Tag: National Security Council

A brief, weird history of brainwashing

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

On an early spring day in 1959, Edward Hunter testified before a US Senate subcommittee investigating “the effect of Red China Communes on the United States.” It was the kind of opportunity he relished. A war correspondent who had spent considerable time in Asia, Hunter had achieved brief media stardom in 1951 after his book Brain-Washing in Red China introduced a new concept to the American public: a supposedly scientific system for changing people’s minds, even making them love things they once hated.

But Hunter wasn’t just a reporter, objectively chronicling conditions in China. As he told the assembled senators, he was also an anticommunist activist who served as a propagandist for the OSS, or Office of Strategic Services — something that was considered normal and patriotic at the time. His reporting blurred the line between fact and political mythology.

A brief, weird history of brainwashing

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As predicted: violence by the far-right Venezuelan opposition breaks out across Caracas

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
Sources; Venezuela/Iraq

The day after the Venezuelan people voted in their presidential elections, a number of seemingly coordinated protests broke out across Caracas

Venezuela’s far-right refuses to recognize electoral results, violent protests break out across Caracas

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President Nicolás Maduro Denounces Violent Acts Perpetrated by the Far Right in Venezuela

He also said that they know the “operandis mode” with which the right acts, recalling that it is the one “has been used for the April 2002 coup d’état, for the first guarimba of 2004, for the actions of Capriles after the elections and for the guarimbas of 2014”.

Guarimba is a ‘protest method’ devised by Venezuelan opposition member, Robert Alonso (who collaborated with the CIA to train terrorists). It was ‘inspired’ by Gene Sharp’s book, From Dictatorship to Democracy (see my ‘front organizations’ page for more on Sharp).

2014 Venezuelan ‘protests’:

Source

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PSUV Deputy Warns that Far-Right Opposition Plans to Announce Electoral Results Ahead of Time

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) Deputy Iris Varela warned that the Venezuelan far-right opposition belonging to the Unitary Platform (PUD), together with international news agencies, has a plan to announce alleged electoral results ahead of time on this Sunday, July 28. In Venezuela, the electoral law only allows the National Electoral Council (CNE) to announce electoral results. Only afterwards are media outlets permitted to disclose their estimates.

PSUV Deputy Warns that Far-Right Opposition Plans to Announce Electoral Results Ahead of Time

Related:

Venezuela: Maduro Denounces Far-Right Sabotage as Machado Issues Election Day Instructions

An allegedly leaked report from pro-opposition pollster Datanálisis predicted a narrow Maduro victory on July 28.

The U.S. is going to dispute the election results and claim that Edmundo González won! The Biden Administration has already been using Lula and Gustavo Petro as intermediaries to interfere in Venezuelan politics!

How to Stop a Coup by Mark Feierstein (USAID)

That said, the United States and other countries could do a lot over the next few days to promote a legitimate election and a democratic transition. Indeed, Washington has already made important contributions to this complex process. Negotiations with the Venezuelan government and the skillful leveraging of economic sanctions persuaded the regime to permit the opposition primary in October. That vote established María Corina Machado as the undisputed opposition leader, forged unity among opposition parties, and revived the Venezuelan people’s confidence in elections as the best way to resolve the country’s prolonged political, economic, and humanitarian crises. The administration wisely coordinated those diplomatic efforts with Colombia and Brazil, whose leftist leaders have greater access to the Maduro regime. To be sure, Presidents Gustavo Petro of Colombia and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil have been inconsistent in their support for democracy in Venezuela. Yet their intermittent interventions have been timely and consequential. Were it not for Lula’s engagement, for example, the regime likely would have derailed González’s candidacy, as it did to Machado and the opposition’s second choice, Corina Yoris.

“The Venezuelan opposition is increasingly optimistic that its unity candidate Edmundo González will win the July 28 contest by such an ample margin that Maduro would have no choice but to acknowledge the outcome.”

South China Sea: Philippines says to solely run Second Thomas Shoal resupply missions

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

South China Sea: Philippines says to solely run Second Thomas Shoal resupply missions

“As far as the RORE [rotation and resupply mission] is concerned, we’re keeping it as a purely Philippine operation utilising Philippine ships, personnel and leadership,” National Security Council spokesman assistant director general Jonathan Malaya said.

“That may change depending on the guidance from top management but that’s the direction or policy at present.”

Malaya’s remarks came after White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States “will do what is necessary” to ensure the Philippines can continue to resupply its troops on the contested atoll.

“We will continue to support the Philippines and stand behind them as they take steps to be able to ensure that,” Sullivan said during the Aspen Security Forum conference in Colorado.

Malaya said the National Security Council appreciated the US offer and the Philippines would continue consultations as treaty allies.

The Man Behind Trump’s VP Pick: It’s Worse Than You Think

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

While J.D. Vance has his own controversies, his close connection to billionaire Peter Thiel, who is poised to have unprecedented influence in a new Trump administration, should deeply unsettle every American who cares about freedom, privacy and reining in the surveillance state.

The Man Behind Trump’s VP Pick: It’s Worse Than You Think

H/T: The Most Revolutionary Act

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Neoreactionaries

Reuters Exposes Washington’s Global Disinformation Campaign: The Rest of the Story

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

In a recent article, Reuters confirms what many knew for years, that the United States government and its various departments and agencies have been conducting global disinformation campaigns targeting nations it seeks to undermine, and whose governments it seeks to overthrow.

Reuters Exposes Washington’s Global Disinformation Campaign: The Rest of the Story

Previously:

Philippines: Pentagon ran secret anti-vax campaign to undermine China during pandemic

Philippines: ACT solon wants to probe alleged US Pentagon secret anti-vax campaign

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker on Sunday called on the leaders of the House of Representatives to initiate a thorough probe into the alleged secret anti-inoculation campaign of the United States (US) military aimed at undermining China during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ACT solon wants to probe alleged US Pentagon secret anti-vax campaign (archived)

Previously:

Philippines: Pentagon ran secret anti-vax campaign to undermine China during pandemic