Intrepid Report: Week of December 19, 2016

Intrepid Report Newsletter

Wishing everyone happy holidays Intrepid Report will resume publishing Jan. 5 By Bev ConoverPosted on December 23, 2016 May you find comfort and joy in family and friends this holiday season whatever you celebrate. Monday War crimes or liberation? By Dave Alpert The use of language usually determines how the listener will perceive the data that is shared. What words that are used and how the data is framed will project the speaker’s biased perceptions re: the data itself. This may or may not be done consciously. Therefore, there is legitimacy to the term, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” Enough cyber-disputin’! We just hate Vladimir Putin! By Ben Tanosborn In 1898, incited by a yellow press (the Hearst gang) and aspiring American imperialists, the American public was clamoring for war after the Maine’s sinking in Havana’s harbor. The cry then was, “Remember the Maine! To Hell with Spain!,” which allowed sacrificing an old and decrepit despot to surrender its colonial booty (Cuba, the Philippines and Puerto Rico) to a nascent bully in the high seas itching to test its 1890’s state-of-the-art armored cruisers, using two dated Spanish flotillas for target practice. Brownback’s links to anti-Putin cabal cost him a Trump Cabinet position By Wayne Madsen Kansas Republican Governor Sam Brownback desperately wants a position in the Trump administration. However, with almost all of Trump’s cabinet positions already spoken for, with the exception of Agriculture Secretary, it would appear that the uber-conservative governor and former U.S. senator may join New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, and former U.S. House Speaker on the also-ran list in Trump’s political version of “Celebrity Apprentice.” Home truths about the climate emergency By Adam Parsons As 2016 draws to a close, we appear to be living in a world that is increasingly defined by its illusions, where the truth is a matter of subjective interpretation or argumentative debate. Indeed, following the United States election and Brexit referendum there is much talk of a new era of post-truth politics, in which appeals to emotion count more than verifiable facts. But there are some facts that cannot be ignored for much longer, however hard we may try. And the greatest of all these facts is the escalating climate emergency that neither mainstream politicians, nor the public at large, are anywhere near to confronting on the urgent scale needed. Don’t believe these red meat lies: Part One By Martha Rosenberg Since 2005 when the USDA rolled out a new food pyramid that the meat industry said reduced red meat’s place in a healthy diet to a mere “condiment,” the USDA has continued to discredit red meat as a healthful food. Then, an advisory committee developing the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for American, which are revamped every five years, said Americans should eat less red and processed meat in favor of a “diet higher in plant-based foods,” further inflaming the meat industry. Committee members even played the environment card and wrote that a red meat-based diet “has a larger environmental impact in terms of increased greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water use, and energy use,” compared to plant-based and Mediterranean-style diets. Tuesday Trumping the environment By Walter Brasch Whether Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump was elected, the environment is going to suffer. Trump nominates David Friedman for US ambassador to Israel By Stephen Lendman Trump’s messages on Israel are mixed. Earlier he called resolving decades of Israeli/Palestinian conflict “the ultimate deal . . . As a deal maker, I’d like to do it . . . the deal that can’t be made. And do it for humanity’s sake.” Some thoughts on the two major political parties By Dave Alpert Have you ever wondered what the difference is between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party? Waste no more time on Clinton By Missy Comley Beattie During the days leading up to choosing HER, HIM, someone else, or nobody, I’d have serious this-can’t-be-real thoughts. They persist. Friends and family are experiencing the same. Don’t believe these meat industry lies: Part Two By Martha Rosenberg Since 2005 when the USDA rolled out a new food pyramid that the meat industry said reduced red meat’s place in a healthy diet to a mere “condiment,” the USDA has continued to discredit red meat as a healthful food. Then, an advisory committee developing the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for American, which are revamped every five years, said Americans should eat less red and processed meat in favor of a “diet higher in plant-based foods,” further inflaming the meat industry. Committee members even played the environment card and wrote that a red meat-based diet “has a larger environmental impact in terms of increased greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water use, and energy use,” compared to plant-based and Mediterranean-style diets. Wednesday Fake news from corporate media kills But lies continue to dominate corporate media reports By Jack Balkwill I believe that the murder of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, was the result of the influence of fake news dominating the corporate media around the world. The shooter, identified as a 22-year-old Turkish riot police officer, shouted that he was upset about what is happening in Aleppo after committing the murder on video. CIA meddles in US election as it has in countless foreign polls By Wayne Madsen Never has the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency so blatantly involved itself in an American election. However, the agency has a rich history of interfering in the elections of other nations, including Russia. The conclusions of an undisclosed CIA secret report on alleged Russian interference in the U.S. election has been summarily dismissed by the director of National Intelligence, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and several retired U.S. intelligence officers as deeply flawed and a propaganda tool concocted by the highly-politicized CIA director John Brennan and his cronies. A David and Goliath story in Iraq An interview with filmmaker David Ritter By Lucine Kasbarian The Iraqi village of Havresc (originally called “Hay Vrej,” the Armenian words for “revenge through survival”) was once populated with Armenian Genocide survivors and their descendants. Waivers and pardons? Mounting ethics concerns for Trump’s ultra-wealthy cabinet By Lauren McCauley One hundred million dollar waivers? Presidential pardons? With yet another billionaire appointed to a key position within the Donald Trump administration this week, speculations abound about what the president-elect intends to do about his cabinet’s unprecedented wealth—and their unprecedented conflicts. IMF head Lagarde found guilty of criminal negligence By Stephen Lendman IMF operations make loan-sharking look respectable by comparison, debt-entrapping nations, obligating them to take new loans to service old ones. Thursday Thousands of US communities with lead-poisoned water By Stephen Lendman A December 19 Reuters “Off the Charts” report said “examination of lead testing results across the country found almost 3,000 areas with poisoning rates far higher than in” Flint, Michigan. Myanmar’s blood-stained ‘democratic’ transition By Linda S. Heard The military junta may have officially been dissolved and free and fair elections held, but Myanmar’s government either supports the army’s ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims, or is too fearful to stand up for the democratic values its leader Aung San Suu Kyi has always espoused. Freedom Rider: Syria, Russia and American desperation By Margaret Kimberley It is no coincidence that anti-Russian propaganda is being ramped up at the same moment the Syrian government is poised to retake its country from terrorists. Barack Obama and the rest of the war party are left to sputter nonsensical statements because their grand plan to realize the neocon Project for a New American Century is in very big trouble. Love that dirty water . . . and dirty wars!! By Philip A Farruggio Last week, USA Today’s main section had an extensive investigative piece on lead in the drinking water supply of many rural communities. The Radical Jesus: How would the baby in a manger fare in the American police state? By John W. Whitehead Jesus was good. He was caring. He had powerful, profound things to say—things that would change how we view people, alter government policies and change the world. He went around helping the poor. And when confronted by those in authority, he did not shy away from speaking truth to power. Friday Merry Christmas? By Linh Dinh My patron saint is Martin de Porres. Wikipedia describes him as “the patron saint of mixed-race people, barbers, innkeepers, public health workers, and all those seeking racial harmony,” all of which is news to me. I had always known Saint Martin as just some black guy, which is curious enough. What was my father thinking? The Italian banking crisis: No free lunch—or is there? By Ellen Brown On December 4, 2016, Italian voters rejected a referendum to amend their constitution to give the government more power, and the Italian prime minister resigned. The resulting chaos has pushed Italy’s already-troubled banks into bankruptcy. Socialism is our only salvation By Dave Alpert A friend recently asked me what is it I want. I have been writing and criticizing US domestic and foreign policies, its imperialistic agenda, the mainstream media, and the US populace that has stood by passively accepting getting lied to, manipulated, and exploited. Stifling the debate on Israel: For Palestinians, Zionism only means one thing By Ramzy Baroud The British government of Theresa May officially adopted on December 12 a new definition of anti-Semitism that includes legitimate criticism of Israel.