ACTA: Worse Than SOPA and PIPA

ACTA: Worse Than SOPA and PIPA - by Stephen Lendman

Internet freedom's on the line. SOPA and PIPA threatened Net Neutrality and free expression. So does ACTA. More on it below.

For now, the largest online protest in Internet history got Congress to abandon SOPA and PIPA but not permanently. Expect resurrection in modified form. Language may change but not intent. ACTA's worse.

Launched on October 23, 2007, America, the EU, Switzerland and Japan began secretly negotiating a new intellectual property enforcement treaty - the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

Other nations got involved, including Canada, Australia, South Korea, New Zealand, Mexico, Jordan, Singapore, and the UAE. Ostensibly for counterfeit goods protection, it's about fast-tracking Internet distribution and information technology rules at the expense of Net Neutrality, privacy, and personal freedoms.

It establishes unrestricted supranational global trade rules. In the process, it tramples on national sovereignty and personal freedoms. Moreover, negotiations were secret until WikiLeaks reported in May 2008:

"If adopted, (ACTA) would impose a strong, top-down enforcement regime, with new cooperation requirements upon (ISPs), including perfunctionary disclosure of customer information."

"The proposal also bans 'anti-circumvention measures which may affect online anonymity systems and would likely outlaw multi-region CD/DVD players. The proposal also specifies a plan to encourage developing nations to accept the legal regime." Those opting out face retaliatory measures.

On April 22, 2010, Electronic Frontier Foundation writer Gwen Hinze headlined, "Preliminary Analysis of the Officially Released ACTA Text," saying:

"The text (leaves no doubt) that ACTA is not just about counterfeiting." It's far more. It covers copyrights, patents, and other intellectual property forms, including the Internet.

It's also about the ability of users to "communicate, collaborate and create" freely. In addition, it imposes obligations (on) Internet intermediaries (and), requir(es) them to police" cyberspace and its users. As a result, it raises serious questions about open affordable access, free expression, personal privacy, and "fair use rights."

On May 27, 2011, the Foundation for Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) said the European Commission published a final ACTA text with few changes from its last known version. Since introduced, major media scoundrels reported little about its destructive provisions.

Last October, Washington, Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea signed ACTA. US deputy trade representative Mariam Sapiro hailed the occasion, saying:

"As with many of the challenges we face in today's global economy, no government can single-handedly eliminate the problem of global counterfeiting and piracy. Signing this agreement is therefore an act of shared leadership and determination in the international fight against intellectual property theft."

Public Knowledge attorney Rashmi Rangnath called the deal the Obama administration's "attempt to foist US law on other countries."

It also broke another candidate Obama promise to "(s)upporte the principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet."

In fact, doing so lawlessly circumvented Congress. On October 1, 2011, Obama acted by "executive agreement." He falsely claimed ACTA's not a treaty requiring Senate approval. Constitutional issues remain unresolved.

By law, executive agreements apply only to sole presidential authority issues. Treaties must be ratified by a two-thirds Senate supermajority. As a result, a circulating petition demands Senate consideration. By February 21, 25,000 are needed. So far, thousands are recorded. Dozens of legal scholars support it.

So far, the administration's stonewalling. It's circumventing the law like it always does and breaking a campaign pledge in the process. Post-SOPA/PIPA, Obama diktat authority rammed it through illegally.

In contrast, the Mexican Senate rejected it in a non-binding resolution. On January 26, Poland's Japan ambassador, Jadwiga Rodowicz-Czechowska, signed it. It's yet to pass parliament.

Public anger raged across the country against it. The hacktivist group Anonymous targeted signatory countries' official web sites. It threatened to reveal sensitive information about officials in countries passing it.

Anti-ACTA sentiment affected Poland's parliament. Opposition MPs wore masks to reflect their refusal to back it. Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he'll submit the treaty to parliament and sign it provided "the government is sure Polish law guarantees freedom on the Internet...."

On January 26, infojustice.org headlined, "EU Signs ACTA, But Treaty Remains in Doubt," saying:

The European Parliament (EP) has final say. Consideration begins late February or early March. Committee voting follows in April or May. In June, Parliament decides.

After SOPA and PIPA's derailing, expect a close vote.

On January 23, 2012, FFII headlined, "EP (European Parliament) legal service consistently overlooks known issues with ACTA," saying:

In a letter to members of the European Parliament, FFII said:

"The legal service fails to see major issues with damages, injunctions and provisional, border and criminal measures. The legal service consistently overlooks known issues." Clearly, "ACTA goes beyond current EU law, the acquis."

According to FFII's Ante Wessels:

"ACTA will negatively impact innovation, start up companies, mass digitization projects, access to medicines and Internet governance. ACTA threatens the rule of law and fundamental rights."

FFII asked Parliament to reject ACTA. Issues cited included:

(1) Violating EU law.

(2) Unjustifiably discriminating. Threatens access to generic drugs and local foods.

(3) Criminalizes "everyday computer use." Liability extends to private individuals, newspapers, web sites, office workers forwarding files or documents, and whistleblowers revealing information in the public interest.

(4) Civil measures also apply to the digital environment. ACTA pressures ISPs to preemptively censor online communications. It also "incites privatized enforcement outside the rule of law."

"The ARTICLE 19 organization" said ACTA's "fundamentally flawed from a freedom of expression and information perspective. If enacted, it will greatly endanger the free-flow of information and the free exchange of ideas, particularly on the internet."

(5) Endangering public health by restricting access to medicines. It cracks down on generic drugs, makes food patents more extreme, enforces global standards on seed patents, empowers agribusiness, and threatens small farms and food independence.

(6) Global pricing and cultural life issues aren't addressed.

(7) Violates Article 21 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), stating:

"The Union's action on the international scene shall be guided by the principles (of) democracy, the rule of law, the universality and indivisibility of human rights and fundamental freedoms...."

Negotiations were conducted secretly. Civil society, public interest groups, and legislatures were entirely shut out. Major decisions were made extralegally. They violate established laws and fundamental freedoms.

On December 27, 2011, the Electronic Frontier Foundation said:

ACTA threatens personal and digital freedoms. It creates an extralegal "global IP enforcement institution to oversee its implementation." It turns ISPs into enforcers.

The agreement requires signatories "promote cooperative efforts within the business community" on issues regarding copyright and trademark infringement.

As a result, Internet access, censoring, and lost freedom may result.

"ACTA suffocates collaborative creativity and innovation, and less explicitly, but just as gravely, threatens free speech through provisions that may lead to Internet access restrictions for the 'sake' of combating 'imminent violation' of intellectual property laws."

Worst of all, secret negotiations facilitate similarly drafted future international agreements, benefitting powerful interests at the expense of personal freedoms. For ACTA, heavy-handed Washington pressure forced through draconian provisions.

Civil society organizations are outraged. In addition, some nations exposed gross political treachery in back-room dealmaking. For example, Brazil called ACTA "illegitimate." The Dutch Parliament refused to consider it. India strongly opposes it. So do other emerging economies saying it stifles their development.

Other nations are undecided. They all have until May 2013 to vote up or down. As a result, Washington's exerting immense pressure to bring opponents on board.

EFF calls back room dealmaking "an affront to a democratic world order." It's committed to work with other anti-ACTA groups to defeat ACTA.

The Inquisitr calls the agreement worse than SOPA and PIPA. It "takes a fairly bland idea - the right of companies to profit from their own intellectual property - and turns it into a governmental power grab and an excuse to weaken" Internet privacy.

La Quadrature du Net (Internet & Libertes) says ACTA "has absolutely no democratic legitimacy." Unelected bureaucrats drafted it. It urges mass actions to defeat it.

A Final Comment

ACTA potentially criminalizes almost anything online. It lets government and corporate predators censor, shut down sites, and prosecute owners if they object to posted content. Imagine the effect on free thought and opinion.

Criticize government or corporate lawlessness and be silenced behind bars. That's why stopping ACTA is crucial. SOPA and PIPA outrage was round one. ACTA's the main event.

A truth emergency exists. So far, it's mostly below the radar. Exposing it widely is crucial. Now's the time to act before it's too late.

Internet freedom's on the chopping block for elimination unless mass public outrages stops it. EFF cites other plurilateral deals like the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). It's more draconian than ACTA.

Secret negotiations again drafted it. Bureaucrats alone were involved. Civil society, public interest groups, and lawmakers had no say.

Internet freedom's on the line. The stakes are immense. Jefferson understood by saying that:

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."

Now's the time to assure it doesn't happen. Spread the word! Mobilize! Agitate! Involve Congress! Stop this monster! It's our Internet! Get in the fight to save it!

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

Forecasting Economic Decline

Forecasting Economic Decline

by Stephen Lendman

Economic analyst Harry Dent's 2009 book, titled "The Great Depression Ahead" became a national bestseller. He predicted the current crisis and worse ahead.

His new book, co-authored with Rodney Johnson, predicts "The Great Crash Ahead." He calls it inevitable and sees protracted trouble worse than 2008. It's coming between 2012 and 2014 he believes.

In 1992, he correctly forecast the decade's economic/stock market surge in his book titled, "The Great Boom Ahead." He's now Dr. Doom, predicting harder than ever hard times. He blames sharply falling incomes and aging Boomers among other factors.

He may or may not be right. He called the 1990s boom accurately but wrongly thought Dow values would reach 40,000. Now he sees massive money creation buying time but little else. Housing crashed. Major banks are dead. He calls Europe a "retirement community in debt."

He forecasts "economic winter" and advises:

• 
  
• avoid chasing short-term gains;

• stress capital preservation;

• choose high quality income streams;

• pay down debt sooner, not later;

• rent, don't buy; and

• keep your day job until promising alternatives arrive.

Recent IMF and World Bank forecasts also spell trouble.

On January 18, the World Bank's Global Economic Prospects said world economies teeter "on the brink of another major decline" with "anemic growth" at best through 2013.

Predicting "significantly downgraded" prospects from months earlier, it warned that '"the world economy has entered a dangerous period" as Eurozone turmoil spreads globally.

"The downturn in Europe and the slow growth in developing countries could reinforce one another more than is anticipated, (causing) further complicating efforts to restore market confidence."

Moreover, "the medium-term challenge represented by high debts and slow trend growth in other high-income countries has not been resolved and could trigger sudden adverse shocks."

It calls world growth less than 3% recession. Europe's already experiencing it, and high-income countries are expected to grow only 1.4%, signaling decline. Moreover, given unaddressed excesses, greater trouble than 2008 is possible "on both sides of the Atlantic...."

In other words, despite massive money creation, nothing's been resolved. In fact, conditions now are worse than when trouble began. For the moment, they're contained by throwing money at them.

That only works so long. Longer-term, it's a losing strategy doomed to fail, especially as unemployment rises, wages and benefits fall, safety net protections erode, public anger grows, and politicians offer no solutions.

The IMF's nearly as glum. It's predicting 3.3% growth in 2012, down 0.7% from months earlier. It also warned about "intensifying strains in the euro area" and fragilities elsewhere. They suggest "weaker underlying growth" ahead.

"(D)ownside risks (have) risen sharply," especially from "the intensification of adverse feedback loops between sovereign and banking pressures in the euro area."

The combination of high bond rates, massive debt levels, eroding consumer purchasing power, and troubled banks pressure governments to help. Moreover, Europe's trouble assures spillover.

Overall, the IMF sees the "current environment - characterized by fragile financial systems, high public deficits and debt, and (short) interest rates close to the zero bound - provides fertile ground for self-perpetuating pessimism and the propagation of adverse shock, the most critical of which is the worsening of the crisis in the euro area."

But trouble there spreads it everywhere. Unless "healing" occurs, a "1930s moment may arrive....where trust and cooperation break down and countries turn inward. (A) downward spiral....engulf(ing) the world" could result.

Meanwhile, China's slowing. Japan's in recession, and Europe's sickest of all. It's sinking while real Japanese GDP is expected to contract by 0.4% in the year ending March 2012. Headwinds may force down the Bank of Japan's 2% 2013 growth forecast because of protracted economic weakness.

New McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) Report

Titled, "Debt and Deleveraging: Uneven Progress on the Path to Growth," it suggests systemic unresolved problems.

It calls deleveraging begun in 2008 "proving to be long and painful." Moreover, it's "in its early stages in most countries." In fact, debt's risen in the "ten largest mature economies....due mainly to rising government debt." It exploded but MGI glossed over a major problem getting worse, not better.

Among the world's 10 largest economies, debt increased by $7.8 trillion. In fact, it's more because information’s suppressed. US household debt shrunk $584 billion (or 4%) since 2008. Home mortgage defaults accounted for up to 80% of the total. Jingle mail's been heavy and promises to increase.

Historical precedence suggests years more deleveraging to go. When it ends, US consumers "won't be as powerful an engine of global growth as they were before the crisis." Why? Because excess mortgage refinancing is gone. It added $2.2 trillion in spending power.

In its mid-January report, the Bank of Canada was just as glum, saying:

Europe's recession is "expected to last longer and be somewhat deeper than anticipated." B of C blamed tight credit and fiscal austerity reducing consumer purchasing power.

Modest US growth is expected at best. At issue is "ongoing household deleveraging, fiscal consolidation, and negative spillover" from Europe's crisis.

So far, fallout from Europe's crisis "has consisted mostly of a general retrenchment of risk-taking. (Ahead), the impact is expected to become more widespread (in) the form of increased funding pressures, adverse confidence effects and reduced availability of credit."

Europe and US bank deleveraging will reduce credit and restrain investment. Yearend 2011 baseline trend in real GDP was 1.6%. B of C sees Europe's crisis erasing half of it. It suggests rosy scenario forecasts are misguided.

Both McKinsey and B of C explain that today's environment is far different than any experienced since the 1930s. Other post-WW II recessions were short and shallow during decades of secular credit expansion. No longer.

Noted investor/market analyst Jeremy Grantham explains that positive market conditions unleash "animal spirits." They're carried to extremes using credit as fuel.

Trouble always follows. Every bubble bursts. On the upside, markets overshoot and do the same coming down. They mean reverse and then some. It happens every time. In fact, the more extreme going up, the greater the fall.

Grantham calls it a "principal truth....(W)e live in a mean-reverting world in investing. (A)ll bubbles eventually burst." The most recent occurred in 2000 in America. It's second phase began in fall 2007 and remains ongoing.

Secular market declines always feature sharp rallies. The overall trend doesn't end until a final mean-reversed bottom based on sustained better prospects. Achieving that benchmark's years away.

Economist David Rosenberg agrees, saying the "multi-decade debt boom....will take years to mean revert." McKinsey said deleveraging's got a long way to go. Moreover, when governments and business act together, powerful headwinds risk crashing economies.

The seeds of trouble are planted. No one knows when they'll sprout. Often it's when least expected. It's why Rosenberg says market upswings should be rented, not owned.

Progressive Radio News Hour regular Bob Chapman believes the euro is living on borrowed time. France's April presidential election could be decisive. If Sarkozy loses (he trails in recent polls), "the euro is history and perhaps the EU as well."

French and German voters want their currencies back. "They want change." Their citizens "no longer want the euro and all the responsibilities (and headaches) that go with it."

At the same time, dollar supremacy is threatened by other countries trading bilaterally in their own. China, Japan, Russia, Iran, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, and many others do it. At issue is long-term dollar decline and eventual loss of its world reserve currency status.

The implications are immense. With dollar supremacy comes power. It fuels investment, speculation, corporate takeovers, imperial wars, and America's ability to influence global policies.

Replace the dollar with another currency and things change. It won't happen soon but bears watching. Chapman believes its dethroning is happening. "Over time, the US dollar will lose its preeminent position." China's yuan and Japan's yen will strengthen. If the euro fades as Chapman expects, they'll be more important.

"Without a euro, the dollar" faces greater pressure. It's "acted as a blocker and cover for the dollar," but that's ending.

So is America's century. It's ebbing as China rises, Washington makes more adversaries than friends, and eventually perhaps they have none except their axis of evil partners Israel and Britain. It can't happen a moment too soon.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

Torture and Abuse in Libya

Torture and Abuse in Libya - by Stephen Lendman

NATO's alleged "responsibility to protect" was subterfuge. Months of terror bombings left Libya a charnel house.

Africa's most developed country was ravaged. Tens of thousands were killed, multiples more injured, and millions left on their own sink or swim.

When is war not war? It's when mass killing and destruction are called the right thing. It's also when terrorizing and traumatizing an entire population goes unaddressed.

Add horrific torture to other crimes and abuses, according to Amnesty International (AI), Doctors Without Borders, and Human Rights Watch (HRW).

In its World Report 2012: Libya, HRW said:

Post-Gaddafi prison conditions are "sub-standard, with overcrowding, inadequate food and water, and consistent reports about abuse, including beatings (and) use of electric shock."

Investigator Sidney Kwiram said HRW documented "ongoing torture" used "to force confessions or for punishment."

HRW left unaddressed that most held are pro-Gaddafi political prisoners. Doing so is lawless repression. It's also more proof of NATO and its puppet NTC regime's contempt for human rights.

On January 26, AI headlined, "Libya: Deaths of detainees amid widespread torture," saying:

Libyan detainees are tortured and abused. As a result, some died. Victims are pro-Gaddafi loyalists. AI met detainees "in and around Tripoli, Misrata and Gheryan."

Torture marks were visible, including "open wounds on the head, limbs, back and other parts of the body."

It's inflicted "by officially recognized military and security entities as well as a multitude of armed militias operating outside any legal framework."

AI knows international law prohibits torture and abuse committed by any authority at all times, under all conditions with no allowed exceptions. Nonetheless, it didn't explain.

AI's Donatell Rovera called it "horrifying to find that there has been no progress to stop the use of torture. We are not aware of any proper investigations into (these cases), and neither the survivors or relatives of those who have died in detention have had any recourse to justice or redress for what they have suffered."

"While many detainees have described their experiences of torture to us, some have proved too scared to speak - fearing harsher torture" by doing so. Instead, they just showed their wounds.

They came from being "suspended in contorted positions, beaten for hours with whips, cables, plastic hoses, metal chains and bars and wooden sticks, and given electric shocks with live wires and Taser-like electro-shock weapons."

Injuries AI saw confirmed detainee testimonies. So did medical reports. Suspected pro-Gaddafi loyalists and Black African foreign workers are affected. NTC authorities and armed militias are responsible.

Victims confess to stop pain. They have no legal representation. One Misrata detainee told AI:

"This morning they took me for interrogation upstairs. Five men in plain clothes took turns beating and whipping me....They suspended me from the top of the door by my wrists for about an hour and kept beating me. They also kicked me."

Another said he was beaten on wounds sustained weeks earlier and added:

"Yesterday they beat me with electric cables while my hands were cuffed behind my back and my feet were bound together. They threatened to send me back to the militia (that) captured me, who would kill me."

Others died from torture-inflicted injuries. Deep bruises and open wounds confirmed it.

Despite AI's requests for months, NTC authorities "failed to conduct effective investigations into cases of torture and suspicious deaths in custody."

Moreover, the "police and judiciary remain dysfunctional across the country." AI's Donatella Rovera said there's been "a complete failure on the part of those in power to take concrete steps to end torture and other ill-treatment of detainees and to hold those accountable responsible for such crimes."

On January 26, a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) press release headlined, "Libya: Detainees Tortured and Denied Medical Care," saying:

MSF confirmed torture and abuse against Misrata detainees. They're also denied "urgent medical care." As a result, MSF suspended operations.

Since August 2011, they treated Misrata's war-wounded detainees. "Since then, (they observed) injuries caused by torture during interrogation sessions." They treated 115 cases. They informed Misrata authorities. "Since January, several of the patients returned to interrogation centers were again tortured."

"Some officials (tried) to exploit and obstruct MSF's medical work," according to general director Christopher Stokes.

"Patients were brought to us in the middle of the interrogation for medical care, in order to make them fit for further interrogation. This is unacceptable. Our role is to provide medical care to war casualties and sick detainees, not to repeatedly treat the same patients between torture sessions."

Responsibility belongs to Libya's National Army Security Service. It conducts interrogations. They prevented MSF from treating detainees requiring "urgent and specialized" hospitalization care.

Instead they were interrogated again and tortured. On January 9, MSF addressed the Misrata Military Council, the Misrata Security Committee, the National Army Security Service, and the Misrata Local Civil Council "demanding an immediate stop to any form of ill treatment of detainees."

Nothing was done, said Stokes. Torture continues. In response, MSF suspended operations, but continues providing mental health services. It's also keep helping Black African workers, refugees, and those internally displaced around Tripoli.

MSF's performed medical services in Libya since February 2011. Under NATO/NTC-imposed conditions, it's no longer able to treat torture and war-wounded victims by providing emergency care, surgeries, and orthopedic follow-up treatment.

A Final Comment

Libya was developed and peaceful until NATO arrived on cruise missiles, bombs, shells, other munitions, depleted and enriched uranium, other terror weapons, fifth column infiltrators, media liars, and other rogue tactics.

It's another imperial trophy to colonize, plunder and exploit. State-sponsored terror continues. Human misery is incalculable.

Libyans wanting to live free are vulnerable. Keep their freedom flame alive no matter how NATO monsters try to destroy it.

We're all Libyans now! Their struggle is ours! It better be because our turn may be next!

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

Selling War

Selling War

by Stephen Lendman

Throughout its history, America glorified wars in the name of peace. From inception, they're perpetuated against one or more domestic or foreign adversaries.

They include mass killing, assaults and abuse. Pacifism's called sissy or unpatriotic. Propaganda insists America's peace-loving. In fact, more than ever today, it's addicted to permanent war and violence.

Nonetheless, initiating them requires public support. Famed US journalist Walter Lippmann coined the phrase "manufacture of consent." It's a euphemism for mind control.

In 1917, George Creel first used it successfully to turn pacifist Americans into raging German-haters. It works the same way now. In 1916, Woodrow Wilson was reelected on a pledge of: "He Kept Us Out of War." Straightaway, he began planning US involvement.

In April 1917, he established the Committee on Public Information (CPI or Creel Committee). It operated through August 1919. Its mission was enlisting public support for war and undermining opposition sentiment.

Corporate America was so impressed, it recruited Edward Bernays, a nephew of Sigmund Freud. He became a PR/propaganda pioneer. His 1928 book titled "Propaganda" said it's possible to "regiment the public mind every bit as much as an army regiments their bodies."

"If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, is it not possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing about it?"

He called the technique the "engineering of consent." He invented the press release. One of his most successful campaigns involved convincing women to smoke in public when it was considered taboo. He pursuaded business that news, not advertising, best manipulates public opinion.

He drew on Freudian psychoanalytic ideas. In an age of mass production, he believed techniques were needed to distribute ideas the same way. On behalf of United Fruit, his propaganda campaign helped overthrow Guatemala's democratically elected Jacobo Arbenz Guzman.

His pioneering PR techniques got Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter to describe him and Ivy Lee as "professional poisoners of the public mind, exploiters of foolishness, fanaticism and self-interest."

In his 1947 book titled, "The Engineering of Consent," he called it "the very essence of the democratic process, the freedom to persuade and suggest." In fact, it's used manipulatively more for ill, than good, especially in selling war.

Australian-born social psychologist Alex Carey helped pioneer the study of corporate propaganda. His seminal work is titled, "Taking the Risk Out of Democracy: Corporate Propaganda versus Freedom and Liberty."

He said "The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy."

Using Deception to Launch Wars

Coalition to Oppose Arms Trade coordinator Richard Sanders said:

"Throughout history, war planners have used various forms of deception to trick their enemies. Because public support is so crucial (to wage war), the home population is also subject to deceitful stratagems. The creation of false excuses to justify going to war is a major first step in constructing public support...."

"The corporate media (are) central to the success of" manufacturing consent. So is repetition to blot out other narratives. Media giants and PR wizards are master mind manipulators, marshaling public support for war.

It works the same way every time. Truth is suppressed. Public fear is stoked. Patriotism and democratic values are highlighted. People are manipulated to support war to protect national security. Wilson claimed entering WW I "kept the world safe for democracy."

During the WW II buildup, anti-war proponents were called subversives and Nazi sympathizers. Once begun, anti-German/Italian/Japanese propaganda censored media and other communications to enlist support. Other techniques included posters, advertising, comic books and cartoons, leaflets, and films extolling America and portraying the axis as bad guys.

Steven Casey's ground-breaking book titled, "Selling the Korean War: Propaganda, Politics, and Public Opinion in the United States" analyzed Truman and Eisenhower administration efforts to shape public discourse, influence media coverage, and gain popular support for limited conflict and anti-Soviet Cold War policies.

He also showed how Truman officials redefined war as it continued with mounting casualties. His analysis used previously unavailable archives, including government documents, papers of leading congressmen, newspaper editors, and war correspondents. His book's the definitive word on how public opinion was manipulated during America's "forgotten war."

Noam Chomsky calls the Vietnam War "a classic example of America's propaganda system." Major media scoundrels let doves and hawks debate, but "(b)oth sides agreed on one thing. We had a right to carry out aggression," but refused to admit it took place.

America's presence was called defense against enemy aggression. "Like the Soviets in Afghanistan, we tried to establish" a pro-US Saigon regime. Escalation led to invasion. Anti-war activists on principle were banned from public discourse. "The debate was essentially over tactics," not legitimacy.

Over time, anti-war sentiment grew, especially after the January 1968 Tet Offensive and June 1971 Pentagon Papers release. They showed the Johnson administration lied to the public and Congress. Gallup Polls showed 70% of Americans thought Vietnam was "fundamentally wrong and immoral, not a mistake."

Opposition produced the "Vietnam Syndrome." Chomsky called it "a grave disease in the eyes of America's elites because people understand too much."

He also discussed months of propaganda preceding Congress voting on contra aid in March 1986. He reviewed 85 New York Times and Washington Post editorials and op-eds. All were anti-Sandanista. Opposition opinion was suppressed despite Nicaragua directing popular social services in contrast with repressive US allies Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

Of course, all wars are based on lies. When major media scoundrels suppress truth, administrations get away with murder.

It was true in Central America, Grenada on the pretext of rescuing medical students, manufactured incidents to oust Panama's Manuel Noreiga, entrapping Saddam Hussein to invade Kuwait that launched the Gulf War, 9/11 as pretext to attack Afghanistan and continue a decade of imperial wars against nonbelligerent states.

In April 2007, Washington Post writer Tom Shales headlined, "A Media Role in Selling the War? No Question," saying:

"It's always depressing to learn that you've been had, but incalculably more so when the deception has resulted in thousands of Americans dying in the Iraq war effort" based on lies.

As in all wars, the more people rely on television for news, the less they know, and more susceptible they become to government and media propaganda.

In their book, "Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq," Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber showed how manipulative propaganda sold the public on war.

Combining PR and media deception, Operation: Iraqi Freedom was created. Deconstructing the process, they showed how top Bush officials planned war prior to his election, but waited until September 2002 for "product launch" to inform the public.

Using 'big lie" tactics, they associated Saddam with 9/11, forged documents to allege WMDs, and worked secretly to create the opposition Iraqi National Congress (INC). The PR Rendon Group coined the term. It got millions in funding and worked closely with CIA operatives. It became a driving force for war.

"Weapons of Mass Deception" exposed how aggressive PR and manipulative media convince people to go along with policies harming their interests.

The Pentagon's very much involved. It spends half a billion dollars selling wars. Truth's suppressed doing it. Lies launch them and continue throughout conflicts. Anti-Syrian and Iranian rhetoric replicates what preceded attacking Iraq and Libya.

On January 16, Russia Today (RT.com) reported how major media scoundrels incite war on Iran. Appearing regularly on US television, hardline figures push it. Alternative voices are shut out.

Warmongering’s constant. On-air voices cheerlead it. Slanted news shuts out truth. Former MSNBC producer Jeff Cohen said pressure was constant to support war in the run-up to the Iraq invasion.

A Final Comment

Things remain the same. Deceptive reports manipulate the public mind on Syria and Iran. "There is no doubt that the mainstream media are crucial in this idea of selling that the US is going to be in a perpetual war."

They're key in making Americans believe military intervention is vital. Robert Parry said:

"I've worked at Newsweek as well (as AP) and other major US news organizations. And what I saw, especially at places like Newsweek, was this idea that the media was actually part of the establishment. It was that the American people were to be guided more than informed."

In fact, "political solutions" are alien to America's vocabulary. War profiteers demand jingoism. A century ago people were manipulated to accept war with Cuba. William Randolph Hearst hyped the big lie about Spain sinking the battleship Maine when, in fact, a coal bunker explosion did it.

Hearst, however, told his Havana illustrator: "You furnish the pictures, and I'll furnish the war." To this day, lies launch them. They're all based on lies to get people to go along with what wouldn't be possible otherwise.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

Profile of a Rogue State

Profile of a Rogue State

by Stephen Lendman

America's unmatched globally. However, pound for pound, based on size, its policies, and regional threat, Israel stands out.

Daily, its crimes against humanity continue. On January 23, Jerusalem police arrested two Palestinian officials, Khaled Abu Arafeh and Mohammed Totah.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said both men were wanted for unspecified "Hamas activities" with no further comment.

Hamas, of course, is Palestine's legitimate government. Israel and America spuriously call it a terrorist organization. Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri said arresting both men was a "Zionist crime." Palestine's parliament hasn't functioned since Hamas and Fatah split in 2007.

Both men were arrested at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Sheikh Jarrah offices. For the past 18 months, they sought refuge there protesting Israel's illegal deportation orders after their ID cards were revoked.

Abu Arafah served as Hamas minister for Jerusalem affairs. Totah's a Hamas PLC representative. Months earlier, Hamas legislator Mahmoud Atoun was arrested. He also sought ICRC refuge.

Hamas parliamentarians are repeatedly targeted. Around two dozen remain imprisoned. Twenty are uncharged under administrative detention. At one time, 40 Hamas PLC members were lawlessly incarcerated for belonging to the wrong party, not any crimes they committed.

On January 19, Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) Aziz Dweik was arrested for alleged terrorist connections. Despite a thinly veiled lie, a military court on January 24 ordered him detained uncharged for six months.

On January 20, lawmaker Khaled Tafesh was arrested and detained at Ofer Prison.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemned Israel's actions. It called them "a plan to undermine the results of the (January 2006) Palestinian legislative elections (and) to abort the Palestinian reconciliations efforts."

PCHR also called them Fourth Geneva-prohibited collective punishment. It demanded immediate release of those held, strongly condemned storming ICRC's office, and said doing so violated international humanitarian law.

Israel falsely claimed ICRC's office has no diplomatic status, making it fair game for Israeli lawlessness.

Israel's War on Hamas

On January 25, Jerusalem Post writer Khaled Abu Toameh headlined, "Israel has declared war on Hamas in West Bank," saying:

In the past few days alone, five Hamas PLC members were arrested. "Early Tuesday, IDF soldiers arrested Abdel Jabbar Fukaha, a Hamas legislator, in Ramallah and confiscated documents, a laptop and mobile phones from his home."

His wife said their son Mujahed was summoned to appear Sunday for interrogation. After serving a four-month sentence, Fukaha was released from Israeli prison in February 2011.

"In a related development, Hamas legislators in Tulkarm said on Tuesday that an Israeli security official phoned them and ordered them to close their office immediately. Fathi Qarawi and Riad Raddad said it was the second threat received in the past month."

It's part of an Israeli campaign to destroy Hamas, they believe, adding:

"Israel has declared war on Hamas. But we won’t be deterred and we will continue to fulfill our duties.”

Hamas leaders believe Israel's trying to sabotage reconciliation with Fatah and foil planned May parliamentary and presidential elections. It wouldn't be the first time strong-arm Israeli tactics subverted Palestinian elections and other legitimate activities.

Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri denounced Israeli's scheme, saying:

"Israel thinks that the arrests will destroy Hamas' chances of winning the elections. On the contrary, these measures will only increase (our) popularity."

He also called on human rights organizations to intervene and pressure Israel to release lawlessly detained “legislators who were elected by the people in a democratic vote.”

Lawless Home Demolitions, Land Theft and Dispossessions

Among other rogue policies, home demolitions and land theft define Israeli repression. On January 23, East Anata's bedouin compound was bulldozed and destroyed for the fifth time.

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) calls it "a living symbol of resistance to Occupation and the desire for justice and peace."

ICAHD's Itay Ephshtain said:

"People are somber, traumatized and grief stricken. Nearly 100 people are out in the elements now on a cold night. Children, babies, mothers, fathers. Some of us from ICAHD did try to block the bulldozer, but were beaten back by soldiers."

In fact, Epshtain was personally beaten and sustained minor injuries.

Called Beit Arabiya, the site was home to Arabiya Shawemreh, her husband Salim and seven children. Their home was previously destroyed four times.

Each time, ICAHD, Palestinians, and international peace activists rebuilt it. Now it's again gone. On January 23 around 11PM, a bulldozer accompanied by soldiers arrived. Beit Arabiya as well as other residential and agricultural structures in Arab al-Jahalin Bedouin compound were destroyed.

Beit Arabiya initially got a demolition order in 1994. At issue was failing to get a building permit on their own land. ICAHD Director Jeff Halper vowed to help Salim and Arabiya rebuild, saying:

"We shall rebuild. We must rebuild forthwith as an act of political defiance of the occupation and protracted oppression of Palestinians."

"ICAHD is as determined as always to rebuild the home, and endure in its struggle to bring about justice and peace."

Salim and Arabiya dedicated their home to Rachael Corrie and Nuha Sweidan. Both women, an American and Palestinian, were murdered resisting Gaza home demolitions.

Weeks earlier on December 6, The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights called on Israel to cease house demolitions, forced evictions, and residency revocations.

ICAHD's publication "No Home, No Homeland" highlights the issue. It estimates about 26,000 Palestinian homes destroyed since June 1967 for "punitive, land clearing/military, and administrative" reasons.

On Occupied Palestinian land, doing so violates international law. Israel spurns it. As a result, Palestinian suffering continues. Women and children are especially affected. Forced displacement further harms them. ICAHD called 2011 a record year.

World leaders turn a blind eye. Israeli officials are green-lighted to commit crimes with impunity. They take full advantage.

Obama's "Ironclad" Commitment

In his January 24 State of the Union address, Obama highlighted his unwavering support, saying:

"Our ironclad commitment to Israel's security has meant the closest military cooperation between our two countries in history."

Among other ways, it's reflected in billions in military aid and regular increased amounts. In August 2007, Bush increased it by $6 billion over the next decade. Despite budget constraints, Obama added more.

In FY 2012 alone, an additional $236 million will help develop three Israeli missile programs: Arrow-2, David's Sling, and Arrow 3. Israel already gets over $3 billion annually, plus unknown add-ons if requested.

"If Americans knew" reports that while Israel gets "at least $8.2 million each day in military aid," Palestinians get zero.

A Final Comment

On January 22, London Guardian writer Harriet Sherwood headlined, "The Palestinian children - alone and bewildered - in Israel's Al Jalame" Prison, saying:

Young children are physically and verbally abused. It's nightmarish. Cell 36 and others like it are "where Palestinian children are locked in solitary confinement for days or even weeks. One 16-year-old" said he'd been isolated for 65 days.

Cells are "barely wider than the thin, dirty mattress that covers the floor. Behind a low concrete wall is a squat toilet, the stench from which has no escape in the windowless room. The rough concrete walls deter idle leaning; the constant overhead light inhibits sleep."

Low-quality food arrives through door flaps, depriving children of human contact. Brutal interrogations break the monotony. Shackled hands and feet to a chair for hours, they're questioned.

Most often, their alleged "crime" is stone-throwing. Most deny doing it. Physical and verbal abuse follow. Many face sleep deprivation exhaustion. "Day after day they are fettered to the chair, then returned to solitary confinement. In the end, many sign confessions" in desperation. Later they say they were coerced.

As many as 700 Palestinian children are arrested annually. Some are 10 or younger. Mistreatment is extreme. Emotional trauma results.

According to Nader Abu Amsha, director of Beit Sahour's YMCA juvenile rehab program:

"(F)amilies think that when (their) child is released, it's the end of the problem. We tell them (it's only) the beginning. You see children who are totally broken. It's painful to see the pain of these children, to see how much they are squeezed by the Israeli system."

It's more evidence of rogue Israeli lawlessness. Imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti told Maan News that conflict and abuses will continue until Israel ends occupation and withdraws to pre-1967 borders.

He believes Palestinian national unity and nonviolent resistance stand the best chance of achieving it.

Barghouti's a prisoner of conscience serving five consecutive life sentences plus 40 years for wanting to live free. Free or imprisoned, he symbolizes hope. Supporters hope he'll be freed one day to lead them.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

Obama's Failed State of the Union

Obama's Failed State of the Union

by Stephen Lendman

It was typical Obama, taking credit for what should be condemned. He's a fraud, a crime boss, a war criminal multiple times over, a moral coward, and serial liar.

His State of the Union address was beginning-to-end doublespeak, duplicity, coverup, and denial of failed policies complicit with Wall Street crooks, war profiteers, and other corporate favorites while popular needs go begging.

Not according to fawning New York Times writers, however. Suppressing truth and full disclosure, Helene Cooper headlined, Obama Speech Makes Pitch for Economic Fairness," saying:

Obama "pledged on Tuesday night to use government power to balance the scale between America's rich and the rest of the public....toward an economy 'built to last' and what he called irresponsible policies of the past that caused economic collapse."

Fact check

Throughout his tenure, Obama transferred trillions of dollars to Wall Street, other corporate favorites, and America's rich already with too much. In the process, he deepened a Main Street Depression. As a result, half of US households are impoverished or bordering on it. Hunger and homelessness grow. Nothing's done to help. Unaddressed human need is incalculable.

Over 25 million remain unemployed. Job creation is nil except for low wage/no benefit temp or part-time ones. Inequality in America is unprecedented. Obama supports austerity when massive stimulus is needed. Rich elites never had it so good at the expense of ordinary people left out.

Obama's Failed State isn’t fit to live in for growing millions.

Nonetheless, an accompanying Times editorial headlined, "The State of the Union in 2012," saying:

"A year ago....we applauded" Obama's plan to "put millions of struggling people to work (and his support for) wrestl(ing) down the deficit (by requiring) the wealthy (to pay) a fairer share of taxes."

Applause continued, ignoring Obama's duplicitous Tuesday address and agenda.

Fact check

It includes imperial wars, tax cuts for the rich, corporate handouts, and austerity for ordinary people losing out.

His America perpetuates permanent wars, disproportionate wealth extremes, spiraling debt, and unaddressed human need.

He ignores growing millions unemployed and impoverished. He cut Medicare for seniors and America's disabled as well as Medicaid for poor and disadvantaged recipients. He left growing millions of students debt entrapped, many for life.

He's destroying Middle America. His latest proposal involves looting pension funds to enrich mortgage lenders. Yet he's packaging fraud as a boon to ordinary people. It's typical Obama - say one thing, do another.

Nonetheless, major media scoundrels applaud. As a result, they're part of the problem, not the solution.

The editorial highlighted Obama's "achievements" and plans. It ignored his destructive agenda. It was typical Times, backing rogue politics.

Obama's address wreaked of failed state duplicity, coverup and denial. Throughout his tenure, rhetoric and gimmickry substituted for constructive policies. Tuesday was no different.

He left festering social and economic distress unaddressed, as well as the American dream in shambles. Expect continued business as usual to assure harder than ever times ahead.

He lied saying "The state of our union is getting stronger....In the last 22 months, businesses have created more than three million jobs."

Progressive Radio News Hour regular, economist Jack Rasmus said Obama's "stimulus" programs consisted largely of corporate and personal super-rich tax cuts. As a result, they failed.

Corporations hoarded cuts and other subsidies. Job creation investments weren't made. Business benefitted. Ordinary people lost out. Economic recovery failed. Ongoing policies assure continued failure packaged as success.

According to Rasmus, Obama's agenda "failed because (it) relied on the private market sector to generate a sustained recovery, instead of on the government directly taking the lead to create jobs, rescue homeowners and resurrect housing, and stabilize state-local government finances long run."

He "bailed out banks that (don't) lend, rescued corporations that (don't) create jobs, and (inadequately) subsidized state and local governments for a brief period and then cut them loose to fend fiscally for themselves."

His agenda was and remains devastating for ordinary Americans. At the same time, corporations and rich ones flourish. His "built to last" economy favors them alone. He lied saying he wants to assure "everyone gets a fair shot." His notion of "American values" rewards the rich at the expense of everyone else.

He took credit for letting auto giants destroy jobs, slash worker pay and benefits, ban strike actions, and let corrupt union bosses serve as corporate enforcers. He said what Detroit did "can happen in other industries."

In fact, Detroit's "success" is bankruptcy and ruin. Motown became ghost town. In death throes, it symbolizes America's decline. In disrepair and decline, it's dying with shocking unemployment, poverty and unaddressed human need levels.

What Obama did to Detroit, he offers other cities packaged as populism. He took direct aim at destroying decades of painful labor struggles. They included taking to the streets, going on strike, holding boycotts, battling rogue bosses, police and National Guard forces, as well as paying with their blood and lives before real gains were won.

Now they're lost, including a living wage, decent benefits, and the right to bargain collectively on equal terms with management. Obama deplores the idea and fights it.

What grassroots struggles achieved, he and other rogue leaders destroyed. All this in a nation claiming to be government of, by and for the people, most of whom are working class ones struggling to get by. What Reagan era politics began, Obama raised to new levels.

Praising "America's Armed Forces," he also assured permanent war. They "exceed all expectations," he said. "Imagine what we could accomplish if we followed their example." Perhaps he has destroying humanity in mind to assure unchallenged US hegemony.

Ron Paul Responds to Obama's Address

Obama "once again showed that he does not represent the fundamental change this country needs. Instead of offering solutions to the problems our country faces, (he) deliver(ed) a campaign speech....typical (of) Washington political gamesmanship that (got) us exactly nowhere close to improving the lives of the American people."

His policies assure "continue economic stagnation" and decline. He "claims to want an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules."

"Yet he remains committed to the same old system of debt, deficits, bailouts and cronyism that created our economic troubles."

"Of course, (he) refuses to even mention the role the Federal Reserve plays in creating an economic system where some are denied a fair shot or even to support my efforts at bringing transparency" to an opaque, secretive process.

"In the area of foreign policy and civil liberties, (Obama's) rhetoric" belies his agenda. It's "hardly 'change we can believe in.' " No wonder more and more Americans, especially young people, (reject his) phony alternatives (and those of) establishment Republicans.."

A Final Comment

Throughout his tenure, Obama waged multiple imperial wars, plans others, looted the nation's wealth, wrecked the economy, consigned growing millions to impoverishment without jobs, and institutionalized tyranny to target dissenters challenging political corruption, corporate crooks, or abuse of power lawlessness.

He also destroyed hard won labor rights, wants education commodified as another business profit center, and wages war on whistleblowers, dissenters, Muslims, Latino immigrants, and environmental and animal rights activists called terrorists.

He wrecked America, governs lawlessly, and threatens worse ahead. Imagine the unpalatable options facing voters in November between a lawless/crime boss/militarist/pro-war/anti-populist/morally corrupt president, and a rogue's gallery of alternatives looking more like a police lineup than legitimate candidates.

They assure continued pro-business/pro-war/anti-populist policies. They threaten Middle America's survival and perhaps humanity if they're not stopped.

Imagine a president taking credit for what should be condemned. Imagine an aroused public refusing to let him.

It's happening with legs but needs to grow. What OWS began, millions need to join and support. That's how great struggles are won. This one's the mother of them all.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.