nfu@simplelists.com
objet : Daily digest for nfu@simplelists.com

 

1.Those whose "sudden deaths" made news just this past week (February 8-14) - Mark Crispin Miller (15 Feb 2022 19:13 EST)

2."Biden wants to inoculate as many people as possible," says veteran FDA commissar - Mark Crispin Miller (15 Feb 2022 20:41 EST)

3.Bill Gates' dearest wish is coming true! - Mark Crispin Miller (16 Feb 2022 09:57 EST)

4.Thousands occupying streets outside Australia's Parliament - Mark Crispin Miller (16 Feb 2022 10:32 EST)

5.Things to tell Justin Trudeau (and all those who agree with him) - Mark Crispin Miller (16 Feb 2022 10:57 EST)

6.Today's Substacks on Trudeau, Michael Moore, Naomi Klein and a great rap video on Dr. Fauci - Mark Crispin Miller (16 Feb 2022 13:54 EST)

7.Ed Dowd (once at BlackRock) on the Pfizer fraud, as cover for the ultimate financial scam (MUST-SEE/SHARE) - Mark Crispin Miller (16 Feb 2022 14:08 EST)

8.How to remove graphene oxide from the body - Mark Crispin Miller (16 Feb 2022 14:13 EST)

9."To live in constant fear of death is living death": Ed Curtin on "the courage not to be" - Mark Crispin Miller (16 Feb 2022 14:21 EST)

10.Bad news for Trudeau: Doug Ford backs off - Mark Crispin Miller (16 Feb 2022 14:27 EST)

11.Is this the guy who hacked GiveSendGo? If so (or if not), he's clearly nuts - Mark Crispin Miller (16 Feb 2022 16:02 EST)

12.Query - Mark Crispin Miller (16 Feb 2022 17:06 EST)

13.Street journalist (and lawyer) Viva Frei on the propaganda activism of Canadian media (GREAT DISCUSSION) - Mark Crispin Miller (16 Feb 2022 17:44 EST)


1.Those whose "sudden deaths" made news just this past week (February 8-14) by Mark Crispin Miller (15 Feb 2022 19:13 EST)
Reply to list

Friends, please read, and share it far and wide. (People interested in keeping track of all such deaths going forward may subscribe to my Substack.)

 

https://markcrispinmiller.substack.com/p/they-all-died-suddenly-just-this?r=m6kl7

 


2."Biden wants to inoculate as many people as possible," says veteran FDA commissar by Mark Crispin Miller (15 Feb 2022 20:41 EST)
Reply to list

 The banality of evil, 2.0

*CLICK HERE TO TWEET OUT THE VIDEO*

Project Veritas released a new video today exposing Food and Drug Administration [FDA] Executive Officer, Christopher Cole, who inadvertently revealed that his agency will eventually announce that annual COVID vaccinations will become policy.

Here are some of the highlights from today’s video:

FDA Executive Officer, Christopher Cole: “You’ll have to get an annual shot [COVID vaccine]. I mean, it hasn’t been formally announced yet because they don’t want to, like, rile everyone up.”
Cole on President Joe Biden: “Biden wants to inoculate as many people as possible.”
Cole on plans to approve vaccine for toddlers: “They're not going to not approve [emergency use authorization for children five years old or less].”
Cole on pharmaceutical companies: “There’s a money incentive for Pfizer and the drug companies to promote additional vaccinations.”
Cole on the financial incentive for pharmaceutical companies: “It’ll be recurring fountain of revenue. It might not be that much initially, but it’ll be recurring -- if they can -- if they can get every person required at an annual vaccine, that is a recurring return of money going into their company.”
FDA official statement: “The person purportedly in the video does not work on vaccine matters and does not represent the views of the FDA.”

You can watch the full video by CLICKING HERE.

Why is the FDA potentially hiding the fact that annual COVID shots will be enforced? Is the FDA worried about upsetting the American people with that alleged information?

A lot of questions remain unanswered, and the public deserves to know the truth.

*CLICK HERE TO TWEET OUT THE VIDEO*

Stay tuned for PART 2…coming out tomorrow…

James

 

Project Veritas
1214 W. Boston Post Rd #148
Mamaroneck, NY 10543

Project Veritas Privacy Policy:
https://www.projectveritas.com/privacy/

Project Veritas Is Recognized As a Tax Exempt Organization Under Section 501(C)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Your Donations Are Tax Deductible As Allowed by Federal Law and the Laws of Various States.

You are receiving this email because you signed up for our email alerts.

 


3.Bill Gates' dearest wish is coming true! by Mark Crispin Miller (16 Feb 2022 09:57 EST)
Reply to list

Empty Message
Attachment:
bill gates.mp4 (video/mp4)

 


4.Thousands occupying streets outside Australia's Parliament by Mark Crispin Miller (16 Feb 2022 10:32 EST)
Reply to list

Please share whatever you may know about what's happening there.

Anti-vaccine Mandate Protesters Occupy Streets Outside Australia Parliament
Australian police have given protesters a day to leave the capital Canberra.

https://www.asia-pacificresearch.com/anti-vaccine-mandate-protesters-occupy-streets-outside-australia-parliament/5630967

By TRT World

Asia-Pacific Research, February 15, 2022

TRT World 13 February 2022

Region: Oceania

Theme: JusticeSociety

 1 

  0  5  6

All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the “Translate Website” drop down menu on the top banner of our home page (Desktop version).

To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.

Visit and follow us on Instagram at @globalresearch_crg.

***

Thousands of people have occupied streets outside the Australian parliament in the capital Canberra as days-long rallies continue against Covid-19 vaccine mandates. 

Australian police have protesters until the end of Sunday to leave occupied areas.

Several thousand protesters remained in place at Canberra’s major showgrounds, while fewer than 100 demonstrators were gathered near the federal parliament building, an Australian Capital Territory (ACT) police spokesperson told Reuters.

No protesters in Canberra had been arrested so far on Sunday after three were detained on Saturday.

“They must be out by today,” the police spokesperson said, declining to say what action authorities would take if protesters refused to comply with demands to leave.

Meanwhile, in New Zealand’s Wellington, demonstrators protesting Covid-19 mandates gathered for a sixth day, despite heavy rain and strong winds lashing the city.

Click on the link for the rest.

 


5.Things to tell Justin Trudeau (and all those who agree with him) by Mark Crispin Miller (16 Feb 2022 10:57 EST)
Reply to list

From Margaret Anna Alice (whose Substack I strongly recommend):

I keep asking Justin if he’s read my letter to him (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/letter-to-justin-trudeau) yet, and he never responded ;-)

For anyone still on Twitter who would like to join me in my pestering campaign, here are a few examples of my tweets at him:

• “You had the opportunity to choose between diplomacy and despotism, democracy and dictatorship. History will not forget which direction you have chosen, Justin.” (https://twitter.com/MargaretAnnaAl1/status/1493394811126046721)

• “There are just laws and there are unjust laws. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”

—MLK Jr. (https://twitter.com/MargaretAnnaAl1/status/1493394483693588482)

• “The greatest tyrannies are always perpetuated in the name of the noblest causes.”

—Thomas Paine (https://twitter.com/MargaretAnnaAl1/status/1493396254193115136)

• “When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty.”

—Thomas Jefferson (https://twitter.com/MargaretAnnaAl1/status/1493396400465268737)

• So let me get this straight. You are threatening to steal money from freedom-defending truckers and the patriots who support them while simultaneously offering financial assistance to a foreign country. Wake up to your hypocrisy, Justin. (https://twitter.com/MargaretAnnaAl1/status/1493417402029068289)

• “A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”

—John F. Kennedy, Address on the 20th Anniversary of the Voice of America (https://twitter.com/MargaretAnnaAl1/status/1493418787781054465)

• Maybe if you worked on your daddy issues, you might be less inclined to take out your aggression on the Canadian citizens. Here's an article to help you come to grips with your parentage, Justin:

https://gummibear737.substack.com/p/deep-dive-is-fidel-castro-the-father

(https://twitter.com/MargaretAnnaAl1/status/1493436714668281862)

• “A man who lies to himself, and believes his own lies becomes unable to recognize truth, either in himself or in anyone else, and he ends up losing respect for himself and for others.… And it all comes from lying—lying to others and to yourself.”

—Dostoevsky (https://twitter.com/MargaretAnnaAl1/status/1493437191539757058)

• “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.”

—C.S. Lewis (https://twitter.com/MargaretAnnaAl1/status/1493437371471183872)

• “Where do your loyalties lie, Justin, with Klaus Schwab/WEF/Davos or the Canadian people? If the former, as is evident from your actions and words, doesn't that make you a traitor to Canada? If you're not a traitor, prove it by talking to your people. Millions await.” (https://twitter.com/MargaretAnnaAl1/status/1493593067793747968)


6.Today's Substacks on Trudeau, Michael Moore, Naomi Klein and a great rap video on Dr. Fauci by Mark Crispin Miller (16 Feb 2022 13:54 EST)
Reply to list

https://markcrispinmiller.substack.com/p/justin-trudeau-is-hallucinating

https://markcrispinmiller.substack.com/p/the-propaganda-drove-this-man-as

https://markcrispinmiller.substack.com/p/justin-trudeaus-shock-doctrine-has

https://markcrispinmiller.substack.com/p/samson-drops-a-bomb-on-dr-fauci

 


7.Ed Dowd (once at BlackRock) on the Pfizer fraud, as cover for the ultimate financial scam (MUST-SEE/SHARE) by Mark Crispin Miller (16 Feb 2022 14:08 EST)
Reply to list

https://banned.video/watch?id=620c0babf8b550051cae335c

 


8.How to remove graphene oxide from the body by Mark Crispin Miller (16 Feb 2022 14:13 EST)
Reply to list

https://dailyexpose.uk/2022/02/16/how-to-remove-graphene-from-the-body/

 


9."To live in constant fear of death is living death": Ed Curtin on "the courage not to be" by Mark Crispin Miller (16 Feb 2022 14:21 EST)
Reply to list

 

Feb 13, 2022 

 

The Fear Not to Be

Edward Curtin

This year marks the seventieth anniversary of the theologian Paul Tillich’s famous book, The Courage to Be. Widely read in the days when an educated public read books, it is long forgotten.

In it, Tillich surveys the history of anxiety and fear and their relation to courage, religious faith, and the meaning of life.

His closing sentence – “The courage to be is rooted in the God who appears when God has disappeared in the anxiety of doubt” – became acclaimed as an astute description of the existential need to find a foundation for faith and courage when their foundations were shaking.

His writing profoundly influenced many, even when they didn’t wholly agree with him.

Click on the link for the rest.

 


10.Bad news for Trudeau: Doug Ford backs off by Mark Crispin Miller (16 Feb 2022 14:27 EST)
Reply to list

From Tom Woods:

View in browser
 

Nobody expected it, but all eyes are on Canada now.

By now you probably know my feelings about politicians, and why I am so little inclined to cheer for any of them. What I report today is more for the purpose of demonstrating which way things seem to be trending.

And so:

Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, just told the press the following:

"You can go to Costco, you can go to Walmart, you can go shopping, you don't know if the person has a shot beside you or not, but we also know that it doesn't matter if you have one shot or ten shots, you can catch COVID.

"See, the Prime Minister, he has triple shots, and I know hundreds of people with three shots that caught COVID.

"We just have to be careful, got to always make sure we wash our hands, and move forward. We can't stay in this position forever. We've got to learn to live with this and get on with our lives.

"I bet if I asked every single person in this room, do you want these damn masks or do you want them off, they want them off! They want to get back to normal. They want to be able to go for dinner with their families.

"And there's every single person, including myself, knows people who are unvaccinated. Sure, there are rabble rousers, and then there's just hardworking people who just don't believe in it. And that's their choice.

"This is about, again, a democracy and freedoms and liberties. And I hate as a government telling anyone what to do.

"We've just got to get moving forward and get out of this and protect the jobs.

"I think a lot of people, probably yourself, too, everyone's done with this. Like, we are done with it. Let's start moving on, and cautiously. We've followed the rules, 90 percent of us, for over two years. The world's done with it."

I know some of you are living in countries where this kind of hope cannot be found. Even if we should get "back to normal" over here in North America, there will still be a great deal left to do -- not only in helping the remaining places escape the COVID prison, but also in getting our own societies in order. We have a massive number of people who have been completely broken by this experience, and who are now incapable of assessing risk or evaluating situations rationally.

But some places may indeed be reaching an end point.

I hesitate to say that, since there have been numerous times in the past when I've thought: surely now it has to come crumbling down.

But this time, maybe it really is.

Still, there is so much to rebuild. And I am happy that throughout all this I have managed to attract an uncensored community of dissidents, known as the Tom Woods Show Elite, who are prepared for an uncertain future, who know the "experts" are a joke, and who understand that nobody is coming to save us.

See you inside:

 

http://www.SupportingListeners.com

Tom Woods

 

This email was sent to bruce@millertrade.com

why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences

Tom Woods · PO Box 701447 · Saint Cloud, FL 34770 · USA

 


11.Is this the guy who hacked GiveSendGo? If so (or if not), he's clearly nuts by Mark Crispin Miller (16 Feb 2022 16:02 EST)
Reply to list

He's hard to watch in any case.

https://twitter.com/ElijahSchaffer/status/1494029019414765575

 


12.Query by Mark Crispin Miller (16 Feb 2022 17:06 EST)
Reply to list

If anyone out there can help track "sudden deaths" reported in South American media, please let me know.

 


13.Street journalist (and lawyer) Viva Frei on the propaganda activism of Canadian media (GREAT DISCUSSION) by Mark Crispin Miller (16 Feb 2022 17:44 EST)
Reply to list

https://www.bitchute.com/video/sA72NpYldkQ/

 


---
Support News from Underground:
https://bit.ly/NFUSupport
Visit News from Underground:
https://markcrispinmiller.com
For archives, please go to:
https://archives.simplelists.com/nfu

===========

 

l.

“Is It Too Late to Protect Our Privacy in the Internet Age?”

https://scheerpost.com/2022/02/18/neil-richards-is-it-too-late-to-protect-our-privacy-in-the-internet-age/

by Neil Richards

 

+

“‘It Can’t Be Illegal to Help a People’: The Persecution of Alex Saab”

https://www.mintpressnews.com/cant-illegal-help-people-persecution-alex-saab/279661/

by Leonardo Flores

 

+

“How an Israeli Spy-Linked Tech Firm Gained Access to the US Gov’t’s Most Classified Networks”

https://unlimitedhangout.com/2020/01/investigative-series/how-an-israeli-spy-linked-tech-firm-gained-access-to-the-us-govts-most-classified-networks/

by Whitney Webb

 

Through its main investors, SoftBank and Lockheed Martin, Cybereason not only has ties to the Trump administration but has its software running on some of the U.S. government’s most classified and secretive networks.

 

+

“What Happens After U.S. COLLAPSE?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8V22hM3fZU&feature=youtu.be

with Chris Hedges

(4:06)

 

+

From: Reclaim The Net <hello@reclaimthenet.org>
Date: Feb 16, 2022
Subject: Big Tech CEO speaks about suppressing independent voices

 

 

Principles for anonymizing your online activity

 

Following the data breach of GiveSendGo and the leaking of over 90,000 donors to the Freedom Convoy campaign, it’s a good time to refresh on the ways to go over the principles of anonymity and to help protect yourself against bad actors - especially when engaging with activism towards causes you believe in.

Become a supporter
here.

Get our anonymity guides
here, here, and here.

 

SUPPRESSING INDEPENDENT VOICES

 

 

 

YouTube CEO: We boost "experts" so that users don't see content from creators who "had an opinion yesterday"

 

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has reiterated the platform's commitment to boosting what she described as "authoritative" sources and "experts" over the independent creators that helped build the video-sharing site into what it is today.

Wojcicki
made the comments on TIDETVhamburg, an independent broadcaster that's based in Hamburg, when discussing YouTube's "four R's" policy framework which is used to "Raise," "Remove," "Reduce," and "Reward" videos and creators on the platform.

The YouTube CEO noted that as part of the Raise part of this policy framework, YouTube believes it's important to boost "experts" and "authorities in the subject" ahead of creators who "had an opinion yesterday."


"There's a lot of information topics where we believe it’s important for us to highlight the…experts, the authorities in the subject, similar to Google Search, right," Wojcicki said. "When you go to Google Search and you type in COVID, you’re not gonna see something from somebody who just, you know, had an opinion yesterday, you’re actually gonna see it from a national health organization that specializes in COVID."


Wojcicki continued by describing how this approach applies to YouTube recommendations:


"So the same thing we wanna make sure happens with recommendations that when you type in something about information that we’re giving you authoritative information about it, so raising up the experts in…information topics."


Wojcicki also noted that currently, this policy of boosting authoritative information doesn't apply to music.


Wojcicki's support of giving "experts" and "authorities" preferential treatment on the platform reflects a change in tone from the early days of YouTube where independent creators were welcomed and
the tagline "Broadcast Yourself" featured prominently on the site.

She and other executives have increasingly echoed this tone in recent years. Wojcicki previously justified YouTube's approach to boosting authoritative sources by
saying it's easy to "make up content and post it from your basement." She has also said the platform won't recommend YouTubers for breaking news. Additionally, Neal Mohan, YouTube's Chief Product Officer, has said creators "espousing” opinions "in their basement" can’t provide context on the news.

In 2020, Wojcicki revealed the impact of YouTube's increased focus on authoritative sources by
acknowledging that only half the views on the platform come from YouTubers.

Wojcicki made the comments when explaining how YouTube uses its four R's policy framework (Remove, Raise, Reduce, and Reward) to balance "tensions between freedom of speech" and "the need for us to…be responsible as a platform in terms of how we distribute information."

Videos that are deemed to be in violation of YouTube's "hate speech" and "harassment" rules are removed under the "Remove" part of this four R's policy framework.


Wojcicki justified the Remove aspect of this policy by claiming that there's content "I think everyone agrees doesn’t make sense," only to admit seconds later that there's ambiguity around how people define "hate and harassment."

"There’s many content that I think everyone agrees doesn’t make sense," Wojcicki said. "Obviously, like violent extremism, making sure children are safe, hate, harassment, hate and harassment there could be various definitions of where you draw those lines but…there are certainly many categories that we…can all agree don’t belong on a platform for…distribution."


Despite this admission that there are various ways to define hate and harassment, Wojcicki and YouTube support removing content based on these terms.


Wojcicki has previously
called for the US government to offer guidance on hate speech and cited Europe’s "much stricter hate laws." She has also acknowledged that YouTube will remove hate speech from elected officials but allow media outlets to reupload it with their own “context.”

YouTube introduced a controversial
new harassment policy in December 2019 which targeted insults, mockery, and jokes that go "too far." The policy was blasted by creators who warned that it would prohibit many forms of comedy on the platform.

 

 

Reclaim The Net accepts no advertising and is funded entirely by the community. If you support free speech, the eradication of cancel culture and restoring privacy and civil liberties, please become a supporter here.

 

 

CONTACTING DONORS

 

 

 

CBC uses stolen Freedom Convoy donor list to contact donors, asking why they donated

 

On February 13, crowdfunding platform GiveSendGo, which was being used to fundraise for the Freedom Convoy protests, was hacked. The personal information of more than 90,000 people who donated to the Freedom Convoy 2022 campaign was stolen.

Now, the Canadian government-funded media company CBC is using the stolen data, contacting those whose data was exposed, for a story.


CBC likely got a copy of the data from the leaked files hosting service Distributed Denial of Secrets or downloaded it at the time of the attack. The original link to the hacked data, posted on GiveSendGo.wtf, is no longer available.


Related:
Learn how to protect your identity online so you won’t be affected by data breaches

CBC told donors that it was working on a story about the people who contributed funds.


The email sent to the donors said that the CBC is “interested in interviewing you both about why you may have donated to the cause, but also how you feel about having your personal information leaked.”

 

 

 

"Good morning.This is David Fraser and Guy Quenneville from CBC Ottawa.We're working on a story about the people who allegedly contributed funds, through GiveSendGo, to the ongoing Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa, according to the public release of hacked data from the site.

We're reaching out to you because your name and information appeared on the list, and we're interested in interviewing you both about why you may have donated to the cause, but also how you feel about having had your personal information leaked.We should stress: we are not automatically identifying anyone by name in our story. We need to verify with people that they indeed contributed, as a first step.

The second step is seeing if people will share their story with us.If you're interested, please write us back as soon as possible. Thanks."

On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau deemed the convoy protest illegal by invoking the
Emergencies Act.

 

REVERSAL OF BAN

 

 

 

Twitter bans (then restores) popular account, Defiant L's, which highlighted hypocrisy

 

Update 1:47pm: Twitter has reversed its decision to ban Defiant L's after public outcry.

The original article follows:


Twitter has banned an account called “Defiant L’s,” which highlighted the hypocrisy of Twitter users by showcasing their contradictory previous and current remarks on controversial issues. Before the suspension, the account had over 350,000 followers.


Twitter user @elizableau apparently messaged the person behind Defiant L’s, who revealed that the account was suspended for alleged ban evasion.

 

 

 

Defiant L’s released the following statement:

"Hey Twitter, so about an hour ago my account @DefiantLs was suspended. The word currently is 'ban evasion' though I've never had an account suspended so I've never had a ban to evade. Regardless, I've appealed the suspension and will keep everyone updated. Until then, I can be found at Instagram @defiant.ls and also on GETTR at @defiantls ha. Thanks for all the support and kind words. I hope to chat with you all again soon.”


The ban came soon after the account posted a tweet highlighting the hypocrisy of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

 

 

 

In 2012, Trudeau tweeted “When a government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid dissent is when it's rapidly losing its moral authority to govern -Harper in 2005.”

However, Trudeau has this week invoked the Emergencies Act and brought in some measures used to deal with civil liberties protesters in a similar way to terrorists,
by freezing their bank accounts.

Twitter’s ban of Defiant L's is the latest in a long line of bans of popular accounts as Twitter’s censorship is ramping up in recent months. This censorship is fueling the growth of alternatives such as Gab and GETTR.

 

SURVEILLANCE STATE

 

 

 

NY Mayor outlines new facial recognition surveillance push

 

Despite the fact civil rights and privacy advocates are consistently warning against deploying more facial recognition technology, as mass surveillance-susceptible and insufficiently accurate policing solutions, mayors like New York City's Eric Adams are adamant about moving in the opposite direction.

According to a
press release, Adams intends to expand facial recognition as a way for the police to "identify problems, follow up on leads, and collect evidence."

When reports speak about expanding the New York Police Department's (NYPD) current use of facial recognition, they are referring to Amnesty International data that shows this policy that's meant to be expanded here is already invasive. Amnesty International says that the city's main law enforcement agency already uses images, sometimes scraped from the internet, to compare and match with its own suspect and felon database, and then also those obtained from some 15,000 surveillance cameras installed all around New York.


The question of why there needs to be even more of this controversial push is one that emerges from the take on the situation offered by American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) senior policy council Michael Sisitzky, cited by Reason magazine, who believes the mass surveillance already operational and at NYPD's disposal is enough to "track who goes where and when."


Once again, ACLU emphasizes the possibility that the use of facial recognition could disproportionately infringe on the rights of minorities - but the problem of mass surveillance is and will remain to be universal.


One of the reasons is the level and quality of this tech's safety, given how easily it can be manipulated, and its general lack of accuracy. NYPD's use of facial recognition has been described as "unscientific" by Georgetown Law's Center on Privacy & Technology Jameson Spivack. This now goes so far that officers on occasion, when they cannot find a match with a security video image of a suspect, go ahead and try to match it with that of a lookalike celebrity.


In one case, it was a photo of Woody Harrelson.


"When the software turned up matches for the actor, the police identified and arrested one of the matches that they thought resembled the suspect from the security cam footage,"
writes Reason.

One proposed solution is for New York to follow in the footsteps of San Francisco, Oakland, and Seattle and ban facial recognition - instead of doubling down on its usage.

 

SPEECH LAWS

 

 

 

Christians suggest proposed UK speech law could make Christian teachings illegal

 

The UK government is working on the Online Safety Bill to reduce the spread of “harmful” content through online platforms.

However, it has been noted that the bill could end up censoring Christian teachings.


The Christian Institute has
announced that it appreciates the government’s commitment to fighting harmful content. However, it feels that the bill could also make expressing Christian beliefs unlawful.

The Christian Institute noted that the definition of “harmful” will be decided by the government, regulators, and Big Tech companies.


The organization feels that the bill does not protect free speech and “could have unintended consequences” like the censorship of Christian teachings on issues such as marriage, sexuality, and gender.


Christian Institute Director Colin Hart argued that the bill “risks enshrining cancel culture into law.”


"Every day we hear accusations that someone is causing harm just for saying what they believe. The eminent Christian doctor, Peter Saunders, had a talk on transsexuality removed by YouTube. JK Rowling was vilified for challenging transgender ideology," he said."Maya Forstater lost her job after saying that people cannot change their biological sex. At her Employment Tribunal the judge found against Forstater and said her view was 'not worthy of respect in a democratic society.' Thankfully, this was overturned."


But imagine consolidating that power in the hands of Big Tech."They will get to decide what should and shouldn't be allowed in crucial and controversial areas of debate. Their yardstick will be their own commercial interest and so will inevitably go much further than what the law requires."

Hart said that the bill should include free speech protections to protect mainstream Christian beliefs on issues like gender, sexuality, marriage, and parenting.


"The Bill must be amended to include a presumption in favor of free speech. What is free to say on 'the street' must also remain free to say online," he said.


Hart also criticized a provision in the bill that makes it a crime to communicate anything that could be deemed “likely to cause harm to a likely audience.”


"The legislation also proposes a new criminal offense for communication deemed 'likely to cause harm to a likely audience'. This risks putting harm into the eye of the beholder.


"Any approach that prioritizes the claims of the 'offended' is dangerous, particularly when the 'likely audience' for online content could be anyone in the world. The Bill risks enshrining cancel culture into law."

 

Reclaim The Net exists because of readers like you. Keep us going and become a supporter.

We appreciate your support.

 

 

Thanks for reading,

Reclaim The Net

===========

 

m.

"Historian Alfred McCoy Predicts the U.S. Empire is Collapsing as China’s Power Grows"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HendU4zRg9A

with Alfred McCoy

(22:24)

 

+

“USA v China : Michael Hudson”

https://youtu.be/fgagkItxpBU

with Michael Hudson

(15:08)

 

+

“USA v China: with Michael Roberts”

https://youtu.be/AdDfMt1qBTg

with Michael Roberts

(24:21)

 

+

“How the USA has LOST IT"

https://youtu.be/vwOKhaevCWg

with Chris Hedges

(7:26)

 

+

“How and Why the US Cannot Recover: Is It a Failed State?”

https://youtu.be/c9Ds1h_WMpQ

with Michael Hudson

(1:16:12)

 

+

“Economic Update: ‘Fascism’”

https://economicupdate.libsyn.com/fascism

with Richard Wolff

(audio, 28:59)

 

 

 

===========

 

n.

“Australia in 2021: What the Media Won't Tell You (Part 2)”

https://youtu.be/wxMtKvuiJRIhttps://www.bitchute.com/video/6sE8DoGunxF3/

with reallygraceful

(8:40)

 

===========

 

o.

“Sheikh Jarrah family fights state-backed expulsion”

https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/sheikh-jarrah-family-fights-state-backed-expulsion

by Tamara Nassar

 

+

“Labour blew $1.3 million pursuing "anti-Semitism" leakers”

https://electronicintifada.net/content/labour-blew-13-million-pursuing-anti-semitism-leakers/34026

by Asa Winstanley

 

+

“Terrell Starr and Black Support of Imperialism”

http://www.blackagendareport.com/terrell-starr-and-black-support-imperialism

by Margaret Kimberley

 

===========

 

p.

“Along the Belt and Road: Breaking the Cycle of Underdevelopment in Latin America”

http://www.blackagendareport.com/along-belt-and-road-breaking-cycle-underdevelopment-latin-america

by Carlos Martinez

 

+

“The Capitalist Imperative Driving Cruel and Bipartisan US Migration Policies”

http://www.blackagendareport.com/capitalist-imperative-driving-cruel-and-bipartisan-us-migration-policies

by Daniel Melo

 

+

“Why We Need A "Mau Mau" in Amerikkka”

http://www.blackagendareport.com/why-we-need-mau-mau-amerikkka

by  Dedan Waicuri and Yusuf Askari wa Watu

 

+

“Renegade Inc | Russia - A Recent History Lesson”

https://www.rt.com/shows/renegade-inc/549863-russia-recent-history-lesson/

with Ross Ashcroft, Vladimir Golstein, Andrei Nekrasov

(27:40)

 

===========

 

q.

From: CJ Hopkins <cjhopkins@substack.com>
Date: Feb 20, 2022
Subject: The Naked Face of New Normal Fascism


 

The Naked Face of New Normal Fascism

 

 

CJ Hopkins

Feb 20

 

I told you this part wasn’t going to be pretty. The collapse of fascist ideological movements and fanatical death cults never is. The New Normal is proving to be no exception.

After three weeks of non-violent civil disobedience outside the Canadian parliament in Ottawa by truckers and other Canadian citizens struggling to uphold their right to not be subjected to forced “vaccination,” Justin Trudeau unleashed the goon squads. Thousands of militarized riot police (and other unidentified heavily-armed operatives) swarmed the area, surrounded the protesters, started breaking into trucks and arresting people, and beating them with batons and the butts of their rifles.

In one particularly ugly episode, the New Normal stormtroopers rode their horses directly into a crowd of non-violent protesters, trampling an elderly lady with a walker. She had just finished saying something to the police along the lines of “you break my heart … this is about peace, and love, and happiness.” Then they knocked her down and rode their horses over her.

Despite an abundance of video evidence clearly depicting exactly what happened, the Ottawa Police tried to spin it this way …

Here’s an overhead photo of the incident …

The big red arrow (courtesy of The Marie Oakes) points to the lady’s walker, or the alleged “horse-assaulting bicycle.” Presumably, the face of the gentlemen above her also caused the horse “to trip,” or was in the process of causing the horse “to trip,” at the moment that this photo was taken.

And that wasn’t all. Oh no, far from it. The “show of force” was just getting started. After all, this was not a “mostly peaceful” outbreak of rioting, looting, and arson. This was non-violent civil disobedience, with children’s bouncy castles, makeshift saunas, honking, dancing, illegal barbecuing, and other forms of “terrorist” activity, which had to be crushed with an iron fist.

On Saturday, the goon squads broke out the stun grenades, the pepper spray, and the big wooden sticks. By Sunday morning, they were shooting people with “non-lethal, mid-range impact weapons.” Tow truck operators in horror-movie ski masks were brought in to haul away the big rigs.

Before he turned the goon squads loose on Friday, Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, suspending the Canadian constitution, which he had already suspended back in 2020 due to the “apocalyptic pandemic,” which is why the protesters were protesting in the first place. Parliament was scheduled to debate his authority to declare another “state of emergency,” but, of course, the debate was abruptly suspended due to the massive “police operation” that his invocation of the Act had enabled.

Acting under the Emergencies Act, he immediately cancelled the right of assembly, outlawed the protests, and started threatening to kill people’s dogs and take away their kids. Then he and his fascist New Normal lieutenants started freezing the bank accounts of anyone and everyone even vaguely connected to the trucker protest. According to a Bloomberg report:

“The emergency orders require virtually every participant in the Canadian financial system — banks, investment firms, credit unions, loan companies, securities dealers, fundraising platforms and payment and clearing services — to determine whether they possess or control property of a person who’s attending an illegal protest or providing supplies to demonstrators.”

And, as if all that wasn’t fascist enough, Ottawa’s police chief has made it clear that, once the “crackdown” is finally over, they will hunt down anyone involved in the protests, arrest them and charge them with “criminal offenses,” subject them to “financial sanctions,” and otherwise destroy their lives and families.

Subscribe now

The crackdown in Ottawa is hardly an aberration. As my readers might recall, New Normal Germany outlawed protesting against the New Normal (i.e., the new official ideology) back in September of 2020, and the German police have been absolutely brutal. Anyone deemed a “Covid denier” is subject to surveillance by Germany’s Intelligence services. The US Department of Homeland Security designates us “domestic violent extremists.” Same story in Australia, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, and assorted other countries.

I have been describing the New Normal as a new form of totalitarianism (or fascism, if you prefer) for the past two years, and I have been documenting it from the very beginning (see, e.g., these Twitter threads from March 2020 and April 2020, which the OffGuardian editors have preserved for posterity). It has been there all along, right out in the open, but rendered invisible by the official Covid narrative.

The official narrative is rapidly dissolving, rendering the fascism of the New Normal visible. This is happening now because those of us who have seen it from the beginning — and have been resisting it all along — have held out long enough to run out the clock. GloboCap can’t keep the narrative going, so all they have left is brute fascist force.

We need to make GloboCap deploy that force, and to shine a big, bright spotlight on it, as the truckers and protesters in Ottawa have just done. In case anyone is confused about the tactic, it’s called classic non-violent civil disobedience. I described it in a recent column:

“In other words, we need to make GloboCap (and its minions) go openly totalitarian … because it can’t. If it could, it would have done so already. Global capitalism cannot function that way. Going openly totalitarian will cause it to implode … no, not global capitalism itself, but this totalitarian version of it. In fact, this is starting to happen already. It needs the simulation of ‘reality,’ and ‘democracy,’ and ‘normality,’ to keep the masses docile. So we need to attack that simulation. We need to hammer on it until it cracks, and the monster hiding within in appears. That is the weakness of the system … New Normal totalitarianism will not work if the masses perceive it as totalitarianism, as a political/ideological program, rather than as a response to a deadly pandemic.”

The official narrative is dead, or dying. The Covidian Cult is coming apart. No one but the most fanatical New Normals believes there is any real justification for imposing mandatory “vaccination,” “quarantine camps,” segregation of “the Unvaccinated,” or any of the other “Covid restrictions.” “The virus” is no longer an excuse for mindlessly following ridiculous orders and persecuting those of us who refuse.

Apocalyptic Pandemic Theater is over. It is a purely political fight from now on.

Ottawa is not the end. It is just the beginning. Protests and other forms of civil disobedience are growing all around the world … yes, even here in New Normal Germany. That does not mean it is time to relax. On the contrary, it is time to step up the pressure. It is time to make the monster show itself, in all its naked fascist ugliness, and to force everyone to pick a side.

There are only two sides … fascism or freedom.