Who Profits From Narrative Management & Eliminating Dissent?

Who Profits From Narrative Management & Eliminating Dissent?   went2thebridge – Organizing and actions to resist the moral and financial  bankrupting of the U.S. through wars against the poor, at home and abroad 18 Apr 22,

When the Pentagon summons the heads of eight weapons manufacturing corporations to a classified meeting about “aid” to Ukraine, you can be sure that a whole lot more Ukranians will be dying in their civil war on steroids.

This type of aid is in reality U.S. taxpayer-funded corporate welfare for the likes of Lockheed and Raytheon, whose former board member is our current Secretary of “Defense.” The aid has been flowing so thick and fast since Russia intervened in the CIA-sponsored war on its doorstep that it’s hard to add it all up quickly enough. One tally this week put the total at $1.7 billion!

Also, why limit these already wealthy corporate entities to feeding from just the U.S. trough? Zero Hedge reports: “Besides replenishing stockpiles sent to Ukraine, the companies stand to gain from European countries increasing military spending in the wake of Russia’s invasion.”

I believe this cash bonanza explains the barrage of propaganda that liberals have fallen for hook, line, and sinker.

You would think that those who value free speech would be alarmed by the burgeoning online censorship that many independent journalists have noted. 

Consider the case of Michael J. Brenner, “Professor Emeritus of International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh and a Fellow of the Center for Transatlantic Relations at SAIS/Johns Hopkins, as well as former Director of the International Relations & Global Studies Program at the University of Texas” according to an interview in scheerpost:

……………  In an email with the subject line “Quittin’ Time,” Brenner recently declared that, aside from having already said his piece on Ukraine, one of the main reasons he sees for giving up on expressing his opinions on the subject is that “it is manifestly obvious that

our society is not capable of conducting an honest, logical, reasonably informed discourse on matters of consequence. Instead, we experience fantasy, fabrication, fatuousness and fulmination.” He goes on to decry President Joe Biden’s alarming comments in Poland when he all but revealed that the U.S. is—and perhaps has always been—interested in a Russian regime change [emphasis mine]. 

Or how about Scott Ritter, a former UN weapons inspector who sifts through the foggy “facts” of war to discern some truth, who had his Twitter account suspended twice in one week. Based on what he knows about the grisly details of bodies left to rot in the street, he doubted that Russian soldiers could have committed the crimes before their exit from Bucha and speculated that Ukranian militias were the only ones in the area at the time of the massacre.

Cue liberals insisting that Twitter is not the government and therefore can censor anything it likes without violating the 1st amendment. Do they not know that Twitter, Facebook/Meta, Google/YouTube, and other platforms work hand in glove with the federal government to manage the narrative or, when that fails, to eliminate dissenting views? 

Are they fooled by mainstream media like the Washington Post, now owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, ironically sporting the tagline “Democracy Dies in Darkness”? 

Or do they know and not care because they’re more interested in the former president and other right-wingers being denied platforms for their views than they are interested in actual free speech?

From media watcher Caitlin Johnstone:

what exactly is the argument for censoring wrongthink about the Ukraine war? Even if we pretend that everything they’re saying is 100% false and completely immoral, so what? What harm is being done? …………

Political action and the players behind it — at every level — becomes more murky by the day. Forgive this boomer for saying, back in the day we thought a free press was foundational to reign in the excesses of the wealthy and powerful, by shining a light into their dark doings. 

But late stage capitalism demands fealty to profits above all else. Even, or maybe especially, when the leader of the “free world” is busy shooting himself and his cronies in the foot.

April 19, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Lightsource bp unveils plans for 400MW NSW solar farm and battery — RenewEconomy

Lightsource bp advances gigawatt-scale solar plans for Australia, with proposal of new PV and battery project near Goulburn in New South Wales. The post Lightsource bp unveils plans for 400MW NSW solar farm and battery appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Lightsource bp unveils plans for 400MW NSW solar farm and battery — RenewEconomy

April 19, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

“Another lie:” It is time to call out Coalition’s climate modelling con — RenewEconomy

Taylor rehashes Coalition’s favoured campaign tactic: Producing unverified modelling to make fictional claims about Labor policy costs. The post “Another lie:” It is time to call out Coalition’s climate modelling con appeared first on RenewEconomy.

“Another lie:” It is time to call out Coalition’s climate modelling con — RenewEconomy

April 19, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Victoria reaches record wind and solar share of 83.8 per cent — RenewEconomy

Victoria sets new benchmark of 83.8 per cent instantaneous wind and solar share on Easter Sunday. The post Victoria reaches record wind and solar share of 83.8 per cent appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Victoria reaches record wind and solar share of 83.8 per cent — RenewEconomy

April 19, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

April 18 Energy News — geoharvey

Science and Technology: ¶ “This Bat Appreciation Day, NREL Shines Light (Literally) On Bat Interactions With Wind Energy” • Bat Appreciation Day was April 17. With the US DOE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office’s support, National Renewable Energy Laboratory researchers are working hard on solutions that protect bats and other creatures near wind installations. [CleanTechnica] Bats […]

April 18 Energy News — geoharvey

April 19, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

U.S. Is Set to Launch a $6 Billion Effort to Save Nuclear Plants

Ari Natter, Bloomberg News 18 Apr 22, — The Energy Department is expected to provide details as soon as Monday on a $6 billion program aimed at keeping uneconomical nuclear plants in service, providing a lifeline to an industry that’s seen a raft of early reactor retirements driven by competition from cheaper power sources. 

The program, funded through the $550 billion infrastructure bill signed into law last year, will let owners and operators of commercial nuclear reactors apply for credits for plants that are likely to shut down for economic reasons if the closures would lead to higher emissions. The agency is set to issue a guidance document this week detailing the application process.

……………….The program, known officially as the Civil Nuclear Credit Program, could provide a boost to operators including Public Service Enterprise Group Inc., Constellation Energy Corp. and Energy Harbor Corp. U.S. reactors have struggled to survive in the face of competition from cheap natural gas and renewable power. A dozen have already retired early for economic reasons,………

The Energy Department, which will administer the program, plans this week to issue guidance about how to apply for the program and will open a process for certification. The agency expects to issue preliminary credit award decisions following an application period of about 30 days, and “the first award cycle will prioritize and be limited to reactors that are approaching near term closure.”  https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/u-s-is-set-to-launch-a-6-billion-effort-to-save-nuclear-plants-1.1753474

April 19, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Magnitude 5.3 earthquake shakes Fukushima and Ibaraki

Magnitude 5.3 earthquake shakes Fukushima and Ibaraki  https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/04/19/national/quake-fukushima/ 19 Apr 22,

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 struck Ibaraki and Fukushima prefectures as well as other parts of Japan on Tuesday morning, the Meteorological Agency said.

The 8:16 a.m. quake registered a lower 5 on japan’s seismic intensity scale of 7 in northern Ibaraki, while parts of Ibaraki, Fukushima, Tochigi and Saitama prefectures registered a 4. No tsunami warning was issued.

The temblor originated in an inland part of Fukushima at a depth of about 90 kilometers.

More information:

• Detailed information about this earthquake from the Yahoo! Japan Weather & Disaster website
• Detailed information about this earthquake from the Japan Meteorological Agency website
• The Japan Meterological Agency website
• An explanation of shindo, Japan’s earthquake intensity scale.
• A guide to what to do before, during and after an earthquake.
• Our portal for disaster-related information

April 19, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Ukraine can fight Russia ‘for 10 years’ claims Zelensky,

Ukraine can fight Russia ‘for 10 years’ claims Zelensky, as neo-Nazi led military suffers heavy losses & demands West supply ever more arms https://www.sott.net/article/466849-Ukraine-can-fight-Russia-for-10-years-claims-Zelensky-as-neo-Nazi-led-military-suffers-heavy-losses-demands-West-supply-ever-more-armsRT, Sun, 17 Apr 2022

Ukraine is not prepared to give up territory and is ready, if necessary, to fight Russia “for 10 years,” President Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed. He also appeared to acknowledge that the current conflict effectively began in 2014, when Kiev first launched an operation to re-take the breakaway Donbass.

In an interview with CNN, Zelensky said that for Ukraine “the battle for Donbass is very important” for a number of reasons, adding that it could affect “the course of the whole war.” He stressed, however, that a diplomatic solution to the conflict is preferable.

“We cannot give up our territory, but we must find some kind of dialogue with Russia,” Zelensky said, adding that talks will not be conducted “on the basis of the Russian ultimatum.”

Zelensky said dialogue is needed to prevent more deaths, though he claimed his country “can fight the Russian Federation for ten years.”

He said the Ukrainian forces in Donbass are some of “the best military” the country has. “It is a large grouping. And Russia wants to encircle them and destroy them,” Zelensky claimed, adding that he was talking about “44,000 professional military men who survived a great war from the beginning of 2014.”

“This is why it is very important for us to preserve that part of our army.”

Asked by the CNN presenter if Ukraine will be victorious in the conflict, Zelensky said, “Yes, of course.”

Russia attacked the neighboring state in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German and French brokered protocols were designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state.

The Kremlin has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.

RT comments:

 It seems that Russia agrees Donbass is important, that’s why it focused on liberating Donbass, and it did so by luring the US-proxy army in Ukraine away to Kiev.

 Maybe it’s possibly, technically, true; [ country “can fight the Russian Federation for ten years.”] although the economies of the West would probably have bankrupted themselves by then, even if they were able to recruit ever more cannon fodder from their terrorist armies elsewhere, and these terrorists wouldn’t be fighting on the territory that Russia has already taken control over; it’s also not clear that the multipolar alliance would tolerate a decade of attacks without serious retaliation.

 It remains to be seen what’s left of the Ukraine as we know it in 10 weeks, never mind 10 years. Zelensky’s acting experience has certainly fooled a great many people into thinking otherwise, but the facts on the ground, such as the heavy losses of Ukraine’s military bases, troops, territory, and its endless begging for more money and arms, reflect a proxy army in dire straits: Ukraine is smashed, this is how it will be repaired

April 19, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Our news analyses of the Ukraine war come from politicians, not from genuine military intelligence

Military Situation in Ukraine: An Update by Jacques Baud  The Postil
Mon, 11 Apr 2022

This allows us to deduce that the American and European political leaders deliberately pushed the Ukraine into a conflict that they knew was lost in advance — for the sole purpose of dealing a political blow to Russia.

“…………………The Conduct of Battle.

As for the course of operations, the analyses presented in our media come most often from politicians or so-called military experts, who relay Ukrainian propaganda.

Let’s be clear. A war, whatever else it is, is drama. The problem here is that our strategists in neckties are clearly trying to overdramatize the situation in order to exclude any negotiated solution. This development, however, is prompting some Western military personnel to speak out and offer a more nuanced judgment. Thus, in Newsweek, an analyst from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the American equivalent of the Direction du Renseignement Militaire (DRM) in France, noted that “in 24 days of conflict, Russia has carried out some 1,400 strikes and launched nearly 1,000 missiles (by way of comparison, the United States carried out more strikes and launched more missiles on the first day of the Iraq war in 2003).”

While the West likes to “soften up” the battlefield with intensive and prolonged strikes, before sending in ground-troops, the Russians prefer a less destructive, but more troop-intensive approach. On France 5, the journalist Mélanie Tarvant presented the death of Russian generals on the battlefield as proof of the destabilization of the Russian army. But this is a profound misunderstanding of the traditions and modes of operation of the Russian army. Whereas in the West, commanders tend to lead from the rear, their Russian counterparts tend to lead from the front — in the West they say, “Forward!” In Russia, they say, “Follow me!” This explains the high losses in the upper echelons of command, already observed in Afghanistan — but it also tells of the much more rigorous selection of staff-personnel than in the West.

Furthermore, the DIA analyst noted that “the vast majority of the airstrikes are over the battlefield, with Russian aircraft providing ‘close air support’ to ground forces. The remainder — less than 20 percent, according to U.S. experts — has been aimed at military airfields, barracks and supporting depots.” Thus, the phrase “indiscriminate bombing [that] is devastating cities and killing everyone” echoed by the Western media seems to contradict the U.S. intelligence expert, who said, “If we merely convince ourselves that Russia is bombing indiscriminately, or [that] it is failing to inflict more harm because its personnel are not up to the task or because it is technically inept, then we are not seeing the real conflict.”

In fact, Russian operations differ fundamentally from the Western concept of the same. The West’s obsession with having no fatalities in their own forces leads them to operations that are primarily in the form of very lethal air strikes. Ground troops only intervene when everything has been destroyed. This is why, in Afghanistan or in the Sahel, Westerners killed more civilians than terrorists did. This is why Western countries engaged in Afghanistan, the Middle East and North Africa no longer publish the number of civilian casualties caused by their strikes. In fact, Europeans engaged in regions that only marginally affect their national security, such as the Estonians in the Sahel, go there just to “get their feet wet.”

In the Ukraine, the situation is very different. One only has to look at a map of linguistic zones to see that the Russian coalition operates almost exclusively in the Russian-speaking zone; thus, among populations that are generally favorable to it. This also explains the statements of a US Air Force officer: “I know that the news keeps repeating that Putin is targeting civilians, but there is no evidence that Russia is intentionally doing so.”

Conversely, it is for the same reason — but in a different way — that the Ukraine has deployed its ultra-nationalist paramilitary fighters in major cities, such as Mariupol or Kharkov — without emotional or cultural ties to the local population, these militias can fight even at the cost of heavy civilian casualties. The atrocities that are currently being uncovered remain hidden by the French-speaking media, for fear of losing support for the Ukraine, as noted by media close to the Republicans in the United States.

After “decapitation” strikes in the first minutes of the offensive, the Russian operational strategy was to bypass the urban centers, and to envelop the Ukrainian army, “pinned down” by the forces of the Donbass republics. It is important to remember that the “decapitation” is not intended to annihilate the general staff or the government (as our “experts” tend to understand it), but to sunder the leadership structures so as to prevent the coordinated maneuver of forces. On the contrary, the aim is to preserve the leadership structures themselves in order to be able to negotiate a way out of the crisis.

On March 25, 2022, after having sealed the cauldron of Kramatorsk which denied any possibility of retreat to the Ukrainians and having taken most of the cities of Kharkov and Marioupol, Russia has practically fulfilled its objectives — all that remains is to concentrate its efforts on reducing the pockets of resistance. Thus, contrary to what the Western press has claimed, this is not a reorientation or a resizing of its offensive, but the methodical implementation of the objectives announced on February 24.

The Role of the Volunteers

A particularly disturbing aspect of this conflict is the attitude of European governments that allow or encourage their citizens to go and fight in the Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky’s call to join the International Legion for the Territorial Defense of Ukraine, which he recently created, has been greeted with enthusiasm by European countries.

Encouraged by the media that present a routed Russian army, many of these young people head off, imagining they are going — literally — on a hunting trip. However, once there, disillusionment is high. Testimonies show that these “amateurs” often end up as “cannon fodder,” without having any real impact on the outcome of the conflict. The experience of recent conflicts shows that the arrival of foreign fighters brings nothing to a conflict, except to increase its duration and lethality.

Moreover, the arrival of several hundred Islamist fighters from the Idlib region, an area under the control and protection of the Western coalition in Syria (and also the area in which two Islamic State leaders were killed by the Americans) should arouse our concern. Indeed, the weapons we are very liberally supplying to the Ukraine are already partly in the hands of criminal individuals and organizations and are already beginning to pose a security problem for the authorities in Kiev. Not to mention the fact that the weapons that are being touted as effective against Russian aircraft could eventually threaten our military and civilian aircraft.

The volunteer proudly presented by the RTBF on the 7:30 p.m. news of March 8, 2022 was an admirer of the “Corps Franc Wallonie,” Belgian volunteers who served the Third Reich; and he illustrates the type of people attracted to the Ukraine. In the end, we will have to ask ourselves, who gained the most — [in this case] Belgium or the Ukraine?

Distributing weapons indiscriminately could well make the EU — volens nolens — a supporter of extremism and even international terrorism. The result — we are adding misery to misery, in order to satisfy the European elites more than the Ukraine itself.

Three Points Deserve to be Highlighted by Way of Conclusion

1. Western Intelligence, Ignored by Policymakers

Military documents found in Ukrainian headquarters in the south of the country confirm that the Ukraine was preparing to attack the Donbass; and that the firing observed by OSCE observers as early as February 16 heralded an imminent outbreak in days or weeks.

Here, some introspection is necessary for the West — either its intelligence services did not see what was happening and they are thus very bad, or the political decision-makers chose not to listen to them. We know that Russian intelligence services have far superior analytical capabilities than their Western counterparts. We also know that the American and German intelligence services had very well understood the situation, since the end of 2021, and knew that the Ukraine was preparing to attack the Donbass.

This allows us to deduce that the American and European political leaders deliberately pushed the Ukraine into a conflict that they knew was lost in advance — for the sole purpose of dealing a political blow to Russia.

The reason Zelensky did not deploy his forces to the Russian border, and repeatedly stated that his large neighbor would not attack him, was presumably because he thought he was relying on Western deterrence. This is what he told CNN on March 20th — he was clearly told that the Ukraine would not be part of NATO, but that publicly they would say the opposite. The Ukraine was thus instrumentalized to affect Russia. The objective was the closure of the North Stream 2 gas pipeline, announced on February 8th, by Joe Biden, during the visit of Olaf Scholz; and which was followed by a barrage of sanctions.

2. Broken Diplomacy

Clearly, since the end of 2021, no effort has been made by the West to reactivate the Minsk agreements, as evidenced by the reports of visits and telephone conversations, notably between Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin. However, France, as guarantor of the Minsk Agreements, and as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, has not respected its commitments, which has led to the situation that the Ukraine is experiencing today. There is even a feeling that the West has sought to add fuel to the fire since 2014.

Thus, Vladimir Putin’s placing of nuclear forces on alert on February 27 was presented by our media and politicians as an irrational act or blackmail. What is forgotten is that it followed the thinly veiled threat made by Jean-Yves Le Drian, three days earlier, that NATO could use nuclear weapons. It is very likely that Putin did not take this “threat” seriously, but wanted to push Western countries — and France in particular — to abandon the use of excessive language.

3. The Vulnerability of Europeans to Manipulation is Increasing

Today, the perception propagated by our media is that the Russian offensive has broken down; that Vladimir Putin is crazy, irrational and therefore ready to do anything to break the deadlock in which he supposedly finds himself. In this totally emotional context, the question asked by Republican Senator Marco Rubio during Victoria Nuland’s hearing before Congress was strange, to say the least: “If there is a biological or chemical weapon incident or attack inside the Ukraine, is there any doubt in your mind that 100% it would be the Russians behind it?” Naturally, she answered that there is no doubt. Yet there is absolutely no indication that the Russians are using such weapons. Besides, the Russians finished destroying their stockpiles in 2017, while the Americans have not yet destroyed theirs.

Perhaps this means nothing. But in the current atmosphere, all the conditions are now met for an incident to happen that would push the West to become more involved, in some form, in the Ukrainian conflict (a “false-flag” incident).

April 18, 2022 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment