JOHNSTONE

One of the weirdest things happening in the world today is the way US officials keep insisting that they are not at war with the groups they're dropping bombs on in the middle east, and that they do not seek conflict with the people they are attacking.

Reading by Tim Foley.

This entire sick dystopia is held together by psychological compartmentalization. By the fact that it's more comfortable to avoid looking directly at the horrors of the status quo we live under, even though on some level we all know those horrors are there.

Reading by Tim Foley.

Mass media editors at outlets like The Guardian, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have been allowing the publication of some amazingly racist pieces these last few days. All are directed at middle easterners and those of middle eastern descent, just as the western empire drops more and more bombs on more and more countries in the middle east.

Reading by Tim Foley.

That's right, we've got a podcast out. Caitlin and Tim discuss the harrowing experience of following Israel's mass atrocities in Gaza for four months, then answer some questions from readers and trolls. 

Questions we address here include:

"Who is Tim?"

"Do you guys ever disagree on the topics you cover?"

"What are the ways that people deeply attached to the status quo - even whilst recognising it stinks - can be encouraged to let go their grip?"

"Do you ever tweet anything that isn't either anti-Israel or anti-USA?"

"Who do you support for President?"

"What kind of world should we strive for?"

This is the sort of person who gets hired to multiple executive positions in multiple highly influential western media platforms. If you've ever wondered why it looks like the western press function in pretty much the same way as the state propaganda services in the autocracies the west proudly sets itself apart from, this is why. The corporate media are owned and controlled by plutocrats who have a vested interest in preserving the status quo power structure upon which their kingdoms are built, and state broadcasters like the BBC have the same interest for the same reason. They decide who the executives of those outlets will be, and those executives make policy and hiring decisions which cause the outlet to function in a way that is indistinguishable from state propaganda.

Reading by Tim Foley.

So it turns out the IDF has been running a Telegram channel featuring homemade snuff films in which Gazans are brutally murdered by Israeli forces, captioned with celebrations of the gore and pain therein like "Burning their mother… You won't believe the video we got! You can hear their bones crunch." The IDF had previously denied any association with the channel, but Haaretz now reports that it was directly run by an IDF psychological warfare unit.

Reading by Tim Foley.

I've been railing against the US war machine for around seven years now, and never during that time have I had more westerners on my side than right now. Never has the depravity of the western empire been more starkly exposed in the cold light of day.

Reading by Tim Foley.

Saying the US does not seek conflict in the middle east is like saying the Kardashians do not seek attention. It's like saying Jeff Bezos doesn't seek money. It's like saying the Hamburglar doesn't seek hamburgers. It's kind of their thing. To make such a ridiculous claim while actively raining military explosives upon the middle east, in "retaliation" for an attack which the people you're bombing didn't even commit, is just extra icing on the cake of ridiculousness.

Reading by Tim Foley.

Here are five noises western liberals like to make to avoid having to take a real position on Gaza:

1. "It's heartbreaking!"

2. "It's complicated!"

3. "BUT TRUMP!"

4. "I really hope there can be peace there someday!"

5. "I support a two-state solution!"

Reading by Tim Foley.

A Democratic president engaging in genocide during a re-election year is highlighting the depravity of this warmongering capitalist party more starkly than anything else I can remember.

Reading by Tim Foley.