JOHNSTONE

You know what would've been a lot worse than a vile McCarthyite smear against an important antiwar journalist igniting an ugly war in online left media circles? A vile McCarthyite smear against an important antiwar journalist being tolerated by online left media circles.

Reading by Tim Foley.

Article with links and sources: https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/tyt-jimmy-dore-and-other-notes-from

Today America celebrates its hard-fought victory in its fight to free itself from the rule of British monarchs so it could be ruled by US oligarchs.

Reading by Tim Foley.

The way the mass media have begun simply ignoring major news stories that are inconvenient for the powerful, across not just some but all major news outlets, is extremely disturbing. It means any time there's an inconvenient revelation, mainstream news institutions will just pretend it doesn't exist.

Seriously think about what this means for a moment. This is telling whistleblowers and investigative journalists that no matter how hard they work or how much danger they put themselves in to get critical information out to the public, the public will never find out about it, because all mainstream news outlets will unify around blacking it out.

Reading by Tim Foley.

Article with links and sources: https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/the-horrifying-rise-of-total-mass

Iraq war architect Donald Rumsfeld has died. Not in a prison cell in The Hague, not murdered by bombs or bullets, but peacefully in his home, surrounded by loved ones, a week and a half shy of his 89th birthday.

Reading by Tim Foley.

Article with links and sources: https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/the-system-isnt-there-to-protect

Americans: healthcare please

Biden: Sorry, did you say airstrikes on Iraq and Syria?

Americans: no, healthcare

Biden: Alright, you drive a hard bargain, but here are your airstrikes on Iraq and Syria.

Reading by Tim Foley.

As of this writing, it has been three days since the Icelandic newspaper Stundin broke the story that a key witness in the US government's case against Julian Assange had fabricated allegations against the WikiLeaks founder. And yet, somehow, Assange is still in prison. 

Weirder still, not one major western media outlet outside of Iceland has reported on this massive and entirely legitimate news story. A search brings up coverage by Icelandic media, by Russian media, and by smaller western outlets like Democracy Now, World Socialist Website, Consortium News, Zero Hedge and some others, but as of this writing this story has been completely ignored by all major outlets who are ostensibly responsible for informing the public in the western world. 

Reading by Tim Foley.

Article with links and sources: https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/the-weird-creepy-media-blackout-on

Featured image by Henry Nicholls, Creative Commons 4.0

The US is again illegally bombing nations on the other side of the planet which it has invaded and occupied and branded this murderous aggression as "defensive".

"At President Biden's direction, U.S. military forces earlier this evening conducted defensive precision airstrikes against facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region," reads a statement by Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby. "The targets were selected because these facilities are utilized by Iran-backed militias that are engaged in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks against U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq. Specifically, the U.S. strikes targeted operational and weapons storage facilities at two locations in Syria and one location in Iraq, both of which lie close to the border between those countries."

Reading by Tim Foley.

Article with links and sources: https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/us-again-bombs-nations-on-other-side

The Icelandic newspaper Stundin reports that a key witness in the US prosecution of Julian Assange has admitted in an interview with the outlet that he fabricated critical accusations in the indictment against the WikiLeaks founder.

Reading by Tim Foley.

Article with links and sources: https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/assange-prosecution-relied-on-false

"Look at her, just staring at her phone like a zombie," the middle-aged woman said in a loud stage whisper which was clearly intended to be heard.

"She's sitting in an art museum, right in front of a genuine Monet, and she's staring at her phone," said her husband, not even bothering to whisper.

"Guarantee you if someone had shown Monet an iPhone while he was painting that piece of shit he woulda dropped his brush and forgotten all about it," said the girl without looking up.

Reading by Tim Foley.

Featured image by Steven Depolo, Creative Commons 3.0

The correct lesson from Afghanistan instantly beginning to revert back to Taliban control the moment the western occupation ends is not that the occupation needs to continue, it's that it should never have happened in the first place.

"Oh no, bad things are happening because we're leaving!" No, bad things are happening because you went in. You spent two decades hammering that poor nation with bombs and war crimes, and now they're just going right back to where they were before you inflicted that upon them. Everything that's happening in Afghanistan today is the fault of the invaders.

The argument that the occupation has been a boon for human rights is just plain false, and is premised on the idea that the western empire should invade every nation with illiberal cultural values and force it to change at gunpoint. Even if that ridiculous premise were accepted, it has been clearly established that such a thing is impossible.

How fucking obnoxious is it that westerners are now wringing their hands over the fact that when they stop forcing Afghanistan to be a certain way at gunpoint, the fate of Afghanistan starts being determined by Afghans? Enough with this white man's burden bullshit, freaks.

Reading by Tim Foley.

Article with links and sources: https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/the-right-and-wrong-lessons-from