Tag: coercion

UK: State-sponsored behavioural science

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

The ubiquitous deployment of behavioural-science techniques – ‘nudges’ – to increase compliance with both covid-19 restrictions and the vaccine rollout has raised major ethical concerns. Particularly alarming has been the state’s strategic use of fear (or ‘affect’ in the language of behavioural science), shaming (‘ego’) and peer pressure (‘norms’). The tentacles of behavioural science have extended beyond the arena of pandemic management and into many other areas of day-to-day life, including debt collection and the green agenda. Given their widespread prevalence and the profound ethical questions associated with them, it is imperative that the Government’s deployment of these powerful techniques adheres to a robust and transparent ethical framework. Alarmingly, politicians and state-sponsored behavioural scientists have – to date – displayed a stubborn reluctance to discuss these issues.

State-sponsored behavioural science

Venezuela opposition leader Guaido in “informal” meetings with Colombia’s govt

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

CARACAS – Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido has held “informal meetings” with members of newly elected Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s government, he said on Friday.

Venezuela opposition leader Guaido in “informal” meetings with Colombia’s govt

Related:

Argentine Judge Orders The Theft of Venezuela’s EMTRASUR Plane at US Request

Who Is Judge Federico Villena, Hijacker of Venezuela’s EMTRASUR Plane in Argentina?

How the CIA Illegally Used African Americans for Experimental Drug Research

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

By now, many will be familiar with Project MKULTRA. For decades, the CIA conducted highly unethical experiments on humans in order to perfect brainwashing, mind control and torture techniques.

Perhaps the program’s most notorious aspect was the administration of high doses of psychoactive drugs to targets, particularly LSD. These substances were brought to Langley’s attention in 1948 by Richard Kuhn, one of 1,600 Nazi scientists covertly spirited to the U.S. via Operation Paperclip following World War II. When MKULTRA was formally established five years later, some individuals consulted directly on the project.

How the CIA Illegally Used African Americans for Experimental Drug Research

Stephen Kinzer: Neutralism returns — and gets more powerful

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Stephen Kinzer: Neutralism returns — and gets more powerful

Many countries recoil from us-versus-them confrontations like the one Biden is now promoting. They prefer to resolve disputes through compromise and to maintain good ties even with countries they fear or dislike. Besides, Biden’s insistence that he is leading a global war against autocracy is hard to take seriously as he kowtows to Saudi Arabia, where dissent is punished by beheading or dismemberment.

A second reason more countries are drifting away from the United States is that to many of them, we seem unreliable. In recent years our foreign policies have zigzagged wildly. Written accords with other countries appear and disappear according to election results. Add our acute domestic problems to this mix, and it’s easy to understand why some countries feel reluctant to hitch their wagon to our

One recent American step has especially spooked several large countries. As soon as war broke out in Ukraine, we and our allies froze billions of dollars that Russia keeps in Western banks. Other countries fear they might suffer the same fate if they one day fall afoul of the United States. To prevent that, they are looking for other places to park their money and imagining banking networks outside of Washington’s control. Saudi Arabia is negotiating with China to price its oil in yuan as well as dollars. Iran’s stock market opened a legal exchange this month for trading the Iranian and Russian currencies.

Dismantling the Constitution: Police No Longer Have to Honor the Right to Remain Silent

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

We are witnessing the gradual dismantling of every constitutional principle that serves as a bulwark against government tyranny, overreach and abuse.

Dismantling the Constitution: Police No Longer Have to Honor the Right to Remain Silent

Broken Links and/or Links Behind Paywalls:

Supreme Court Creates New Immunity For Cops Who Violate The Fifth Amendment

Cast-Out Police Officers Are Often Hired in Other Cities

POLICE INDEMNIFICATION

When Abortion Was Illegal, Adoption Was a Cruel Industry. Are We Returning to Those Days?

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

by Pema Levy

A few weeks ago, before the final decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization which ended the constitutional right to an abortion, I downloaded the audio version of American Baby: A Mother, A Child, and the Shadow History of Adoption by the journalist Gabrielle Glaser. Glaser’s book details the history of what became known as the “Baby Scoop Era,” the period from 1945 to 1973 during which as many as three to four million young, unmarried women surrendered their newborns to an exploitative adoption industry, and for many against their will, were permanently severed from their child.

When Abortion Was Illegal, Adoption Was a Cruel Industry. Are We Returning to Those Days?

Related:

The cruel secret history of a Jewish adoption agency that separated siblings

Woman discovers shocking truth of maternity home where she gave birth

The Unjustified Criticism of High Commissioner Michelle Bachetlet’s Visit to China

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

As former UN rapporteurs we are committed to the promotion and protection of human rights in all corners of the world, including China. Progress can only be achieved on the basis on good faith implementation of the UN Charter and UN human rights treaties, and requires patience, perseverance, and international solidarity.

The Unjustified Criticism of High Commissioner Michelle Bachetlet’s Visit to China