Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Truest statement of the week

The lies which allowed the United States, France and Britain to attack Syria are presented without contradiction. The people with knowledge and expertise who can counter these narratives are disappeared from access to newspapers or television stations. The close relationship between the deep state, the corporate media, and the establishment elite at home and abroad continues without hindrance.

-- Margaret Kimberley, "Freedom Rider: Syria and Press Propaganda" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).







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Truest statement of the week II

Donald Trump may be labeled a fascist but he attacked Syria with the help of France and Britain. Apparently every leader of a “free world” country is also a fascist. They certainly behave that way as they trample on the rights of millions of people. Far from being the “civilized” nations that Trump referred to in his televised address, these three countries are among the most criminal that have ever existed. They all grew rich on the slave trade, indigenous genocides, the plantation economies in the Americas, and the theft of resources all over the world. Now they run roughshod over their own people. British prime minister Theresa May refused to allow a parliamentary vote on the Syrian missile strike and showed the hollowness of claims that hers is a democratic nation. The same can be said of her partners in crime.
France impoverished Haiti with nearly 100 years of theft, murdered Algerians in the streets of Paris and keeps its former African colonies financially dependent. Former president Nicolas Sarkozy took millions of dollars from Muammar Gaddafi and then had him murdered, just like a mob boss would do. Now they have connived with the help of press propagandists in all three countries to fool millions of people as they try to continue their gangsterish aggression against Syria.

-- Margaret Kimberley, "Freedom Rider: Syria and Press Propaganda" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).







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A note to our readers

Hey --

We didn't make Sunday.


Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:








The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen, Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.


And what did we come up with?


See you next week.

Peace,





-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.






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Editorial: Rukmini is not just the new Judith Miller, she's also a theif

Sinan Atoon (ALJAZEERA) offers:
Many of the precious objects displayed in the global north's major museums were plundered from their home in the global south. The dubious itinerary and the illegal and unethical practices that facilitated the plunder cannot be found in the laconic texts accompanying these exhibited objects.
The narratives that frame the objects and collections and erase the plunder are usually those of "saving" and "recovering". Oceans away from their homeland, these treasures are often represented as being more "at home" in their exile in these metropolitan centres of the global north. They are "safe and sound" here and housed in reputable institutions where scholars and experts, who appreciate and understand their value and history, tend to them and curate popular and very profitable exhibits for the benefit of metropolitan audiences. As if the natives, the rightful owners of these objects, do not deserve them.



We can be wrong.

And we were.

We have just compared NYT's Rukmini Callimachi to Judith Miller.

But Miller only sold war.

Rukmini is much more damaging though that hasn't stopped some idiots from praising her.


 Apr 19
I love Rukmini Callimachi’s storytelling



  1.  Apr 8
    This is an extraordinary piece of journalism. A reminder that while it’s easy to take cheap shots at the “failing MSM” it’s actually very hard to do what they do when they are at their best. is something special, but so are all journalists who put in work like this.

    ⚡️ “The ISIS Files - Part III”
    8 replies25 retweets108 likes


  2.  Apr 8
    I'm heading out shortly to pick up a copy of today's just to save a print version of 's amazing reporting on the files. First AQ in Mali, then ISIS in Iraq -- 's indispensable analysis shows the value of primary source documents.


    0:29
    Coming in your Sunday : A look at the remarkable internal ISIS documents unearthed in Iraq by .
    4 replies27 retweets70 likes


    Show this thread
  3.  Apr 7
    Can't recall how many times I saw described as incomparable this week after her latest reporting on . It's true, her work has been incredibly important to the field of terrorism studies & for all of us trying to glean further insight into ISIS as an organization
    4 replies12 retweets73 likes


  4.  Apr 6
    This is to reiterate what you are receiving from fans world over, i am in love with your work. THIS is REAL JOURNALISM! I wish we had even one of you train people like me when we started out. At least i would not have got disillusioned and left the field. More power!

    26. To see these and other documents beautifully annotated by my uber-talented colleague , click below. Good night, everyone. More threads to come this weekend, unless you tell me you’re bored:
    Show this thread
    4 replies74 retweets282 likes



 Apr 6
My Lord is a genius of a reporter.
11 replies59 retweets255 likes



 Apr 5
This is the kind of incredible, mind-blowing journalism that will probably never pay for itself (15 months! 15,000 pages! 5 trips to Iraq!) but that is so crucial to keep doing. is the greatest.
3 replies117 retweets337 likes


 Apr 5
. is an extraordinary journalist. This is an extraordinary story.
3 replies96 retweets274 likes








Unlike those Rukmini freaks (we were kind and left off Glenn Greenwald), we never praised or promoted that article.


We had serious concerns about it.  As does Atoon:

 Iraq is the most salient example, particularly after the Anglo-American invasion of 2003. The United States plundered millions of documents and moved them out of Iraq during its occupation of the country. With the exception of the Iraqi Jewish Archive, which is set to be returned to Iraq in two years, there are no plans to return any of the other collections.
In fact, in the past two years, more documents have been removed from the country, continuing this decades-long plunder. In a recent piece, the New York Times bragged about taking to the US thousands of ISIL documents its journalists snatched from liberated areas in Iraq.
Perhaps one should not be surprised that the newspaper that participated in justifying the 2003 invasion of Iraq does not consider these actions unethical.





When is it reporting?  When is it pillaging? Why has the paper of war not returned the documents?




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