What world do you want to live in?

We are often told that we must be optimistic and think positively. We must ignore the negative and focus on the positive... I try to do this not because I am a big fan of Oprah, but in order to stay sane. The reason for my struggle is that almost every news item I try to analyze thoroughly and critically, drives me to despair.
Instead of cooperating and working together to solve our existential problems, we (the most intelligent species on Earth) are either asleep or working hard for our self-destruction. I am very saddened that the vast majority of people in Europe do not care about what is going on. I think the peace activists in U.S. are a lot more active (probably because most of my sources of information are in English), but even if that is true, they are just as powerless to bring about any positive change, because their government and media are the most active forces working for our destruction.

The U.S. "Democracy"

Every time I think it has gotten so bad, and so dangerous, that (for the sake of their own survival) the rulers of the "free" world would give up their destructive policies, and start doing something sensible, they come up with some new trick to prove me wrong. After so many disappointments I have lost all hope in the USA. Their entire political system has been captured by the corporate elites and I see no chance for a peaceful change there. Here is a Princeton study, where the authors studied the impact of 1,779 policy issues, over a period of 20 years, on the U.S. government policy. The conclusion confirms what everyone paying attention should have noticed long ago - the U.S. democracy is a joke, or to use the trending expression - it's fake. If you don't have time to read boring studies, watch this quick and easy summary of the study, or this TED talk, where Prof. Lessig explains that the U.S. "democracy" is precisely equivalent to the democracy that China tried to impose on Hong Kong a few years ago...
Everyone who believes that the U.S. system can be improved by "voting" for the "right" party or candidate is either naive (believes in fairy tales), or corrupted by his greed (these are the people who understand very well that the system serves a tiny elite, but they think this is fine and are hoping to become part of the elite). The mainstream circus media continues to push the idea that we have to fight Trump to "save our democracy" or "the World"... and in that "fight" against Trump they  manage to smear, marginalize, or destroy every dissenting voice. The propaganda machine is so effective, that today there is no U.S. politician brave or capable enough, to change anything in the most corrupt country on Earth. I am sure some U.S. politicians, like Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard, understand very well what is going on, but they cannot change anything. And they don't dare speak the truth on some issues because they know that if they touch the interests of the military-industrial-media complex, they will be destroyed.
There are a few people, like Chris Hedges, that continue their efforts to speak the truth, but in a materialistic society like the US, they have no chance. Chris shows remarkable resilience, and maybe he is one of those rare heroes who are ready to give their lives for the good cause, but the apathy and blindness of the majority, destroys the efforts of Chris and people like him.

Our Existential Issues

I think that the best, and probably the only peaceful way, to bring the USA to its senses is if the EU stands up against the crazy policies of the U.S. The EU is strong enough economically, and there is no reason to fear the U.S. militarily. If the EU rejects the USA's destructive policies, the U.S. would find itself isolated... and it may wake up. Only if this happens, the sensible voices inside the USA have a chance to be heard. But as long as the EU goes along with the crazy U.S. policies, there is no chance for the World. Unfortunately, the EU politicians are subservient to the USA, and we - the citizens of the EU, don't seem to care very much that our "democracies" are supporting the World-destructive policies of the U.S. empire.

   a) The environmental issue

On the environmental destruction issue the EU is indeed talking the right talk, but does not walk the walk. The EU politicians understand the dangers of global warming, but being part of a capitalist system, and subservient to the U.S. empire, their policies always fall short of what needs to be done. Even if they had the guts to legislate the right policies for the EU, that is not enough to save the World because the USA continues to pollute, and the biggest polluter in the World - the Pentagon, remains exempt from the carbon emissions limits imposed on everyone else. The urgency of the environmental issue would justify sanctions against any country that does not contribute to the global efforts, but have you ever heard of sanctioning the only country that refuses to act responsibly?
I haven't. And I don't expect such a miracle before the U.S. dominated system breaks apart...

   b) The nuclear issue

On the other existential issue - the nuclear disaster, we had a very significant speech by the World's "menace", the Russian president Putin. But what did we hear in the Western MSM? Only further criticism and demonization. I have written about Putin before and my opinion remains unchanged. Putin has been open and consistent in his policies. He has been speaking, asking, protesting, and (here comes the unforgivable) acting as he said he would. How dare he! That is not allowed in modern politics...
For a while the West ignored him, but when he dared to stand up to the U.S hegemony, insisting that we should uphold the international law, he quickly became a villain. The Western civilized MSM calls him all kind of names and equates him with Hitler - just like every other "dictator" that U.S. wanted to get rid of.
Every objective observer knows that Putin must be taken seriously (here is the 2nd part of that interview). As Prof. Postol said "everything he (Putin) has done and said in the past, were things that he had warned about and then followed up on when we didn't heed the warning".
What Putin did on the 1st of March, was to deliver a warning (mainly to the USA) that Russia had succeeded in restoring the "balance of power" in the World, by rendering the expensive American anti-ballistic missile shield program, useless. Has anybody heard it? As far as I can tell, only four senators heard the message. Unfortunately, four U.S. senators cannot change anything. The rest of the U.S. establishment (business elite, politicians, media, etc.) went into overdrive with more propaganda. Instead of peace talks, the Empire is pushing us closer to war...
There are many who think that Russia is weak and is not a match for the forces of the "international community". They point to the fact that Russia has an economy about the size of Italy. I would add that its military budget is only 1/10 of that of the USA, and it is smaller than the military budgets of China and Saudi Arabia. So, there is no doubt that Russia is weaker than the USA, or the West, both economically and militarily. But that is precisely why we all should be very scared! Russia is weak militarily and economically, but it has enough nuclear weapons to destroy the World. There is no way that we can imagine that we can start a war with Russia and win it, without turning it into a nuclear war. There will be no winners in a nuclear war. Everybody will be on the losing side. That is why people advocating confrontation with Russia are insane. They are pushing us towards World destruction. Unfortunately, these insane people are our Western, mostly U.S. leaders...

Propaganda war

I find it amazing how effective the Western MSM has been in creating an alternative "reality" in which the richest, most educated, and advanced electorates live. Since 9/11, the USA have been leading the way to war and destruction, under the guise of "fighting terrorism", "democracy promotion", "responsibility to protect", and other positive-sounding slogans.

Do you remember how the U.S. quest for "justice" started? It started with the U.S. and UK governments telling us that we had to go to war because of Iraq's "chemical, biological, and nuclear" weapons and programs. Do you remember Colin Powell's presentation to the United Nations Security Council? The Western media went along with that lie. Back then, there were important and trustworthy people who spoke out against the lies, but the MSM gave them very little coverage and majority of common people in the U.S. bought the lie.
Do you remember how UK was "just 45 minutes" from a chemical weapons attack from Iraq? Despite the propaganda and lies, the majority of UK people did not support the war, but their "democratic" government went ahead with the war anyway...

We already live in this strange "virtual reality" World, where the media can create its own reality, and force it on us. The reality of the Iraq war was that the US, which no longer feared a confrontation with the USSR, decided to change the Middle Eastern region so as to expand its global dominance. They decided to overthrow the governments of 7 countries - Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Iran, and to justify that, started manufacturing the reasons that could justify their actions. 

We had political leaders, that used lies to justify a war that led to the death of 1.5-3.4 million Iraqis, but we don't even consider putting them on trial. The establishment media is working hard, and succeeding, in rehabilitating the good image of George W. Bush. His main accomplice (brother-in-crime) - Tony Blair became fabulously rich, and The Guardian describes him as “mystical” and as being true to his “project” of war.
When these war criminals left office, the policies did not change. The voters hoped, and voted for change, but do you see anything changing in the foreign policies of U.S. and its allies? I don't. To this day the West continues its push for regime change in any country that does not follow the dictate from the U.S. And the MSM is getting more and more extreme in its whitewashing of the crimes of Western-supported regimes and manufacturing lies to justify illegal and immoral wars.

Thanks to our (Western) intervention in Libya, its secular ruler, who gave up his WMD program, got sodomized with a bayonet and killed by the "moderate rebels" we supported. I don't have casualty figures for Libya, but the facts are that a stable country, Africa’s richest under Gaddafi, became a failed state after NATO's intervention, with human slave markets, and became a transit hub for refugees to Europe. In a fact-based World, it is obvious that the European refugee crisis was a direct consequence of the Western regime change policies. But in the alternative reality created by the corporate MSM, the refugee crisis was Putin's efforts to undermine Europe!
In a fact-based World, ISIS and other jihadist groups were gaining territory in Syria while the U.S. & Co were "fighting" them, but lost almost all of it when Russia started helping the Syrian Arab Army (SAA). As a result, the country was stabilized and hundreds of thousands of refugees started returning to Syria... but that is in the fact-based Universe, not in the Universe created by the MSM.
In a fact-based Universe, there is no evidence that Russia "colluded" with Trump. On the other hand, there is plenty of evidence that Hillary stole the election from Sanders, that FBI conspired against Trump, that Israel has huge influence on the U.S. elections and policies, and that UK interfered in the U.S. elections... but that is not how things are, according to the "reality" created by the MSM.
In a fact-based World, there is no evidence of Russian involvement in the poisoning of the Skripals. What we have are allegations, but they are reported as facts "beyond reasonable doubt" by the MSM. There are plenty of facts to cast doubt on the accusations - the changing story, the lack of motive, the lack of evidence, the miraculous recovery... but again these facts would be relevant in a fact-based world, not in the MSM's alternative reality.
When I talk with MSM believers, I see that they are unaware of all relevant facts, that they have no idea about "the other side of the story", and they are oblivious of any serious alternative theory, explanation, or motive. The Western anti-Russia propaganda in the last few years reached the level of Russo-phobia. In a couple of conversations recently, I noticed that the people simply assumed that Russia is guilty of everything it is accused of. These people were not interested in whether there is any evidence to blame Russia, or if there is evidence that proves otherwise. For these, otherwise nice, well-read, highly-educated and intelligent people, Russia is the bad guy, and that's it.
We (the Western countries) threw away commonsense and legal principles. Almost all European countries, plus USA, decided to punish Russia before any proof of guilt. Just out of solidarity! The culprit may very well be UK - it has the motive and the means to commit the crime. What if that is the case? How can any nation stand in solidarity with UK, if UK was the criminal in this case? Given the high stakes, does anyone think the UK government, which proclaimed Russia guilty before any investigation, would allow anyone - policeman, investigator, expert or anybody, reveal any evidence that would exonerate Russia? I cannot imagine that. They would rather kill such a person than let him/her expose the machinations of the government. 
I can already hear the screams: "but look at the pattern! Putin is killing journalists and political opponents in Russia and in UK! He killed Litvinenko in 2006! And other suspicious deaths..." Every time I hear these accusations, I ask for evidence and I am still waiting. The pattern I see is not of Putin killing ex-spies, but a pattern of repeating lies until they are accepted as facts and then referring to these "facts" to make the new lies more acceptable, and turn them into "facts" too.
I have found a lot of propagandist accusations, but nothing that comes close to proof of guilt. Here is something on the killing of journalists. The most often cited example is the killing of Anna Politkovskaya, but note that her editor and colleagues do not think Putin has anything to do with her death. Here is an analysis of the Litvinenko case. Does it look like Putin would be found guilty in a court of law? I doubt that. Is it possible that Putin ordered the killing? Yes, of course it is possible, but so could be the boss of any other spy agency or criminal gang with which Litvinenko was involved. Does anyone seriously believe that our Western spy agencies do not kill people?
At the time of Litvinenko's death his father believed the Western allegations and blamed Putin. Have you heard that he changed his mind? Just for a moment, suspend your faith in the "good", old Western institutions, and imagine that when the father started looking into the evidence and faced the stonewalling by the UK intelligence agencies, he might have reached a different conclusion. Anyway, here is how an American historian, Prof. Stephen Cohen, who spent his life studying Russia, summarizes all accusations against Putin. Do you want to believe MSM journalists (and pundits) that are paid to manipulate our opinions, or a scholar, who says that "without facts, all of us are doomed to malpractice or worse". For the journalists, it is obvious that the better they lie, the higher they get career-wise. So, I choose to stick with Prof. Cohen... 
The UK provides safe heaven for Chechen terrorists, welcomes unscrupulous Russian oligarchs, which most Russians view as criminals that would not hesitate to kill an opponent, and then UK blames Putin when these gangsters kill each other in UK. How many times you heard on the MSM that Russia requested the extradition from UK of more than 60 Russians that were accused or convicted of economic crimes?
To end the Skripal topic, I would recommend the Moon of Alabama site, which is full of details and links to sources.
In a fact-based World Syria gave up its chemical weapons in 2013 and Russia in 2017. The poor Russia called "upon all nations that still possess chemical weapons to immediately follow" their example, but we have not heard from the rich USA. In the alternative fact-free "reality" of our MSM, Syria and Russia are behind every chemical weapons use around the World...
In a fact-based World, we should be condemning USA for clinging to its chemical weapons and spending huge amounts of money on the development of new, selective, biological weapons that target certain ethnic groups, e.g. Russians. But in the alternative "reality" we live in, USA does only good, and Russia only bad...
Finally, the most dangerous recent event - the latest alleged chemical attack in Syria. It's dangerous because it could have led to a 3rd and final World war...
In a fact-based World, we should be suspicious about news based on the terrorist sources that are losing the war in Syria. Every time they are about to lose ground to the SAA, a chemical attack happens, and they call upon the "international community" to enforce its "red lines". Then the "international community", consisting of USA alone (last year), or with a couple of its satellite states (France and UK most recently), come to the rescue with "beautiful missiles" against the SAA, which fights ISIS and Al-Qaeda off-shoots in Syria. What is interesting is how last year the MSM created an atmosphere of certainty that Assad's forces conducted a chemical attack, based on "US intelligence" (if you read the two references on this claim in Wikipedia, [26] and [27], you will find no information on this "US intelligence"). So, last year the decision was made based on "secret evidence" and Trump ordered the launch of 59 Tomahawk missiles. This year, the U.S. defense secretary Mattis, admits they have "no evidence of Syria using sarin gas" last year. Sounds like the Skripal case - blame first, prove (maybe) later...
There have been many cases where the jihadists were faking chemical attacks, keeping Syrians in cages and on top of the roofs of their headquarters as human shields, beheading children, and eating the hearts of Syrian soldiers, but in the alternative reality created by the Western MSM, Assad and his army are bombing and gassing their own people.
Our media not just propagates the lies coming from terrorists. They actively work to destroy the reputations of journalists and academics who dare speak out against the lies of the MSM.
The Oscar-winning "White helmets" are the best example of how the Western elites use the MSM to convince us of an alternative reality, which justifies their wars. There is plenty of evidence that the USA, supports, funds, and arms Islamic terrorist groups, which it claims to fight. This presentation alone contains enough factual material to make any human being with consciousness feel sick when listening to the anti-Syrian propaganda churned out by the MSM. After so many lies, they only  grow braver with their lies. Of course, they are just the instruments of propaganda. The masterminds are our ruling elites, and they want to crush any dissent. Here is what they write about the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media: "Members of the group, which includes four professors, have been spreading the slur, repeated by the Russian ambassador to Britain yesterday, that the White Helmets civilian volunteer force has fabricated video evidence of attacks by President Assad, who is backed by the Kremlin." For anyone who has eyes to see, and a brain to think, after seeing the evidence, there should be no doubt that the White Helmets are paid to produce staged videos for propaganda purposes. This is a fact, and if this fact is in line with the Kremlin, any honest and moral person should take the side of Kremlin.
Just look at the child used by the MSM to justify war against Syria, and the child shown by the Russian propaganda to debunk the lies in the West, and make your conclusions.
Our reality is already so Orwellian, that one has to look to comedians, like Jimmy Dore and Lee Camp, to get to the truth.
I am sorry for disturbing your peace. What World do you want to live in? In a fact-based World, or in an Orwellian one?

Happy New Year!

2017 is over. I wish the new year is more peaceful and prosperous than the last one. I hope for a miracle because we seem determined to destroy ourselves. We are doing it on two fronts:

1. By not doing enough to reverse the climate change, and 
2. By increasing the chances of a nuclear war.

On issue # 1, most of the world is trying to push things in the right direction, but the USA remains opposed to take its share of responsibility. Instead, it dropped all pretenses and is now ruled by the most dangerous organization in human history, which controls all branches of power.

On issue # 2, we see an aggressive militaristic USA blaming Russia (and its "dictator" Putin), or North Korea, or China, or Iran... for everything that is wrong in the World, even though most of the problems are of USA's own doing. Instead of resolving conflicts, the USA creates them.

Because of its superpower status, the USA plays the major role in both of humanity's existential problems. Unfortunately, they play a negative role, and drag the entire World to disaster.

The global warming goes on steadily and its disastrous effects are usually seen as acts of God by most people. The capitalist system is fundamentally unsuited to deal with a problem that requires limiting consumption and growth, but the USA, which was trying to limit or sabotage all international climate change initiatives, will never allow any altering of this destructive system.

The fundamental reasons for the increased risks of nuclear war are not much different. The USA's military-industrial complex needs an enemy for its existence and growth. The main-stream media (MSM) portrays the NATO as a "defensive" alliance. It was created to counter the "Soviet threat". The Soviet Union collapsed more than a quarter of a century ago, but the NATO remained. And not only that - it grew up, and tries to grow further...

Of course, the idea that the NATO is a defensive alliance is preposterous. No NATO country has ever been attacked by another country! But the NATO has been waging wars all around the globe.

I am often surprised how many Europeans believe in the myth that NATO is a force for peace. NATO is an instrument of the US empire. In the words of Lord Ismay, the 1^st NATO secretary general, the original goal of NATO was to “keep the Soviet Union out, the Americans in, and the Germans down”. To understand the current goal of NATO, watch here George Friedman, the boss of Stratfor, or listen to Noam Chomsky.

Without the MSM the growth of the military-industrial complex (and NATO) would not be that easy. It would be difficult to justify all the wars if people had accurate information and knew what is going on. The fact that most Americans don't know much history and even less about their country's atrocities abroad, demonstrates the success of the US corporate media in justifying the American policy. The objectivity of the media is getting worse every year. Laws get tightened, the pressure against whistleblowers is growing, and people like Julian Assange are deprived of freedom, even if there is no legal basis for that. Who would dare to leak something like this after the ordeal of Chelsea Manning?

It is painful to watch the blind belief of so many people that "it's just that crazy Trump", and if we impeach him, everything will get better. The problems is not Trump, but the corrupt system that made him possible. I don't see anything good after Trump's removal, if the system remains. The only difference will be the new face on top of the same machine. Only a Christian fundamentalist can believe that Pence will be a better president than Trump!

Do you remember Obama? Do you remember the hopes that he would end the Bush era militarism? The only thing that Obama changed was the rhetoric. He was a smarter, more eloquent salesman for the same policy. Not surprisingly, the US military footprint increased. The drone-strikes, the mass surveillance, the war on whistleblowers... all these increased under Obama. 

According to the US constitution, the Congress has the power to declare war, but the last time that was done was in 1942. Was USA in peace with the rest of the World since then? Not at all. It is hard to count the number of wars the USA was engaged since the end of the WWII. Every administration, including Obama's, finds pretexts to justify whatever wars they want. 

Now we have Trump and he also tries to show his strength by giving more power to the military. The pattern is so obvious. Every US president gives more power to the military-industrial complex. The only exception is probably Kennedy and we know how he ended...

So, the only hope for the World is if the USA changes its policy, but I don't see how this can happen before it changes its system. Some very smart people foresee the end of the US empire, but I don't see how this can happen without violence. 

In theory, the non-violent change can come through democratic elections, but this would require at a minimum, to end the money influence on politics and an objective media that reports the real news. Unfortunately, the rich and powerful elites are increasing their wealth, and together with it, their grip on the government and the media. The latter does its job superbly - keeping the US population ignorant, confused, and divided, so that it continues to vote against its own interest. Therefore, it is most likely that the change comes with the collapse of the system, but this can easily lead to internal and/or external violence. Given the number of weapons in the USA, including the nuclear weapons, the violent end of the US empire might mean the end of life on Earth...

To end this post on a positive note, I must admit that I cannot imagine every possibility. Therefore, non-violent change in the USA and anywhere else in the World is possible. Miraculous changes in human consciousness and society are possible. Let's hope for a miracle in the new 2018!