At Pentagon, Fears Grow That Trump Will Pull Military Into Election Unrest

By Jennifer Steinhauer and Helene Cooper

New York Times

WASHINGTON — Senior Pentagon leaders have a lot to worry about — Afghanistan, Russia, Iraq, Syria, Iran, China, Somalia, the Korean Peninsula. But chief among those concerns is whether their commander in chief might order American troops into any chaos around the coming elections.

President Trump gave officials no solace on Wednesday when he again refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power no matter who wins the election. On Thursday he doubled down by saying he was not sure the election could be “honest.”

His hedging, along with his expressed desire in June to invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act to send active-duty troops onto American streets to quell protests over the killing of George Floyd, has caused deep anxiety among senior military and Defense Department leaders, who insist they will do all they can to keep the armed forces out of the elections.

[…]

Via https://attackthesystem.com/2020/09/26/at-pentagon-fears-grow-that-trump-will-pull-military-into-election-unrest/

Nations Should Begin Removing Facebook, Twitter, and Google from Their Information Space

Virtually every aspect of current, ongoing anti-government protests in Thailand are funded by the US government. The US National Endowment for Democracy (NED) – an organization created by the US government, funded by the US Congress, and overseen by both Congress and the US State Department – funds everything from the Thai opposition’s core leadership, to organizations petitioning the government to rewrite the Thai constitution, to media organizations promoting the protests, and even groups who physically bring people to rallies [meanwhile Facebook, Twitter and Google continue to censor information regarding these US regime change efforts]

Piazza della Carina

Legal options are a start. The ultimate goal should be replacing Facebook, Twitter, and Google with local alternatives like Russia, China, and many other nations are already doing.

September 24, 2020(Tony Cartalucci – LD) – The Thaigovernmenthas begun legalproceedingsagainst US-based social media platforms includingFacebook, Twitter, and Google. This comes at a time when nations around the globe have begun pushing back against the abusive American tech firms and their role in advancing US foreign policy and in particular, illegal US interventions including war.

Not only are these US-based tech companies refusing to follow Thai laws regarding sedition, libel, and disinformation targeting national security and sociopolitical-economic stability, they have pursued a one-sided policy of censoring information critical of ongoing US-backed anti-government protests – shadow banning or outright censoring any and all accounts attempting to share information about documented US government funding behind the organizations involved. 

Virtually every aspect of current…

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Hidden History: The 21 Korean War POWs Who Defected to China

 

They Chose China

Directed by Shui-Bo-Wong (2006)

Film Review

This documentary is about 21 US Korean War POWs who chose not to repatriate to the US when the Korean armistice was signed in 1953. Initially there were 23. The first two returned to the US in the early fifties, where they were court martialed and given 10 and 20 year prison sentences.

For the most part, the US media echoed Senator Joseph McCarthy’s view that the 21 who remained in China were Communist traitors. However in a 1954 interview about their reasons for defecting, most cited their opposition to imperialist wars or to McCarthy’s witch hunt against US political dissidents, which they equated with fascism.

The 21 were also clearly influenced by their extremely positive treatment during their three years in captivity. The Chinese who ran the North Korean POW camps allowed them to have American food, as well as encouraging them to organize football, baseball and soccer games.

On arriving in China, they were given a choice between working in a factory, joining a collective farm or attending university. Most would leave China prior to 1966, when Mao launched his brutal Cultural Revolution. In giving their reasons for repatriating, some talked of a changing political climate that was less tolerant of foreigners. Other cited concerns about the 1956 Soviet invasion of Hungary.

Three of the US defectors are profiled in this film:

Clarence Adams – an African American from Memphis who enlisted in 1947 to escape a gang of white supremacist cops who had targeted him. His main reason for defecting to China was to escape white terrorism, as well as economic opportunities denied to him in the US. After spending several hears at university, he worked as a translator in Beijing and broadcast propaganda speeches directed at Black soldiers in Vietnam.

David Hawkins – in a 1957 60 Minutes interview (following his return to the US), he asserts the US had no business invading a country (Korea) that posed no threat to them militarily.* He also strongly advocates for the US to recognize China (the US officially recognized China in 1972 during Nixon’s first term).

James Veneris – the only defector profiled in the film who remained in China, as a factory worker, until his death in 2004.

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*See See Hidden History: The US Wars Against Japan, Korea and Vietnam and The Long US War Against the Third World

This film can be viewed free at https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/they-chose-china/

 

Sunset for Oil? Energy Execs think Maybe So..

Global demand destruction during the COVID-19 pandemic, work from home policies and the continued growth of electric vehicles has energy companies looking to a prolonged downturn in crude oil and fuel consumption.

Climate Denial Crock of the Week

Reuters:

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Nearly two-thirds of U.S. energy company executives polled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas believe U.S. crude oil production has peaked, according to a survey released on Wednesday.

The COVID-19 pandemic has knocked global oil demand and prices, prompting deep cuts in drilling this year by shale oil producers. The United States last pumped 12.2 million barrels per day, taking top spot in global crude oil output.

Survey results said 66% of 154 oil and gas firm executives contacted by the Dallas Fed this month believe U.S. crude oil production has peaked. The survey includes executives from Texas, Louisiana and New Mexico.

The Dallas Fed did not say if the peak was considered temporary or permanent as major oil firms have been discussing.

Global demand destruction during the COVID-19 pandemic, work from home policies and the continued growth of electric vehicles has energy companies looking…

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FDA Issues Recommendations for Certain High Risk Groups on Mercury-Containing Dental Amalgam

FDA Statement

FDA Issues Recommendations for Certain High-Risk Groups Regarding Mercury-Containing Dental Amalgam

For Immediate Release:

September 24, 2020

Statement From:

Director – CDRH Offices: Office of the Center Director

Dr. Jeffrey E. Shuren MD, JD

Part of our role in protecting patients is to regularly evaluate, monitor and update scientific evidence on the risks from medical devices—including issues related to the materials used in devices, such as metals. In the case of implanted and inserted medical devices, where materials may be in contact with the body for extended periods of time, we evaluate safety issues involved with, among other things, the body’s long-term exposure to certain materials, taking into account that sometimes uncertainties remain and more research is needed.

Today, the FDA is issuing updated recommendations concerning dental amalgam and potential risks to certain high-risk individuals that may be associated with these mercury-containing fillings used to restore the missing structure and surfaces of a decayed tooth.

The FDA has found that certain groups may be at greater risk for potential harmful health effects of mercury vapor released from the device. As a result, the agency is recommending certain high-risk groups avoid getting dental amalgam whenever possible and appropriate.

These groups that may be at a greater risk for potential harmful health effects include:

• Pregnant women and their developing fetuses;
• Women who are planning to become pregnant;
• Nursing women and their newborns and infants;
• Children, especially those younger than six years of age;
• People with pre-existing neurological disease such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease or Parkinson’s disease
• People with impaired kidney function; and
• People with known heightened sensitivity (allergy) to mercury or other components of dental amalgam.

For over 20 years, the FDA has been reviewing scientific literature, monitoring reports and holding public discussions regarding the public health effects of dental amalgam and amalgam-related mercury vapor. Dental amalgam is a mixture of mercury and a powdered alloy made up of silver, tin and copper. The amalgam releases small amounts of mercury vapor over time. While low-levels of inhaled mercury vapor are generally not harmful to most people, these high-risk individuals may be at increased risk of adverse health outcomes. How much vapor is released can also depend on the age of the filling as well as a person’s habits such as teeth grinding.

These uncertainties in the most vulnerable patients are why today we are recommending people who may be at high risk for adverse health effects of mercury exposure use non-mercury alternatives to dental amalgam, such as composite resins and glass ionomer cement fillings […]

Via https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-issues-recommendations-certain-high-risk-groups-regarding-mercury-containing-dental-amalgam

Brazil: Volkswagen Acknowledges Persecution and Torture of Workers

Image of a Volkswagen company factory in Brazil in the early 1970s. | Photo: Twitter/ @revistaforum

Telesur

The company collaborated with the military dictatorship in actions that affected its workers.

Volkswagen announced that it agreed with the State of São Paulo to compensate its former workers for the damages it caused them during the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil between 1964 and 1985.

to grant US$6.5 million to promote initiatives related to the defense of human rights and the investigation of crimes committed during the dictatorship. Just over US$3 million of that amount will go to former workers who reported violations of their human rights.

“With this agreement, Volkswagen wants to promote the clarification of the human rights violations of that time,” the German company stated and stressed that it is “the first foreign company to face its past in a transparent way.”

The work of the Truth Commission, which was promoted by President Dilma Rousseff (2011-2016), allowed the relationship between Volkswagen and the dictatorship to become a judicial issue in 2016.

The company’s headquarters then hired historian Christopher Kopper to conduct in-depth research on the subject. The Bielefeld University academic concluded that Volkswagen’s Brazilian subsidiary provided information to the military about the activities of those who worked at the factory in Sao Bernardo do Campo.

The meme reads, “They took me to the Volkswagen personnel department. The torture started right there,” said former worker Bellentani, who was beaten in front of security guards. “Government agents wanted me to denounce comrades who carried out political and union activities.”

In 1972, due to these secret links with the military regime, Lucio Bellentani, a worker linked to the Communist Party of Brazil, was tortured by police inside the factory. In that year, six other Volkswagen workers were also arrested for their union activities.

The German investigator’s report shows that Volkswagen did not take part in the military coup of 1964 “but the establishment of a military dictatorship, which was becoming increasingly repressive, was positively evaluated by the company.”

The open recognition of Volkswagen’s dark past has been interpreted by local analysts as a subtle message for Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro.

“When we have a government that explicitly supports and defends the legacy of the military dictatorship, this is a strong sign of how the world’s big companies adopt positions less and less aligned with those that the current Brazilian government defends,” the Fundacion Getulio Vargas (FGV) professor Claudio Couto said, as reported by outlet Toda Palavra […]

Via https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Brazil-Volkswagen-Acknowledges-Persecution-Torture-of-Workers-20200925-0004.html

The Syria Boondoggle: Who’s Ready to Die in Vain?

by Maj. Danny Sjursen, USA (ret.) Posted on September 22, 2020

Antiwar.com

 

Mark my words: an American soldier will soon die for next to nothing in Syria. Here’s a mission that takes all the absurdity of America’s post-9/11 wars of choice to their logical conclusion. As such, this muddled and aimless operation must stand forever tall in the pantheon of U.S. foreign policy folly – right up there with the three Seminole Wars (1817-18, 1835-42, 1855-58, 1,608 dead troops); Nicaraguan “Banana Wars” (1910, 1912-25, 1927-33, 159 dead); the Russian Civil War’s “Siberia” intervention (1918-20, 424 dead); “Desert One” botched Iran hostage rescue (1980, 8 dead); Beirut “peacekeeping” (1982-84, 265 dead); the Grenada invasion (1983, 19 dead); and Somalia (1992-94, 43 dead). So, in Trump’s defense – and that of the Washington crowd that’s repeatedly pressured him to stay the Syria course – his latest folly is in good company.

Of course, US service-members have already died in Syria – about ten so far. Not that many Americans much noticed. When the last soldier died in a “very unfortunate mishap,” General Kenneth P. Ekman, deputy commander of Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve (the ongoing mission in Iraq and Syria) assured reporters that there were “no indications that any Russian activity existed in the area” or that the patrol was “anything other than a normal patrol.” Have no fear though, since Ekman added that the deceased was “important to the mission.”

Well now, amidst a whole range of post-Russiagate alarmism, an Afghan “bounty” scandal that wasn’t, and in response to the (gasp!) Russian “ramming” of an American party three weeks ago, Washington is sending in reinforcements to buck up that US military non-mission in Syria. This ought to up the odds of another service-member dying for nothing, or, if we’re really lucky – kick off an unnecessary shooting war with the world’s only other nuclear superpower. Either way, we’ll largely have the Trump-obsessed Democrats and hawkish establishment Republicans to blame.

So what sort of cavalry is inbound to save the day and – per the New York Times headline – “counter the Russians” in Syria? You guessed it: just enough to get a handful of Americans killed and/or spark a foolish fight, but far too few to change the combat calculus on the ground. Wait for it now. The Pentagon just added about 100 troops – some mechanized infantry, Sentinel radar and an increased the frequency of fighter jet patrols – to the existent 500 or so soldiers in Syria. Striking!

Well, what will they do there exactly? Demonstrate “US resolve to defend Coalition forces in the [Eastern Syria Security Area], and to ensure that they are able to continue their Defeat-ISIS mission without interference,” according to the lifeless email language of US Central Command spokesman Navy Captain Bill Urban. But wait – I thought this essential infusion of troops was meant to counter the nefarious Russians. No, no, Uncle Sam only sends its armed peacemakers 6,000 miles from home to defend themselves, God, country, and worldwide freedom, naturally. After all, Urban added, “The United States does not seek conflict with any other nation in Syria, but will defend Coalition forces if necessary.” That’s refreshing.

This much is increasingly, if disturbingly, clear: the folks reporting, advising, and crafting strategy for Syria, haven’t the faintest idea about what’s really going on there. Seriously, it’s no longer mandatory for pundits, politicians, or policymakers to know any things about Syria in order to tell us what to think, and decide what to do in our name.

The cycle of farce goes something like this: partisan self-styled “experts” gin up an ostensible interest in a far-flung land; then send in some troops, who enter a confusing complexity that looks nothing like they’d been briefed; a few get killed; their bodies are flown in the night to that ubiquitous Dover, Delaware airbase; then, either no one notices nor remembers why they’d been deployed in the first place, or chickenhawk pundits and politicians wave their flag-draped coffins to blame Russia, Iran, or whichever “enemy” favor-of-the-moment will win them partisan points. Rinse and repeat – devastated mothers and spouses from forgotten corners of America be damned!

[…]

Via https://original.antiwar.com/danny_sjursen/2020/09/21/the-syria-boondoggle-whos-ready-to-die-in-vain/

9 1/2 years after meltdowns, no end in sight for Fukushima nuke plant decommissioning

When a tsunami triggered by the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake slammed into the coastal facility, reactors 1 to 3 were online, while No. 4 was shut down for a regular inspection. There were core meltdowns in all three of the active reactors, with the fuel mixing with material from the surrounding structure as it melted and turned into “fuel debris.” Later, the No. 4 reactor building, connected to the No. 3 building by plumbing, was blown apart by a hydrogen explosion.

Fukushima 311 Watchdogs

The No. 1 reactor building is seen at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, on Sept. 1, 2020.

September 22, 2020

It has been some 9 1/2 years since the triple-meltdown disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in northeast Japan, and in early September I visited the plant to get a close-up look at the reactor buildings and find out how much progress is being made in dismantling them.

The trip began aboard a microbus, which stopped on an inland promontory running north to south at an elevation of 33.5 meters above sea level. Getting off the bus, I looked east, over the Pacific Ocean. And then I saw them, just 100 meters away or so: the buildings containing the plant’s No. 1 to 4 reactors.

When a tsunami triggered by the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake slammed into the coastal facility…

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#FreeAssange: Doctor Diagnosed Julian Assange With Asperger’s Syndrome – The Dissenter 23 Sept. 2020

Dr. Quinton Deeley, who works for the National Health Service (NHS), conducted an Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) test on Assange and produced a report. He interviewed Assange for six hours in July.

VICTIMS OF THE STATE

Doctor Diagnosed Julian Assange With Asperger’s Syndrome

Dr. Quinton Deeley said Assange’s autism causes him to ruminate about his “prospective circumstances at length,” and it creates a “sense of horror.”

Kevin Gosztola

Sep 23

Screen shot of WikiLeaks founder from the Frontline Club in 2012

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism, while detained in the Belmarsh high-security prison in London. This likely increases Assange’s risk of suicide if confined in restrictive prison conditions in the United States, according to a psychiatrist who testified at his extradition trial.

Dr. Quinton Deeley, who works for the National Health Service (NHS), conducted an Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) test on Assange and produced a report. He interviewed Assange for six hours in July.

Assange told Deeley he feared he would be held in isolation in a U.S. prison. He was afraid of the fresh indictment. He…

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An American in Mao’s Cultural Revolution

The Revolutionary: An American in Mao’s Cultural Revolution

Directed by Irv Drasnin, Lucy Ostrander and Don Sellers (2012)

Film Review

This documentary concerns the late Sidney Rittenberg, the only US citizen ever to join the Chinese Communist Party during the tenure of Mao Tse Tung

Rittenberg, active in the Southern union and civil rights movement during the early forties, was drafted in 1941 and trained in Mandarin by the US military. He was deployed to China in 1945 and served briefly as a UN observer following the Japanese surrender in August 1945.

In 1946, the Chinese Communist Party invited him to remain in China to serve as a “bridge” between the Chinese revolution and the Western world. Fearful of becoming too dependent on the Soviet Union, Mao was eager to establish good relations with the US.

After Stalin denounced him as a spy in 1949, the Chinese imprisonment him for six years (without trial) in solitary confinement. During the first year of his imprisonment, he was offered the option of returning to the US or remaining in prison under relaxed conditions allowing him full access to books and writing materials. Rittenberg, who believed that Mao’s revolution offered genuine freedom and democracy for China’s brutally oppressed poor, chose to remain in prison.

Following Stalin’s death he was released with a full apology. With his party membership restored, he was offered a prestigious position at Radio Beijing running the English language section. As a high level Communist Party official, he also enjoyed a life of privilege, with access to a chauffeur, hot water, and higher pay than Mao.

The most interesting part of the film concerns Rittenberg’s experience with three momentous programs Mao launched to counter pro-capitalist* forces in his government (the 1956 Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom campaign, the 1958-62 Great Leap Forward and the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution).

During Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom, Chinese intellectuals were encouraged to criticize government policies they felt weren’t working. While Mao accepted suggestions for improving existing policies, he came down hard on intellectuals (many lost their jobs or were imprisoned) who expressed outright oppositions to his policies.

During the Great Leap Forward, Mao first established vast rural communes that provided free food for all Chinese citizens, and then pulled most of the farmers off the communes to develop local steel and copper foundries. The loss of production would result in a massive famine in which 25-35 million people would die.

The famine-related deaths resulted in heavy criticism of Mao among the party leadership. The Cultural Revolution he launched in 1966 was intended to purge the Party leadership of his critics. The program consisted mainly of empowering youthful Red Brigade members to act as police, judge, and jury of authority figures  they perceived as counter-revolutionary (or simply disliked). Mao simultaneously ordered the police and army to stand back, while the Red Guards brutally assaulted, tortured, and killed people they singled out. During the Cultural Revolution, many intellectuals and academics were also detained without trial and either sent to prisons, labor camps, or agricultural communes.

Erroneously believing the Cultural Revolution was a true democratic rebellion, Rittenberg, became involved in a rebel group at Radio Beijing. Initially Jiang Qing, Mao’s wife and notorious Gang of Four member, encouraged his efforts. However in 1968 when he began criticizing the lack of democratic process, he found himself back in prison in solitary confinement.

He would be released shorty after Mao’s death in 1976. He and his family returned to the US in 1980, where he and his wife started new careers again in adult education. As China increasingly opened up to US investment, both embarked on lucrative careers as consultants to major Wall Street companies.

Rittenberg died August 24, 2019.

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*The strength of the pro-capitalist movement Mao was struggling with becomes apparent from the speed with which China abandoned communism for industrial capitalism following his death. See How China’s Peasant Lost Collective Farming and Gained Urban Poverty

People with a public library card can see the documentary free on Kanopy. Type “Kanopy” and the name of your library into your search engine to register.