The imminent threat of the Regressive Left

This will undoubtedly vex some, and infuriate others. But go ahead, crucify me. This subject is too important to be ignored, and history has shown apathy is just as dangerous as negligence. PC (political correctness) police are suffocating American society. It has developed into a pathological obsession with micromanaging people’s speech, behavior, and beliefs . Naturally, they despise freedom of speech, and all dissenting political and cultural values. Their contempt for freedom of speech comes from the fact that people are able to formulate arguments that easily invalidate their illogical doctrine.  They aim at suppressing, or censoring all ideas and language they find offensive (which is indefinite). Social Justice Warrior’s (SJW’s) loath to have their beliefs challenged or rationally criticized. Because their ideology is inherently contradictory, it will eventually commit “intellectual suicide”. By following the line of thought proposed by the regressive left, it leads directly to reductio ad absurdum.  This is not to imply there is any intelligence behind this collectivist group and its acolytes, because if you searched for any you would find little, if any.  There is however a silver lining to this ominous storm. Beyond the madness, recent trends foreshadow the cultural- Marxist’s who fervently demand conformity from the public are actually creating their own downfall, and it will represent incredible poetic justice.

SJW’s refuse all forms of dialectic debate, and instead confront their opponents  (anyone who doesn’t think exactly as they do) with a barrage of ad hominem, unrestrained vilification, coercion, or in increasingly common circumstances, violence . Other tactics include shameless browbeating, libel, slander, falsely induced guilt and convoluted, fallacious cause and effect arguments to lay direct or indirect blame for every external social problem. SJW’s insist on being treated with respect (from a sense of entitlement) but will not give it in return. Long gone are the days of open debate and the civil exchange of differing and diverse ideas. For the vanguards of this self-righteous movement, there are only two options;  conformity or excommunication. Adherents of this contemporary cultural Marxism often mindlessly repeat delusional mantra’s and slogans, in a desperate attempt to drown out the voices of their adversaries.  It’s a vindictive  and spectacularly hypocritical movement, whose nature is now defined by vicious intolerance . The magnitude of SJW’s intolerance reveals a kind of deeply oblivious mentality, incapable or unwilling to self-reflect, while exhibiting supreme irony.  This phenomena is most prominent on U.S, U.K, and Canadian university campuses. It is important to recognize that these types of hostile, philosophically constrictive environments have only flourished because of intellectually dishonest, craven professors and college administrators. Rather than promoting scholastic liberty, with freedom of thought, expression, and speech, these officials prefer to placate the protesters, and enable them to continue their belligerence and intimidation.   For these ambitious crusaders, it’s an attempt to restructure society from the bottom up, where there is a hierarchy of the self-described oppressed and marginalized. It is a contemporary caste system for modernized, western first world countries. Oppression is now a virtue,  and they sanctimoniously compete in this new social order . It’s the Olympics of victimhood . It’s an attempt to build a new, alternative and perverted egalitarian society. These totalitarian tendencies manifest in a variety of fanatical, illiberal ways.  “Safe spaces”, “trigger warnings”, “microaggressions”, “cultural appropriation” etc. With each new outgrowth, it descends further into total absurdity beyond all reason. It slides deeper into a state that’s completely disconnected from rationalism, objectivity, and empiricism.

The most dire risk from this new divergent left-wing group is towards freedom of speech, which is a hallmark of every democracy.It jeopardizes how individuals within society communicate, whether it be on subjects they agree or disagree on. The imminent threat the regressive left poses is the codification of their extremist views. The idea of such beliefs having any influence on our legal system was until relatively recently inconceivable, but this has changed. To illustrate this point  we can examine one case, which may be the apex of insanity. In New York City, you can now be fined up to $250,000 for “mis-gendering” an individual. A reasonable person might think this would be a simple mistake to avoid. But you’d be wrong. The government of New York City officially recognizes 31 gender identities. Furthermore, the New York City  Commission on Human Rights claims the list is “non-exhaustive” meaning it will be expanded in due time. How are the courts suppose to reconcile a law like this? How will these laws be applied, and enforced? How is it to be determined that an individual was intentionally and not accidentally “mis-gendered”? A similar piece of legislation in Canada, federal bill C-16, is now potentially going to be voted into law.When the PC police failed to persuade the masses of their nonsensical dogma, they predictably moved to forcing their beliefs on others by abusing the authority of the law.

Because nearly every argument SJW’s use is rooted in absolute subjectivism, they unwittingly set fire to the paper fortress they have constructed. Needless to say, racism, sexism, and prejudices  against the LGBT community in general does exist,  and they are all important issues that must be addressed and resolved.  However, the regressive left movement is actually doing a great disservice to all of these groups, and has become immensely  counterproductive.  While I do believe it will inevitably lead to self-destruction, the fear is how much damage it will inflict on society,  academia, and our civil liberties before it’s eventual inglorious death .

References

Jordan Peterson, a clinical psychologist and Professor at the University of Toronto wrote the following article about Canada’s Federal Bill C-16, and the cultural wars, specifically the use of gender-based pronouns.

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/civil-rights/301661-this-canadian-prof-defied-sjw-on-gender-pronouns-and-has-a

Dave Rubin, from “The Rubin Report” discusses political correctness and the poisoning of academic disciplines with Peter Boghossian. He is an outspoken advocate for atheism and an assistant Professor of Philosophy at Portland State University,

Will 11-13 Become France’s 9-11?

 

As every major news outlet has extensively reported, horrifying and tragic terrorist attacks unfolded in the streets of Paris on the evening of November 13th. The events were conspired and mercilessly carried out by members of the Islamic State (ISIS). Throughout the violent chaos, 130 people were killed, and an additional 368 injured. The coordinated attacks were staged across the French capital, by cafe’s, stadiums, and music theaters.

Immediately following the devastation, incumbent President of France François Hollande declared a state of emergency, and proclaimed “We are going to lead a war which will be pitiless”. And indeed, the French government expediently made good on their threat- launching airstrikes within the Middle East, specifically Syria. The French Defense Ministry claimed to have successful bombed ISIS controlled facilities in Raqqa, which as a consequence disabled the electrical grid, supporting a population of 200,000 civilians.

While the swift military action of retribution may appear like the beginning of a new western-state joining the “global war on terror”, this impression would be both erroneous and misleading. However the rhetoric by French and other European officials may frame the matter,this is patently false.  The reality, by omission, ignorance, and duplicitous calculation, is that France, along with an alliance of western countries (and certain Persian Gulf states) have long been involved. Their methods have been revealed by intrepid investigative journalist, human rights organizations, scholars and inside government sources.While voluminous amounts of evidence can be discussed regarding the incredible hypocrisy of the western alliances fight against ISIS (because of their complicity in creating it), this report will focus on the implications of the November 13th attacks.

A combination of destabilizing conditions in the European Union are accelerating social disorder. While the majority of the problems plaguing the EU is failed economic policy and distorted monetary theory put into practice, cultural and religious dissonance is rising to a fever pitch. Although strong prejudice against Muslim’s have existed in nearly every western European country predating the Paris attacks, the massive flood of Middle Eastern migrants, coupled by terrorist attacks from organizations originating in these same regions, is putting immense pressure on European societies. The heightened sense of conflict between assimilation and multiculturalism is plunging towards possible pandemonium.

Already, there have been numerous reports of hate crimes directed towards Muslim minorities. In Marseille, a young Muslim woman was punched and stabbed in the chest with a box cutter. Mosque’s have seen an increase in vandalization throughout the western world. In Peterborough Canada, unknown thugs committed arson to a Mosque. In the UK alone, there are estimates of over 100 racially charged, Islamaphobic crimes since 11-13. The ominous rise of contempt and intolerance towards Islam is not limited to Europe however. Across the Atlantic, American’s are also showing a surge of anti-Muslim and Arab sentiments, bringing back black memories from a time when the U.S. was recovering from a historical terrorist attack. In one particularly gruesome report from Philadelphia, police are investigating an incident of a severed pigs head being dropped at the doorstep of a local Mosque. But perhaps one of the most egregious results from the Paris attacks, is the politicians, both within Europe and the United States, that have taken advantage of the tragedy for their own agenda’s. Already, Syrian refugee programs in Europe are being modified to dramatically limit the number given entry. Governments that once seemed open to flexible levels of immigration for Syrians fleeing the civil war of their motherland are now scaling back their “quota’s” and closing access on their national borders. In the United States, governors from 28 states have threatened to oppose any attempts by the Federal Government to relocate incoming Syrian refugees to their states. And no conversation would be complete without mentioning the virulent, abusive language from leading GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump. Mr. Trump has been highly successful in fueling Islamaphobic passions, utilizing the anger to bolster his bellicose campaign. His platform of extreme chauvinism and militarism treads dangerously close to fascism, and his primary target for propaganda is now Islam. The billionaire celebrity turned politician is now proposing a national data base to track all Muslim’s living inside the United States, and a complete ban on all foreign Muslims from entering the country.

In France, which is still recoiling from the nightmare in November, powerful political entities are at play which hope to harness the fear and anxiety from the traumatized public. As Rahm Emanuel, mayor of Chicago and former senior adviser to Bill Clinton and also White House Chief of Staff to Obama once notoriously said “Never let a serious crisis go to waste”.  France is now under a state of emergency, with civil liberties becoming negligible, even malleable to the political elites. The French Parliament has voted to extend the state of emergency for an additional three months, while many are contemplating amending the constitution for a maximum of six months. Through these expanded powers of the state, French law enforcement can conduct house searches without a judicial warrant. The Interior Ministry has reported since implementing the state of emergency, there have been 63 arrests, 413 searches, and 118 individuals being placed under house arrest for unspecified security concerns. These are of course the official numbers, and they are likely to be much higher, and will undoubtedly continue to grow over the the next three months. In addition, authorities are enabled to set curfews,  severely limit or close off national borders and public transportation, and confiscate legally owned and registered weapons by French citizens.  Security personnel, with military grade weapons will be patrolling public areas of special concern. And of course, enhanced,more invasive use of surveillance, violating French citizens privacy in their communications. And in a stunning display of anti-democratic spirit, the French government is now empowered to ban any public protests or gatherings they choose, with their benevolent discretion.

The most dangerous and pertinent effect from the 11-13 attacks however is the military response. It seems like déjà vu for the western world. Immediately following the carnage that happened in Paris, François Hollande launched a determined diplomatic campaign to recruit ally’s into an international coalition to destroy ISIS, even appealing to nontraditional partners like Vladimir Putin. The United Kingdom and Germany have already pledged a greater military commitment (With the former already carrying out deadly airstrikes in Syria). If this seems familiar, one might be remembering an almost identical series of events during 2001 under George W. Bush. Needless to say, the U.S.A/UK (and later NATO) invasion and occupation of Afghanistan has been an unmitigated disaster. Now with the new intervention  in Syria and “objective” of eliminating ISIS, the reinvigorated war campaign is nothing exactly new for the country, which has been decimated by a civil war, the United States, Russia, and foreign Middle Eastern conspirators. The DoD and CIA has been supporting various rebel groups in Syria, with munitions, intelligence,training and hard money. Washington has insisted they are only lending aid to “moderate rebel factions”, such as the Free Syrian Army. But it is preposterous under any definition to call an armed brigade with the sole goal of overthrowing their government as “moderate”. And the United States has been actively arming insurgency organizations in Syria for years, with little attempt to conceal such activities, even going so far as to promote it as a noble cause to the public once it was out. Despite Obama’s claims never to place soldiers on the ground, that is precisely what is being done, following a recent announcement of deploying special forces in covert combat operations. The French government is also culpable, as François Hollande publicly admitted to arming Syrian rebels. The Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius suggested in a RTL radio interview using the Syrian dictator’s troops against the rebels. One might speculate on a possible correlation between these illegal affairs and the recent attacks in Paris, but it would be unwelcome in mainstream political discourse.

The political establishment in France wasted no time in capitalizing on the fear, melancholy and paranoia from 11-13, just as their American counterparts have. The political landscape has taken a sharp turn towards right-wing ideologies, with Marine Le Pen representing the National Front party making a sweeping victory in regional elections.  Her platform is demanding an immediate stop on refugee entrance, increased security policies, more draconian sentencing in the criminal justice system, and economic protectionism. Meanwhile in Germany, the PEGIDA movement (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident) amassed a protest of over 25,000 in Dresden. In England and Spain, massive and sustained protests have erupted against their government’s bombing in Syria. In London alone, over 5,000 have demanded that Prime Minister David Cameron end the British military participation in the international war against ISIS in both Iraq and Syria. Veterans stormed Downing Street and discarded their medals as a symbolic gesture. These fervent demonstrations of public outrage seemed to have little effect on Parliament, who proceeded in authorizing the air raids.

Throughout history, governments have found opportunities where others see tragedy. This shameless political manipulation is pernicious but often disguised in a myriad of ways, making it difficult for citizens to respond to the circumstances. More so now than anytime in recent history, the French are vulnerable to government abuses of power. What may at first appear as a relatively insignificant overreach of authority can transform into something more sinister, even tyrannical. France, like the rest of the western world, must come to recognize the truth behind the Syrian conflict. The illusion must be relinquished, and the geopolitical  reality exposed. The proxy war of the western coalition, led by the U.S. empire to force Bashar Al Assad out of power, can only result in a complete catastrophe, with innumerable lives lost as it’s price.The elite political class’s zealous fantasies of regime change must be thwarted. France, like the rest of Europe, must unify itself against the quiet growth of authoritarianism. To quote a once famous phrase from the French Revolution “Vivre Libre ou Mourir”

 

 

 

The cartoon depicted above is the creative work of Carlos Latuff. Carlos is an Arab Brazilian freelance artist. All copyrights of the image are his and or the original publishers. To see more of his work, see his wordpress page at https://latuffcartoons.wordpress.com/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Drone Papers

(U.S. Air Force photo/Lt Col Leslie Pratt)

Shortly after taking office in 2009, President Barack Obama secretly issued authorization for a covert drone strike in Yemen. This first implementation of drone tactics during his presidency would result in the death of 40 people, mainly women and children. As abhorrent as this  was at the time, it would prove only to be the beginning of a very long, violent, and tragic military strategy that would eventually evolve into the modern assassination complex.

The Intercept, founded by Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, and Jeremy Scahill, recently obtained a massive cache of highly classified documents exposing the disturbing internal processes and bureaucratic mechanisms of the  drone program under the Obama administration. With the seemingly impenetrable wall of secrecy surrounding the system of targeted killings finally being broken, the public is now able to better understand the stunning and pernicious nature of modern government assassinations in the era of perpetual war on terror.

And so the leaks, coming from a (prudently) anonymous source that clearly held a privileged position within the military intelligence establishment, has been appropriately titled the “Drone Papers”. The project to analyze, and publish these documents was undertaken by a team of skilled journalist and researchers from the Intercept. The tremendous breadth and depth of the publication is in itself remarkable, with extraordinary value and insight.  The substance of these documents are damning, incriminating, and terrifying. The Drone papers are organized into eight separate chapters, each one concerning different but interrelated subjects of the drone operations by the CIA and Pentagon. It is difficult to emphasis just how  significant this disclosure is, and how it could influence not only public perception of the governments foreign affairs, but also potentially policy-making. The unknown source has already been  compared to Edward Snowden, and one can see how the relation could be drawn. The individual was acting out of his or her conscience, and believed the leaked information would be within the public interest. They felt compelled by a moral imperative, even at a great risk to them self.

Although it is strongly recommended that The Drone Papers be read in it’s entirety, The Mowgli Report has endeavored to produce a condensed overview of its content, which may serve as a primer. This is merely an introduction into a very complex subject, where personal research is encouraged to the reader.

Upon publication of the Drone papers, prominent human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and The American Civil Liberties Union has called for an immediate investigation. Many of the drone operations amount to war crimes, which were orchestrated, supervised, and approved by high ranking military, intelligence, and political officials. They are demanding accountability, and criminal prosecutions are completely within the realm of plausibility.

Targeted individuals, allegedly with ties to terrorist organizations such as ISIS, Al-Qaeda, or the Taliban are generally subjected to a long period of intelligence gathering. Information, both from video feed of surveillance drones, wiretaps, or metadata from private communications, are packaged into what is called “baseball cards“. There is then a certain amount of evaluation made into the whether the target ought to be “neutralized”. When a drone successfully kills its target, it is called a “Jackpot“.

Cora Currier, one of the authors for Drone Papers- points out that this disclosure is the first time that there exists concrete, documentary evidence of the “Kill chain”. This represents the internal, top-secret bureaucratic council that authorizes the assassinations of targets. This alone is profound, as it reveals a  list of both elected and appointed politicians and bureaucrats,  who review the “baseball cards”. This elite class of government officials subsequently decides if a person should live or die, and there is absolutely no outside judiciary supervision, due process, or legal representation for the accused.

The “kill chain” goes through what is known as the principals committee, which is made up of the following;

• National Security Advisory
• Secretary of State
• Secretary of the Treasury
• Secretary of Defense
• Attorney General
• Secretary of Energy
• Secretary of Homeland security
• Director of OMB (Office of Management and Budget)
• Ambassador to the United Nations
• Chief of Staff
• Director of the CIA
• Director of National intelligence (DNI)
• Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff

And finally POTUS (President of the United States)

And with this staggering deluge of documents, we have unequivocal, incontrovertible evidence– that the highest ranks of the federal government- all the way to the president himself, is directly involved in the drone killings. There is no room for political obfuscation, linguistically manipulative public statements, deliberate ambiguity, or abstract justifications and legal jargon. The drone papers prove beyond doubt, that a powerful circle within our government- including individuals outside of typical Pentagon and CIA spheres- has an immediate and real role in the assassination complex. The publication of the principals committee alone should have grave implications. And perhaps in a more just society, where bureaucrats and politicians are held accountable for their conduct and not treated with total impunity, and where the civilian population demands the rule of law without exception, we might expect a criminal investigation into the aforementioned individuals.Subpoenas would be issued, warrants would be signed. One could argue they are perpetrators of a large and highly egregious conspiracy. That they are guilty of war crimes, for their documented involvement in the program of targeted killings, which resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians. At the very minimum, articles of impeachment would be considered, or public outrage and spiraling approval ratings would force resignations. Its difficult to determine what the full consequences will be, or what kind (if any) of political fallout will ensue.

The news organization Democracy Now! featured a laudable interview with three of the journalist (Jeremy Scahill, Ryan Devereaux and Cora Currier) on the drone papers project from the The Intercept. As one of the hosts, Amy Goodman acutely pointed out- “What does the Secretary of Energy have to do with this?”. And indeed, it raises many important questions. This extends beyond mere disputes of jurisdiction.The greater question is by what legal authority does anyone within the principals committee have to make these executive decisions, which equates to a death warrant of a suspected individual on the other side of the planet. And no president in our government should ever serve as jury, judge and executioner. Unconventional warfare, a term which is commonly used to describe the U.S. empires military and geopolitical strategy to combat global terrorist threats, does not mean a complete disregard for the rules of engagement. It does not mean the abdication of international law, or human rights. The moral credibility of these politicians should, by any standard, be rendered  irreconcilable as a result of this disclosure.

To support the drone operations growing capacity, a sprawling network of military bases and outposts have been secretly constructed throughout parts of Africa. Many of the bases were never on the public DoD list. Despite information coming out about such bases, including one of particular strategic importance in Chabelley, the government refuses to answer any inquiries from the press.The Drone Paper reveals a list of countries who have such drone installations in existence;

Djibouti

Ethiopia

Kenya

Various intelligence gathering spy vessels within the Indian Ocean

Somalia

Niger

Seychelles

Uganda

Burkina Faso

Chad

Cameroon

What still remains unknown is what types of agreements were made between the USG and the various African governments consenting (or being coerced) to the drone bases. Until decisive evidence is produced, one may only speculate about the various interests being served, or the foreign governments ulterior motives in cooperating with the Pentagon and handing over national territory for a brutal clandestine drone complex. Was it promises for increased foreign aid? Restructuring of national debt to western financial institutions? Perhaps renegotiating unilateral trade policies?

In direct contradiction to countless U.S. military and White House statements(and public reports), the drone papers reveal the massive level of civilian causalities. What is exposed is not the surgical precision exalted by politicians and representatives for the military industrial complex, but a tragic and enormous number of innocent civilian deaths by drone strikes. One particular campaign, named “Haymaker” was primarily the work of various agencies and government bodies, including the CIA, NSA, DIA, and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency.Happening within Afghanistan, during a five month period of Haymaker, nearly 9 out of 10 people killed were not the intended targets. Additionally, between 2011 and 2012, drone strikes increased 72%. By the end of 2013, the United Nations reported the number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan had tripled from 2012.

Another disturbing revelation from the drone papers show a systematic manipulation of data collection and classification of civilian deaths resulting from drone strikes. Frequently, anyone killed within a drone strike- who is approximately a “military aged male” is classified as an enemy combatant, and is subsequently “EKIA” (Enemy killed in action). The mentality is guilty before proven innocent. Despite the fact that there frequently is absolutely  no connection or affiliation between the killed civilians and any radical insurgent or terrorist organization, they are still placed within this category. This would appear to be validated by other reports, particularly from Wikileaks, which has also published information corroborating this reprehensible and mendacious practice. Primarily from classified state department cables, Wikileaks has comprehensively analyzed this exact subject, and their discoveries have become indispensable.

As the United States and coalition forces continue to wage a perpetual war on terror, it seems more important than ever that public scrutiny is required into the ethics, the efficacy, and the consequences of such policies. The unprecedented insight that is granted through the drone papers has incalculable value, and may fundamentally change how the public perceives drones as both a weapon of war, but a geopolitical strategy. The assassination complex is almost clinical in nature, fostering “the science of murder” and dehumanizing in its implementation. It lacks imperative judiciary oversight, moral constraint, and political transparency. There is a total absence of accountability, and it’s deliberate misrepresentation to the public says volumes about it alone. It also threatens the essence of American jurisprudence, and our liberal political values as a nation. How long can a constitutional republic tolerate a system such as the assassination complex? The drone papers very well may go down in history to rank alongside the Pentagon Papers, the Afghan War Logs, and the National Security Agency-Edward Snowden files.

1. To read the original Drone Papers in it’s entirety, follow this link to The Intercept

https://theintercept.com/drone-papers

2. Democracy Now! Interview

http://www.democracynow.org/2015/10/16/drone_war_exposed_jeremy_scahill_on

3. Wikileaks

https://wikileaks.org/index.en.html

Also strongly recommended reading is the recently published “The Wikileaks Files: The World According to U.S. Empire” which is a prodigious piece of collaborative work. It offers a profound look into U.S. diplomacy, economic policy, propaganda, and political deception.

An introduction to the Mowgli Report

The whole story of civilization is that of clashing, or competing, ideas. It can then be reasoned that politics is an empirical science, and society is the experiment. The results of this perpetual experiment will be written throughout history, as it determines either survival or extinction, freedom or slavery. The purpose of this blog is to serve as an open, uninhibited platform, to follow developing world trends. Various national and global events will be analyzed and discussed in length, for their geopolitical, economical, and ethical significance. A plethora of independent, or otherwise alternative sources will be drawn from. Right now is an extraordinary moment in time, where the individual is empowered by the revolutionary technology of the digital era. At the center of this is the liberalizing potential of the internet. While for centuries the dissemination of information regarding social and political affairs were limited to traditional news establishments (and frequently controlled or censored) the emergence of the internet has created limitless new possibilities.  Now, anyone can become a passionate critic of public policy and of government, and their voice can reach others where previous constraints made it impossible. The world is constantly facing turmoil and chaos, and a combination of corporate and government institutions are palpably culpable. While the mainstream media is often complicit or negligent in their role as the fourth estate in many democratic societies, there is a new- “fifth estate” rising to take up the mantle. My ambition is to make some small contribution to this great cause.