FEED Validator

for Atom and RSS and KML

Congratulations!

This is a valid RSS feed.

Recommendations

This feed is valid, but interoperability with the widest range of feed readers could be improved by implementing the following recommendations.

line 51, column 0: Non-html tag: picture [help]

<picture><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="sizing-normal" sr ...

line 51, column 0: content:encoded should not contain fetchpriority attribute [help]
```
<picture><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="sizing-normal" sr ...
```
line 51, column 0: content:encoded should not contain decoding attribute (18 occurrences) [help]
```
<picture><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="sizing-normal" sr ...
```
line 51, column 0: content:encoded should not contain sizes attribute (8 occurrences) [help]
```
<picture><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="sizing-normal" sr ...
```
line 51, column 0: content:encoded should not contain data-attrs attribute (2 occurrences) [help]
```
<picture><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="sizing-normal" sr ...
```
line 339, column 0: content:encoded should not contain data-saferedirecturl attribute (108 occurrences) [help]
```
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[Portugal, long admired for its tolera ...
```
line 454, column 0: content:encoded should not contain loading attribute (8 occurrences) [help]
```
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/w ...
```
line 784, column 0: content:encoded should not contain data-bit attribute (5 occurrences) [help]
```
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img decoding="async" class="CToWUd a ...
```

Source: https://dissidentvoice.org/feed/

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0"
xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
>
<channel>
<title>Dissident Voice</title>
<atom:link href="https://dissidentvoice.org/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org</link>
<description>a radical newsletter in the struggle for peace and social justice</description>
<lastBuildDate>Sat, 08 Nov 2025 05:09:46 +0000</lastBuildDate>
<language>en-US</language>
<sy:updatePeriod>
hourly </sy:updatePeriod>
<sy:updateFrequency>
1 </sy:updateFrequency>
<item>
<title>Things Are Shitty Because We Are Ruled By People Who Want Things To Be Shitty</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/things-are-shitty-because-we-are-ruled-by-people-who-want-things-to-be-shitty/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Caitlin Johnstone]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sat, 08 Nov 2025 05:09:46 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence (AI)]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Capitalism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Corporations]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Corruption]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Critical Thinking]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Democracy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Empire]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Global Inequality]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Militarism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Propaganda]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Resistance]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[War]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[plutocrats]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[revolutionary change]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=162843</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Which sounds more likely: (A) that things are bad because the population keeps organically voting for policies which just so happen to hurt ordinary people while benefitting the rich and powerful, or (B) that things are bad because the rich and powerful want things this way? Does it seem more likely to you that (A) […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/things-are-shitty-because-we-are-ruled-by-people-who-want-things-to-be-shitty/">Things Are Shitty Because We Are Ruled By People Who Want Things To Be Shitty</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="image2-inset">
<picture><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="sizing-normal" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Jn6!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F86be4458-5e3b-41db-a9be-a57ed9c12384_1080x565.jpeg" sizes="100vw" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Jn6!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F86be4458-5e3b-41db-a9be-a57ed9c12384_1080x565.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Jn6!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F86be4458-5e3b-41db-a9be-a57ed9c12384_1080x565.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Jn6!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F86be4458-5e3b-41db-a9be-a57ed9c12384_1080x565.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Jn6!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F86be4458-5e3b-41db-a9be-a57ed9c12384_1080x565.jpeg 1456w" alt="" width="505" height="264" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/86be4458-5e3b-41db-a9be-a57ed9c12384_1080x565.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":565,"width":1080,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":225408,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":"https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/i/178320350?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F86be4458-5e3b-41db-a9be-a57ed9c12384_1080x565.jpeg","isProcessing":false,"align":null,"offset":false}" /></picture>
Which sounds more likely: (A) that things are bad because the population keeps organically voting for policies which just so happen to hurt ordinary people while benefitting the rich and powerful, or (B) that things are bad because the rich and powerful want things this way?
Does it seem more likely to you that (A) the democratic process consistently leaves people unable to advance basic human interests because the population always organically splits itself into an exact 50–50 deadlock that leaves everyone unable to get anything done long term, and that this deadlock always just so happens to land on a status quo that serves the interests of the rich and powerful, or (B) that the rich and the powerful artificially created this status quo via manipulation?
You don’t need to know anything at all about politics or parapolitics to see that (B) is the most likely explanation for why things keep getting worse for everyone besides the rich and powerful. Your own basic reasoning and understanding of human behavior will tell you that there’s no way democracy is working as advertised if things keep getting worse and worse for ordinary voters while billionaires and empire managers keep getting everything they want.
Things are shitty because we are ruled by people who want things to be shitty. Once you awaken to this undeniable reality, you will inevitably find yourself growing more and more radicalized.
Our rulers want nonstop war and genocide. Our rulers want obscene levels of inequality. Our rulers want the public to be poor and struggling. Our rulers want people to be getting dumber, sicker, and more miserable. Our rulers want the unrestricted industry that’s killing Earth’s biosphere. Our rulers want us to have vapid, unedifying mainstream culture. This dystopia looks more or less exactly how they want it to look.
Our rulers want war, militarism, and genocide to be the norm because military force is one of the critical ways by which they dominate the planet, control resources and trade routes, and prevent foreign states from trying different systems and establishing a different world order. Waging and preparing to wage war has the added bonus of also being extremely profitable.
The plutocrats want inequality to continue because it’s what allows them to live as modern-day monarchs. When money is power and power is relative, you’re going to see the people with the money making sure they have as much as possible while everyone else has as little as possible, because if everyone is king, then nobody is. They want the public to have just enough spending money to keep the wheels of capitalism turning, without having enough money to do things like fund political campaigns or buy up media influence. The poorer everyone else is, the more powerful they are.
Our rulers want us to be stupid, misinformed, distracted, sick, struggling, and suffering, because if we all had enough time, information, and mental acuity to form an understanding of what’s going on in our world, things would get mighty guillotiney real quick. They have a vested existential interest in keeping us all in a mental fog of propaganda, diversion, ignorance, illiteracy, and psychological dysfunction.
Our rulers want companies to be free to destroy our planet’s ecosystem, because offloading the costs of industry onto the environment is the only way to steadily increase profits. So long as they’re free to fill the air with pollutants, fill the oceans with plastic, clear the rainforests, incinerate biodiversity, and poison people’s drinking water at the expense of other people and other organisms, corporations can continue to grow and to maximize value for shareholders.
An alliance of corporate and state power has emerged to advance these agendas in the service of the few who benefit from them, while the rest of humanity flounders in suffering and toil. They use mass media propaganda, campaign donations, lobbying, and other influence operations to ensure that this remains the case. The more you learn to spot the signs of these dynamics and the more clearly you perceive them, the more urgently you see the need to end this way of being.
Truth and clarity pave the way to real revolutionary change. That’s why our rulers spend so much energy trying to obfuscate truth and clarity via propaganda, censorship, Silicon Valley algorithm manipulation, mainstream culture, AI, garbage education systems, and other forms of perception management. They’re doing everything they can to stop us from following the strings of our society’s ailments to the hands up above that are pulling them.
They want us to be stupid, so we need to get smarter.
They want us to be ignorant, so we need to inform ourselves.
They want us to be uncaring, so we need to become more compassionate.
They want us to be compliant, so we need to become disobedient.
The world is a mess because our rulers want it to be a mess. So we need everything in us to be pushing in the exact opposite direction.
</div>The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/things-are-shitty-because-we-are-ruled-by-people-who-want-things-to-be-shitty/">Things Are Shitty Because We Are Ruled By People Who Want Things To Be Shitty</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>A Question of Needlessness: Selling Iron Dome to Australia</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/a-question-of-needlessness-selling-iron-dome-to-australia/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Binoy Kampmark]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 07 Nov 2025 14:00:25 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[AUKUS Security Pact]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Australia]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[United Kingdom]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Weaponry]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Weapons Sales]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Australian Defence Strategic Review of 2023]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Australian Strategic Policy Institute]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Chris Minns]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Elbit Systems]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Gideon Weiss]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Iron Dome system]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Jennifer Parker]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Josh Lees]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Malcolm Davis]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[New South Wales police]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Palestine Action Group (PAG) in Australia]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Peter Dean]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Rafael Advanced Defense Systems]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[United States Studies Centre in Australia]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=162822</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The world of defence policy is truly another planet. There, budgets are given to astronomical burgeoning and bizarre readings. Threats can be invented or exaggerated. Insecurity can be inflated. Decisions for the next project supposedly more lethal and more effective than ever can be made with cavalier disregard to realities. And the next cockeyed, buffoonish idea can […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/a-question-of-needlessness-selling-iron-dome-to-australia/">A Question of Needlessness: Selling Iron Dome to Australia</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[The world of defence policy is truly another planet. There, budgets are given to astronomical burgeoning and bizarre readings. Threats can be invented or exaggerated. Insecurity can be inflated. Decisions for the next project supposedly more lethal and more effective than ever can be made with cavalier disregard to realities. And the next cockeyed, buffoonish idea can be given a run for other people’s money. Those other people are, as always, the good tax paying citizenry of a country.
Australia has been doing superbly of late in this regard. It has given over territory and money to the United States, its appointed arch defender, so that the security of Washington’s imperium can be assured. It has done so in a manner suggesting advanced dementia, its politicians and strategists drivelling about the need to combat the barbarian yellow-red hordes to the north in a “changing security environment”.
First came the AUKUS trilateral security pact with the US and the United Kingdom, which enshrines the costly fantasy of nuclear-powered submarines Australia may never get and certainly does not need. Nor is there an obligation on the part of the US to part with any, a prospect ever more unlikely given the failure of its own submarine base to keep pace with annual production. Let’s not even start on the prospects of an AUKUS-designed submarine, which will be lucky to make it to the construction stage without sinking.
To itemise any number of foolish ventures and items being pursued by the Australian defence department would be injurious to one’s well being. This is largely because they keep coming in their risible daftness. Of late, the idea that Australia needs an anti-missile defence shield along the lines of Israel’s <a href="https://www.rafael.co.il/system/iron-dome/">Iron Dome system</a> is becoming more than a flirtation. And it’s being given a sense of frisson by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, the Israeli company responsible for implementing and maintaining it.
The chance for Rafael to shine came at the <a href="https://indopacificexpo.com.au/">Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition</a>, an event running from November 4 to 6. Its presence, along with the Australian subsidiary of Israel’s primary unmanned vehicle manufacturer Elbit Systems, had piqued activists from the Palestine Action Group (PAG), who gathered just before the opening of the exposition to protest that fact.
A predictably muscular reaction from the New South Wales police followed. <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-04/nsw-protesters-clash-with-police-at-sydney-defence-expo/105968392">According</a> to PAG organiser Josh Lees, they “immediately attacked” the peaceful gathering with pepper spray and horses. The NSW Premier Chris Minns, for his part, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-04/nsw-protesters-clash-with-police-at-sydney-defence-expo/105968392">was enthralled by the economic prospects</a> of the gathering: defence exports were there to be grown, deals to be made. That these were with merchants of death was no big matter. “They’re not selling nuclear weapons … we want to see the industry grow.”
For its part, Rafael had pulled out the bells and whistles. The company, according to its display, <a href="https://www.rafael.co.il/exhibitions/pacific-australia-2025/">offered</a> “an integrated, combat-proven portfolio that delivers end-to-end protection and impactful projection for Australia’s naval forces, ensuring freedom of action in Australia’s northern approaches and across vital sea lines of communication.”
In an <a href="https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/does-australia-need-its-own-iron-dome-experts-think-so-20251106-p5n85q">interview</a> at the exposition, the company’s vice president of international business development, Gideon Weiss, hawked Iron Dome’s technology with salesmanship enthusiasm. “The perception that Australia is far and distant and isolated is completely untrue,” he remarked with stern certitude. “There’s absolutely no reason in the world why any Australian would think… that in a conflict, Australia would not be attacked.” The unasked question here is why Australia would make itself an appealing target to begin with. But Weiss did not break his stride: “Your enemies have a great arsenal of ballistic missiles, hypersonic ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and long-range UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles]. Why wouldn’t they use them against you if they wanted to?”
Asked whether the company’s message had bitten in Canberra, Weiss was assured. The “capability and the maturity of the technology” had been noted by Australia’s defence wonks and Rafael was always keen to focus on “sovereignty, about the Australian industrial context.” There was “infrastructure which to Australianise, if you will, these technologies.”
The company has shown ample familiarity with the soil they wish to till. The Australian <a href="https://www.defence.gov.au/about/reviews-inquiries/defence-strategic-review">Defence Strategic Review of 2023</a> declared the need to “deliver a layered integrated air and missile system (IAMD) operation capability urgently. This must comprise a suite of appropriate command and control systems, sensors, air defence aircraft and surface (land and maritime) based missile systems.” The current program to develop a “common IAMD capability” was “not structured to deliver a minimum viable capability in the shortest period of time but is pursuing a long-term near perfect solution at an unaffordable cost.”
Defence analysts called upon to comment on the matter are slavering. Jennifer Parker, a regular talking head on the subject, <a href="https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/does-australia-need-its-own-iron-dome-experts-think-so-20251106-p5n85q">rues the fact</a> that Australia can never, given its geographical size, be protected in its entirety. “Unlike Israel, where they can defend the entire country against missiles broadly … that’s not feasible for Australia because of our size.” Focus, she suggests, on the “critical infrastructure elements that we need to protect, like HMAS Stirling, Pine Gap and bases around Darwin, and design integrated air and missile defence around that concept”.
The United States Studies Centre, an Australian outpost soddenly friendly to the military-industrial complex and the needs of the imperium, is also unrelenting about the need for a more expansive missile defence system. Peter Dean, senior advisor on defence strategy, <a href="https://www.ussc.edu.au/protecting-the-homeland-accelerating-ground-based-air-and-missile-defence-for-australia">cites</a> “the lack of effective ground-based air defence and an Integrated Air and Missile Defence system” as “the most critical gap in the achievement of Australia’s strategic goals.”
Another outfit most friendly to US interests, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, is also much in love with missile interception. “If we want to get serious about integrated missile defence,” ASPI senior analyst Malcolm Davis <a href="https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/does-australia-need-its-own-iron-dome-experts-think-so-20251106-p5n85q">posits</a>, “we need to have long-range, ground-based interceptor missiles that can handle threats like intermediate range ballistic missiles launched by China.”
The next wasteful program of military expenditure looms happily on the horizon, leaving the question of need unanswered. Weiss has good reasons to be optimistic that a train has been set in motion. “I wouldn’t want to name names,” he says with confidence, “but everyone knows us very well.”The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/a-question-of-needlessness-selling-iron-dome-to-australia/">A Question of Needlessness: Selling Iron Dome to Australia</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>The Hidden Cost of Comfort: How Everyday Consumption Fuels Global Violence</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/the-hidden-cost-of-comfort-how-everyday-consumption-fuels-global-violence/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sammy Attoh]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 06 Nov 2025 16:03:13 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Capitalism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Consumerism]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=162803</guid>
<description><![CDATA[In a world increasingly defined by convenience, luxury, and technological advancement, few pause to consider the true cost of their comfort. From the cars we drive to the cell phones we cradle, from the diamonds we gift to the beauty products we apply—modern life is saturated with commodities whose origins are steeped in exploitation, war, […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/the-hidden-cost-of-comfort-how-everyday-consumption-fuels-global-violence/">The Hidden Cost of Comfort: How Everyday Consumption Fuels Global Violence</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[In a world increasingly defined by convenience, luxury, and technological advancement, few pause to consider the true cost of their comfort. From the cars we drive to the cell phones we cradle, from the diamonds we gift to the beauty products we apply—modern life is saturated with commodities whose origins are steeped in exploitation, war, and environmental devastation.
This is not hyperbole. It is a reckoning.
Every airplane ticket, every high-rise building, every elite college education funded by oil wealth or corporate profit is part of a global system that thrives on conflict. The wars waged over fossil fuels, rare minerals, and territorial control are not distant tragedies—they are the foundation upon which much of our daily life is built. The American Dream, often romanticized as a symbol of opportunity, is in many cases underwritten by the suffering of others.
Consider the diamond trade. The phrase “If you don’t give me diamond rings, you don’t love me” may sound like a harmless cultural trope. But behind it lies a brutal truth: countless Africans have been slaughtered in the pursuit of these stones. The demand for luxury fuels the supply of violence. Where there are no buyers, there will be no sellers. And where there is silence, complicity thrives.
This is not merely a critique of capitalism—it is a moral indictment of consumer indifference. The war profiteers and manufacturers of weapons may pull the trigger, but it is the global consumer who loads the chamber. Every purchase made without awareness, every indulgence enjoyed without inquiry, contributes to a cycle of destruction that disproportionately affects the poor, the displaced, and the voiceless.
We must ask ourselves: What does it mean to live ethically in a world where comfort is so often purchased with blood? Can we continue to celebrate weddings, build skyscrapers, and send our children to elite institutions without acknowledging the invisible cost paid by others?
The answer lies not in guilt, but in awakening. In choosing to see the connections between our lifestyles and the global systems that sustain them. In demanding transparency, accountability, and justice—not just from governments and corporations, but from ourselves.
Until then, the bling on our fingers, the fuel in our tanks, and the glow of our screens will remain stained with the suffering of those we refuse to see—without mercy or thought.The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/the-hidden-cost-of-comfort-how-everyday-consumption-fuels-global-violence/">The Hidden Cost of Comfort: How Everyday Consumption Fuels Global Violence</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>Gaza Crisis: Will Britain Ensure Peace Is Set in a Legal Framework?</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/gaza-crisis-will-britain-ensure-peace-is-set-in-a-legal-framework/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Stuart Littlewood]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 06 Nov 2025 16:00:04 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Gaza]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Genocide]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Human Rights]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[International Court of Justice]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Israel (part of Mandate Palestine)]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Palestine]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Palestinian Authority]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[United Kingdom]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[United Nations]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[United Nations Human Rights Council]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[West Bank]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Baroness Chapman]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Board of Peace]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[de-radicalisation]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[International Stabilisation Force]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[John Healey]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[negotiations]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[right of self-determination]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[The Trump Declaration for Enduring Peace and Prosperity]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[UN Resolution 37/43]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=162805</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Baroness Chapman (Minister of State for International Development) has been telling Parliament: “We all wish this peace process well and will do everything we possibly can to see it sustained.” At the same time John Healey (Secretary of State for Defence), answering a question, said it was not the case that British troops were in […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/gaza-crisis-will-britain-ensure-peace-is-set-in-a-legal-framework/">Gaza Crisis: Will Britain Ensure Peace Is Set in a Legal Framework?</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Baroness Chapman (Minister of State for International Development) has been telling Parliament: “We all wish this peace process well and will do everything we possibly can to see it sustained.”
At the same time John Healey (Secretary of State for Defence), answering a question, said it was not the case that British troops were in Gaza to monitor the ceasefire. “A small handful of British forces personnel have been deployed to the Civil-Military Co-ordination Centre at the request of the US, and it is the US that is leading that work.”
Neither of them is questioning the legitimacy of what’s going on. Hadn’t they noticed that there is no proper peace process, no legal framework? And under what authority is the US “leading that work”?
A team of 28 independent human rights experts, appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/10/palestine-any-peace-plan-must-respect-international-law-beginning-self">have said that a permanent ceasefire</a>, a rapid release of unlawfully detained persons, an influx of humanitarian aid under United Nations supervision, no forced displacement, the withdrawal of Israeli forces, and non-annexation of territory are all normal requirements of international law and shouldn’t depend on a formal peace plan.
But they argue that other elements of Trump’s plan are inconsistent with fundamental rules of international law and the 2024 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which demands that Israel ends its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
They list no fewer than 15 serious objections including these:
Any peace plan must respect the ground rules of international law. The future of Palestine must be in the hands of the Palestinian people, not imposed on them under duress by outsiders.
The United Nations – not Israel or its closest ally – has been identified by the ICJ as the legitimate authority to oversee the end of the occupation and transition towards a political solution in which the Palestinians’ right of self-determination is fully realised.
The plan does not guarantee the Palestinian right of self-determination as international law requires, and is subject to vague pre-conditions concerning Gaza’s redevelopment, Palestinian Authority reform, and a “dialogue” between Israel and Palestine. Palestine’s future would thus be at the mercy of decisions by outsiders, not in the hands of Palestinians as international law commands.
The plan also requires more negotiations with Israel, when the Israeli Prime Minister has already declared that Israel would “forcibly resist” statehood. Fulfilling the right of self-determination cannot be conditional on negotiations.
The “temporary transitional government” is not representative of Palestinians and even excludes the Palestinian Authority, which further violates self-determination and lacks legitimacy.
Oversight by a “Board of Peace” chaired by the US President is not under United Nations authority or transparent multilateral control, while the US is a deeply partisan supporter of Israel and not an “honest broker”.
An “International Stabilisation Force”, outside the control of the Palestinian people and the United Nations as a guarantor, would simply replace the Israeli occupation with a US-led occupation.
Partial Israeli occupation continues indefinitely through a “security perimeter” inside Gaza’s borders, which is absolutely unacceptable.
Nothing is said about de-militarisation of Israel, which has committed the worst imaginable international crimes against the Palestinians and threatened peace and security in the region through aggression against other countries. Likewise, de-radicalisation is imposed on Gaza only, while public incitement to genocide has been dominant rhetoric in Israel.
The plan largely treats Gaza in isolation from the West Bank including East Jerusalem, when these areas must be regarded as a unified Palestinian territory and State. The plan does not address other fundamental issues such as ending illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), borders, compensation, and refugees.
The proposed “economic development plan” and “special economic zone” could result in illegal foreign exploitation of resources without Palestinian consent.
The International Court of Justice has been crystal clear: conditions cannot be placed on the Palestinian right of self-determination. The Israeli occupation must end immediately, totally and unconditionally, with due reparation made to the Palestinians. But there is no duty on Israel and those who have sustained its illegal attacks in Gaza to compensate Palestinians for illegal war damage.
So what exactly did Trump and his special guests sign at the peace summit at Sharm el-Sheikh on 13 October? It was called The Trump Declaration for Enduring Peace and Prosperity – Presidential Memoranda. Only around 30 of the 193 members states of the United Nations attended. Hamas and Israel were both absent. The document was sheer woffle and signed only by Trump, El-Sisi, Al-Thani and Erdogan. How representative was this charade? How legally valid?
Trump and some of his allies seem totally ignorant of their solemn duty to recognise Palestinian statehood. So, where does all this leave the near-universal pledge to recognise Palestinian as a state (and make it happen)?
Fortunately, UN Resolution 37/43 of December 1982 is there to help. It comprehensively re-affirms previous resolutions and treaties on the universal right to self-determination and the speedy granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples in order to provide an effective guarantee that human rights may be observed. Note the words “speedy granting”. Palestinians have been kept waiting for over 100 years for a guarantee of their rights.
And 37/43 considers that denying the Palestinian people their inalienable rights to self-determination, sovereignty, independence and return to Palestine, and the repeated acts of aggression by Israel against the peoples of the region, constitute a serious threat to international peace and security. It strongly condemns those Governments that do not recognise the right to self-determination and independence of all peoples still under colonial and foreign domination and alien subjugation, notably the Palestinian people.
So nations participating in Trump’s plan, including Britain, ought to have known better. It delivers a short break in the carnage and an exchange of (some) prisoners but was otherwise formulated with ulterior motives. Genuine peace and respect for Palestinian rights are simply not on Trump’s agenda.
Why is the Palestinian Authority so ill-prepared?
The International Development Committee in its Third Special Report of Session 2024–25 published in April 2025 announced it had begun planning for the ‘next phase’ in Gaza, with the Government preparing to take a leading role in the process. “The Government must detail how it intends to take immediate action to halt the attacks on Palestinian civilians and lands, notwithstanding its respect for judicial rulings on the matter. The Government “partially agreed”, but we’re given no details on progress.
The Committee also reported: “On 15 October 2024, the Foreign Secretary announced new sanctions targeting three illegal settler outposts and four organisations that have supported and sponsored violence against communities in the West Bank.” This was a pathetic response considering armed Israeli squatters, under the Allon Plan, have been terrorising Palestinians since 1967. The squatters and those who transfer them into the Palestinian homeland and fund and supply them (i.e. the Israeli government) are all classed as war criminals. They all need slapping with sanctions. Today there are well over 700,000 of them making Palestinians’ lives a misery.
The Committee went further, maintaining:
Israel continues to decry in public any potential investigation or ruling by international courts, giving the impression that it does not pay due regard to international law.
The Government must set out immediately the steps it will take, in line with global allies, to ensure that Israel is held accountable for any ongoing breaches of international humanitarian law.
The Government must set out how it intends to work with the international community to bring an end to Israel’s illegal occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
The Government, in partnership with its allies, must demand that Israel abides by its obligations under the Geneva Conventions and customary international law and facilitates access to detainees for officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Again, the Government “partially agreed” but we’ve heard nothing more.
The Committee said it was working to support and strengthen the Palestinian Authority as it delivers its reform agenda in preparation for recognition. That was many months ago and the PA seems hopelessly unprepared. What exactly has the British Government been doing all this time?
A UN Security Council draft resolution mandating an international stabilisation force is being circulated. Have you had sight of this, and if so, what is the UK Government’s stance please? And what is the Opposition’s view? Will there be a debate? Can we expect transparency?The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/gaza-crisis-will-britain-ensure-peace-is-set-in-a-legal-framework/">Gaza Crisis: Will Britain Ensure Peace Is Set in a Legal Framework?</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>Major Collision or Fender Bender? Is MAGA Splitting over Israel, Anti-Semitism, and Neo-Nazis?</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/major-collision-or-fender-bender-is-maga-splitting-over-israel-anti-semitism-and-neo-nazis/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Bill Berkowitz]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 06 Nov 2025 15:45:34 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Anti-semitism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Racism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Republicans]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Supremacism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[The "Right"]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ben Shapiro]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Candace Owens]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Kanye West]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Kyle Tharp]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[MAGA]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Mark Levin]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Mitch McConnell]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nick Fuentes]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Samuel Benson]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Steve Bannon]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ted Cruz]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Tucker Carlson]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[ye]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=162809</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Will Tucker Carlson’s interview with far-right activist, Nick Fuentes, tear MAGA apart? Did Tucker Carlson’s softball interview with white supremacist Nick Fuentes ignite a full-blown MAGA civil war? Is the latest dust-up — over Israel and anti-Semitism — between powerful and popular conservative voices, another family feud or a marker of End Times MAGAism? Is […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/major-collision-or-fender-bender-is-maga-splitting-over-israel-anti-semitism-and-neo-nazis/">Major Collision or Fender Bender? Is MAGA Splitting over Israel, Anti-Semitism, and Neo-Nazis?</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img decoding="async" title="FILE - Nick Fuentes, far-right activist, holds a rally at the Lansing Capitol, in Lansing, Mich., Nov. 11, 2020. Former President Donald Trump had dinner Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022, at his Mar-a-Lago club with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, who is now known as Ye, as well as Nick Fuentes, who has used his online platform to spew antisemitic and white supremacist rhetoric. (Nicole Hester/Ann Arbor News via AP, File)" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1241248/story_image/AP22330768021914.jpg?1698439777" srcset="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1241248/story_image/AP22330768021914.jpg?1698439777 1024w,
https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1241248/lightbox/AP22330768021914.jpg?1698439777 768w, 
https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/1241248/large/AP22330768021914.jpg?1698439777 600w" alt="FILE - Nick Fuentes, far-right activist, holds a rally at the Lansing Capitol, in Lansing, Mich., Nov. 11, 2020. Former President Donald Trump had dinner Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022, at his Mar-a-Lago club with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, who is now known as Ye, as well as Nick Fuentes, who has used his online platform to spew antisemitic and white supremacist rhetoric. (Nicole Hester/Ann Arbor News via AP, File)" />
Will Tucker Carlson’s interview with far-right activist, Nick Fuentes, tear MAGA apart?
Did Tucker Carlson’s softball interview with white supremacist Nick Fuentes ignite a full-blown MAGA civil war? Is the latest dust-up — over Israel and anti-Semitism — between powerful and popular conservative voices, another family feud or a marker of End Times MAGAism? Is it a head-on collision of merely a fender-bender? And, are rank-and-file MAGA supporters paying any attention to these inside-the-beltway gasbags?
While we’ve seen this show before — conservatives with fangs out for fellow conservatives — political observers want to know: Is the current dust up over anti-Semitism in the movement, a deal breaker, an all-out game-changing power struggle?
What’s really at stake isn’t just the movement’s flirtation with antisemitism, but who gets to define its future? Will it be the nationalist, isolationist Carlson wing, or the older, neocon-aligned Shapiro faction.
It didn’t start with Tucker Carlson’s interview with white supremacist Nick Fuentes on his podcast, in which Fuentes excoriated Daily Wire founder, [and conservative podcaster] Ben Shapiro and made inflammatory, anti-Semitic remarks about “organized Jewry.” That interview, however, poured lighter fluid on an ongoing simmering fire.
According to Kyle Tharp’s Chaotic Era Substack, “Fuentes and his continued criticism of U.S. support for Israel (calling fellow conservatives ‘Christian Zionists’ with a ‘brain virus’) drew condemnation from prominent GOP figures and Israel hawks like <a href="https://link.mail.beehiiv.com/ss/c/u001.6PX6g7EPS_pHzMA6ClMW8IWGhVPD1_Mk7ZGKI0oT9OZUIQFe2nvms_mQrUDbbuZC8DwI8K3XhG28zCXV6ktDX3kSBgzBuOOz8db0OgRmCQ-n3dCfQPtdzeoCQnfyzyaXFyrIEL4UIbvNOhbks6AzN3fLGYEtje71hT7GYX2EX46nniCZj4pLknFbrl06j2Enwit-E-UA3t6HRfVu4Wm58CjIE0jn1KHRPWYxvZdTirWDepB5-DLhPnr23iPBcsmU88j0g5qvXWNoJcUvaQrAVfmhbIvfp1fFOLlz8FYLBjm-zcv_tj3BC3nYV7C-Rc4p5ry3_OnlDRtXv1GLhheqgg/4lb/B0jA70ggQleocM2kj9yhTg/h9/h001._7IweJglMCjZyhdFQO1U0meruXl1DETXgoSGXQl9b9E" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Senators Ted Cruz and Mitch McConnell</a>, as well as from [popular conservative radio host Marc] <a href="https://www.chaoticera.news/p/mamdani-s-massive-online-rise-mapped">Levin and Shapiro</a>.
Tharp, whose timely newsletter is about politics, media, and online influence, noted that “The conservative fight over supporting Israel has been simmering all year, with top influencers like Carlson, Candace Owens, and Steve Bannon bucking Republican orthodoxy on the issue. The shift reflects both declining support for Israel among younger MAGA supporters and a shift in audience demand in online MAGA media. The data shows that Carlson and Owens, in particular, are winning – having grown their following and clout significantly this year, while pro-Israel voices like Shapiro have seen their audience growth stall in 2025.”
“Republicans Denounce Tucker Carlson for Interview With Nick Fuentes, a White Supremacist” read the New York Times headline. The Bulwark, a consistently anti-Trump voice, called the interview “One of the Most Dangerous Interviews Ever in MAGA Media.” The Associated Press titled it report, “Controversy over Tucker Carlson interview reveals conservative movement’s conflict over antisemitism,” while the Wall Street Journal warned of “The New Right’s New Antisemites.”
Politico’s Samuel Benson reported that Shapiro, titled a response episode of his show “Tucker Carlson Sabotages America.” Shapiro blasted Carlson on Monday, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/03/ben-shapiro-tucker-carlson-nick-fuentes-interview-00633323?nid=0000015a-dd3e-d536-a37b-dd7fd8af0000&nname=playbook-pm&nrid=850a3168-9308-48eb-ae42-a064afa9f2c9">calling him</a> “’the most virulent super-spreader of vile ideas in America,’ adding fuel to an incident that sparked a staff shakeup at the Heritage Institute.”
Benson noted that “The podcast episode was received differently by two bastions of conservative thought: The <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-new-rights-new-antisemites-d702dcbd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wall Street Journal’s editorial board condemned it</a>, while <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/30/heritage-tucker-carlson-nick-fuentes-00631200?nid=00000170-c000-da87-af78-e185fa700000&nname=politico-nightly&nrid=00000151-5a28-d68e-a5f7-7eaa97990001" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts</a> defended it, criticizing the ‘venomous coalition’ attempting to ‘cancel’ Carlson after the interview.”
According to Benson, “Carlson’s interview with Fuentes came on the heels of other high-profile incidents of antisemitism on the political right. Last month, a nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel withdrew his nomination after bragging of his ‘Nazi streak’ in a text message; days earlier, POLITICO reported on a leaked group chat of Young Republicans who praised Hitler and joked about the Holocaust. The same week, a Nazi symbol was discovered hanging in a GOP congressional office.”
Inquiring minds want to know: Will an increasingly distracted Donald Trump weigh in on this kerfuffle and can he demand, and achieve, a cease-fire? Or is the MAGA empire finally growing too unruly for its emperor?The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/major-collision-or-fender-bender-is-maga-splitting-over-israel-anti-semitism-and-neo-nazis/">Major Collision or Fender Bender? Is MAGA Splitting over Israel, Anti-Semitism, and Neo-Nazis?</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>Elections Reflections</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/elections-reflections/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ted Glick]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 06 Nov 2025 15:10:19 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Democracy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Elections]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=162799</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Yesterday’s election results are tremendously positive and hopeful for democratic socialists, progressives, liberals and just plain democracy lovers. The Trump regime was soundly defeated in important elections all across the country. The people made history! But I woke up this morning wanting to reflect on the issue of elections, not so much from the standpoint […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/elections-reflections/">Elections Reflections</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/block_heads_the_election_speech_12x9_w-e1762390174669.png"><img decoding="async" src="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/block_heads_the_election_speech_12x9_w-e1762390174669.png" alt="" width="350" height="467" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-126488" /></a>Yesterday’s election results are tremendously positive and hopeful for democratic socialists, progressives, liberals and just plain democracy lovers. The Trump regime was soundly defeated in important elections all across the country. The people made history!
But I woke up this morning wanting to reflect on the issue of elections, not so much from the standpoint of winners and losers but as a cultural/political phenomenon, how important they are on both personal and societal levels.
As I’ve grown older I have been doing a lot of grassroots, person-to-person electoral work, door-knocking and talking to people for months leading up to and on election day. This year I did it exclusively in my town of Bloomfield, NJ, a small town of about 50,000 people, historically a white working-class suburb of Newark but now a very multi-racial, multi-cultural, mainly commuter town.
I saw many thousands of these sister/brother/sibling townspeople over the last five days at early voting and election day voting sites. I was outside on the street for about 30 hours observing and interacting with this beautiful mix of people of different colors, languages and ages, all taking part in the USA voting process, standing in line together, talking with one another, sometimes exchanging hugs and handshakes with those they knew. Some were MAGA supporters and others were very much on the opposite end of the political spectrum, but I didn’t see or hear of any major conflicts or fights as we all stood in line to vote or interacted on our way to and from the polls.
Then there were the parents bringing children, wonderful, energetic young children learning very experientally about democracy and election day, knowledge that will develop and deepen as long as this way, this special way of choosing government leaders, continues to be the USA norm.
There were the old and disabled making their way, some very slowly and carefully, to get into the voting site. I am always inspired as I see these folk putting themselves out because they clearly believe it is important for them to do so, important to take part in this ritual of democracy. Several people yesterday couldn’t walk, were in wheelchairs that had to be pushed by others. They were determined to get into that polling site and do their part on this one day to keep democracy alive and well.
As we know, the Trumpists want to destroy democracy, make the process of voting harder and harder, especially for Black, Latino/a and Indigenous people, students and low-income people—the working-class majority. They want to take us back to the days before Black people had the right to vote in the South, before the Voting Rights Act. They want Brown and Black people to feel so afraid and intimidated by ICE and the Border Patrol and other agents of repression that they stay in their homes on election day.
I think they’re going to fail at that, overall. There are literally millions of us prepared to take risks to defend these sisters and brothers and to defend democracy. Over time, many of us understand that this democracy is in need of serious reform to become much more democratic through public financing of elections, ranked-choice voting, proportional representation and more.
In the meantime, as we work with the democracy we have, let’s draw strength from what happened yesterday, not just on the big, national macro level—Trump Must Go!—but on the very local levels where the US American people once again showed that we, the people, not the billionaires, not the fascists, not the would-be kings, ultimately are the ultimate deciders.The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/elections-reflections/">Elections Reflections</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>Profits, Prophets and Overvalued AI Stock I</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/profits-prophets-and-overvalued-ai-stock-i/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Binoy Kampmark]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 06 Nov 2025 09:30:37 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence (AI)]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Corporations]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Wall Street]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Alex Karp]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Citi]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Farhan Badami]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Michael Burry]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Scion Asset Management hedge fund]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[stocks]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Todd Lyons]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[US Immigration and Customs Enforcement]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Vishal Vivek]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=162796</guid>
<description><![CDATA[In an industry of seedy soothsayers, cocksure charlatans and resourceful rogues, honest and accurate appraisals are exquisitely rare. When it comes to economics, investments and finance, this is particularly so. Certitude, however, tends to be in abundance for those predicting the next financial crash, the sort that will singe earnings and strafe savings. Take, for […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/profits-prophets-and-overvalued-ai-stock-i/">Profits, Prophets and Overvalued AI Stock I</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[In an industry of seedy soothsayers, cocksure charlatans and resourceful rogues, honest and accurate appraisals are exquisitely rare. When it comes to economics, investments and finance, this is particularly so. Certitude, however, tends to be in abundance for those predicting the next financial crash, the sort that will singe earnings and strafe savings. Take, for instance, hedge fund investor Michael Burry, a man of sufficient notoriety to warrant a celluloid depiction of himself by Christian Bale in the 2015 film The Big Short.
On that occasion, Burry’s hunch, albeit an educated one, was that the US housing bubble would implode in what became the Great Recession of 2007-9. The buccaneering investor shorted mortgage-backed securities ahead of the collapse, raking in profits as the subprime mortgage sundered. But his record is by no means immaculate, seeing falls when they have not eventuated, especially on tech stocks. For him, the language of catastrophe is never far away. An April 7 <a class="western" href="https://x.com/burrytracker/status/1908988396900397111">post</a> on X this year is fabulously bleak: “Millennials going through 9/11, two economic recessions, a pandemic, the looming threat of WW3, AI job automation, and now facing the ‘biggest crash in history’.”
Towards the end of October, he felt in an oracular mood: “Sometimes we see bubbles,” he <a class="western" href="https://x.com/michaeljburry/status/1984067754270319052">wrote</a> in another post. “Sometimes, there is something to do about it. Sometimes, the only winning move is not to play.” His Scion Asset Management hedge fund subsequently moved 80% of its US$1.1 billion portfolio to place options against Palantir (PTLR) and Nvidia (NVDA). These will pay handsomely should shares in these AI-linked companies fall. Burry remains convinced that technology stocks, certainly when it comes to artificial intelligence, are overvalued and set for the precipitous plummet. Whether this is due to growing scepticism about the herd-like rush to adopt AI, the debate about necessary regulation, or that broader sensibility that what rises or swells so rapidly must fall or puncture, is impossible to know. Certainly, the incestuous <a class="western" href="https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/07/business/openai-nvidia-bubble-nightcap">circular financing</a> tech companies have been engaging in is crying out for a stinging correction. But it is precisely moves of this nature by Scion Asset Management that send jitters through the market, turning preaching prophets into market saboteurs.
Surely enough, Palantir’s shares <a class="western" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/04/karp-big-short-burry-palantir-nvidia.html">fell</a> by 8% on November 4 despite exceeding Wall Street estimates of returns for the third quarter. The stocks had risen to skyscraper levels – 173% for the year heading into trading that day. Nvidia’s fell by 4% after having improved by 50% this year. “It seems fatigue over AI and the current earnings run has investors questioning the sustainability of the AI hype,” <a class="western" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c867vyn2evlo">reasoned</a> financial analyst Farhan Badami. “That’s dragged down AI companies overnight in markets.”
Sympathy for such companies is bound to be in short supply. Palantir is the sort of data analytics company any half-decent minded individual would wish to fail. In April this year, 404 Media <a class="western" href="https://www.404media.co/ice-just-paid-palantir-tens-of-millions-for-complete-target-analysis-of-known-populations/?ref=daily-stories-newsletter">revealed</a> that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had paid the company millions of dollars to modify the ICE database to enable it to “complete target analysis of known populations” and spruce up the targeting of that tool and enforcement priorities. The database gives ICM agents the means to sort individuals using hundreds of specific categories covering physical attributes, administrative background and mobility. ICE Director Todd Lyons <a class="western" href="https://futurism.com/ice-director-deportations-amazon">has fantasies</a> of running the agency’s crude, clumsy deportation policy “like [Amazon] Prime, but with human beings” in an effort to treat the matter “like a business”.
This charming dystopian thought is a good pairing with the sinister propaganda Palantir enjoys promoting, including a <a class="western" href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/palantir-technologies_dropping-at-select-colleges-today-activity-7317533283657875457-W1PI">campaign on college campuses</a> that echoes the stirrings of a Nuremberg rally cry: “Our culture has fallen into shallow consumerism while abandoning national purpose. Too few in Silicon Valley have asked what ought to be built – and why.” Palantir, to that end, was built to conquer such flabby complacency. “On the factory floor, in the operating room, across the battlefield – we build to dominate.”
The company CEO, Alex Karp, has been less than impressed by Burry’s short selling efforts. “The two companies he’s shorting are the ones making all the money, which is super weird,” he <a class="western" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/04/karp-big-short-burry-palantir-nvidia.html">told</a> CNBC’s Squawk Box in sheer bafflement. “The idea that chips and ontology is what you want to short is batshit crazy.” He is confident that any damage will be minimal. “I do think this behaviour is egregious and I’m going to be dancing around when it’s proven wrong.”
The latest fall is being taken with a grain of salt among some investors, though you can hardly trust them. Take the tepid assessment from equity trading strategist at Citi, Vishal Vivek. “A little bit of risk is not going to take the sheen off what’s been a pretty remarkable year, in fact, a pretty remarkable three-year stretch,” he <a class="western" href="https://gvwire.com/2025/11/05/dont-panic-yet-investors-say-as-high-flying-ai-stocks-tumble/">tells</a> Reuters on whether AI stocks were proving less attractive. “If anything, there’s a reasonable chance that you’re going to pause your buying maybe, but you’re not going to necessarily sell your big positions into year-end because you’re worried about one or two companies that have underperformed.”
Leaving aside such babble and bloviation, if there is a crash in overvalued AI stocks likely to rival the market falls that took place in the Great Recession, a similar government program used for the banks and banksters will be sought by Karp and company. In the private sector, foolish losses and unscrupulous conduct regarding investments often turns its members into temporary socialists. Profit, on the hand, is the sort of thing that rests firmly and assuredly in the clasping hands of the corporate sector, the result of purported intelligence and industry. That’s private enterprise for you.The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/profits-prophets-and-overvalued-ai-stock-i/">Profits, Prophets and Overvalued AI Stock I</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>Portugal’s Fight over the Muslim Veil</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/portugals-fight-over-the-muslim-veil/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Syed Salman Mehdi]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 05 Nov 2025 16:10:33 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Freedom]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Islam]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Portugal]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Chega party]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[equality]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=162775</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Portugal, long admired for its tolerance and moderate social fabric, has taken a shocking and regressive turn. The country’s parliament has recently approved a bill proposed by the far-right Chega party to ban face veils such as the burqa and niqab in most public spaces. The bill, still awaiting constitutional review, introduces draconian fines ranging […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/portugals-fight-over-the-muslim-veil/">Portugal’s Fight over the Muslim Veil</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Portugal, long admired for its tolerance and moderate social fabric, has taken a shocking and regressive turn. The country’s parliament has recently approved a bill proposed by the far-right <a href="https://partidochega.pt" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://partidochega.pt&source=gmail&ust=1762388615769000&usg=AOvVaw35AK8X23MEugtwCAQDqRW2">Chega</a> <a href="https://partidochega.pt" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://partidochega.pt&source=gmail&ust=1762388615769000&usg=AOvVaw35AK8X23MEugtwCAQDqRW2">party</a> to <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/17/portugals-parliament-approves-far-right-partys-bill-to-ban-face-veils" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/17/portugals-parliament-approves-far-right-partys-bill-to-ban-face-veils&source=gmail&ust=1762388615770000&usg=AOvVaw0Uscv-eEPiPRvrR-tDLN_6">ban face veils</a> such as the burqa and niqab in most public spaces. The bill, still awaiting constitutional review, introduces draconian fines ranging from <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/portugal-set-for-burka-ban-after-mps-back-right-wing-partys-plan-13452199" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://news.sky.com/story/portugal-set-for-burka-ban-after-mps-back-right-wing-partys-plan-13452199&source=gmail&ust=1762388615770000&usg=AOvVaw1YDbeJzWC0s2LsjIY-xg68">€200 to €4,000</a> (approximately 234–4,670 or PKR 65,950–1,319,000).
This proposed punishment is not merely excessive. It is a deliberate act of religious discrimination disguised as social reform. While it purports to “protect women’s rights” and “preserve national identity,” its true purpose is to marginalise Muslim women who wear the veil as part of their faith and Shariah-based modesty. If enacted, Portugal would join the ranks of France, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Switzerland—all of which have enforced full or partial bans on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijab_and_burka_controversies_in_Europe" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijab_and_burka_controversies_in_Europe&source=gmail&ust=1762388615770000&usg=AOvVaw0kR3PQZVEQ_k-IQ8r7SIvJ">face coverings</a>. Yet, Portugal’s proposed penalty would be the harshest in Europe, symbolising not equality but exclusion.
Portugal’s Fine Is the Harshest in Europe
Across Europe, similar bans exist but with far lighter punishments. France and Austria both impose fines of €150, Belgium offers a fine or up to seven days in prison, and the Netherlands restricts face coverings in specific public areas with penalties of up to €150. Even <a href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/01/03/switzerlands-burqa-ban-a-crossroads-of-freedom-identity-and-social-cohesion" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/01/03/switzerlands-burqa-ban-a-crossroads-of-freedom-identity-and-social-cohesion&source=gmail&ust=1762388615770000&usg=AOvVaw1lr1AkGcNFpzPsqtwdh7Pb">Switzerland</a>, which introduced its own ban in January 2025, limits fines to 1,000 Swiss francs (around $1,144).
In contrast, Portugal’s upper penalty of €4,000 is nearly 27 times higher than France’s. Such disparity exposes the underlying intent. This is not about gender equality; it is about silencing visible expressions of Islam. The Bill is undermining the rights of Muslim women, but it is also criminalizing the symbol of their piety and purity.
Economic Injustice Fining Faith Beyond Affordability
If it may seem to some that my draft of this rather harsh recommendation is not motivated by the general economic crisis in Portugal, they may yet consider the economics of it. The national minimum wage is around <a href="https://www.playroll.com/minimum-wage/portugal" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.playroll.com/minimum-wage/portugal&source=gmail&ust=1762388615770000&usg=AOvVaw2MZ_1gIIWf38ylHB9U8tiw">€870 per month</a>, roughly €29 per day, while the average monthly salary stands at <a href="https://acemoneytransfer.com/blog/what-is-the-average-salary-in-portugal" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://acemoneytransfer.com/blog/what-is-the-average-salary-in-portugal&source=gmail&ust=1762388615770000&usg=AOvVaw0AfgsMp-PjFN9wiNSq4C5M">€1,777</a>.
For a Muslim woman—possibly an immigrant, cleaner, or shop assistant—wearing a niqab as a matter of conscience, the €200 fine equals nearly a week’s wages, while €4,000 would amount to four to five months of income.
This is not law—it is economic persecution. It coerces the devout poor into abandoning their faith or facing financial ruin. The veil ban does not liberate women; it punishes them for existing as believers. It is coercion dressed as liberalism, economic violence framed as ‘equality’.
The Political Motive Behind the Bill
Chega’s leader, André Ventura, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/17/portugals-parliament-approves-far-right-partys-bill-to-ban-face-veils" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/17/portugals-parliament-approves-far-right-partys-bill-to-ban-face-veils&source=gmail&ust=1762388615770000&usg=AOvVaw0Uscv-eEPiPRvrR-tDLN_6">justified the bill</a> by claiming: “We are today protecting female members of parliament, your daughters, our daughters, from having to use burqas in this country one day.”
This statement reeks of fearmongering rather than genuine concern.In Europe, populists are ruling by political trickery, where anti-Islam feeling is evoking the economic exploitation of Muslims.
Indeed, this mirrors the strategy of Narendra Modi in India, who often focuses on Muslim visibility instead of solving deep-rooted social and economic problems. The far-right across the world has mastered the art of blaming minorities to hide systemic failures. And Portugal, regrettably, seems to be following that playbook.
The Hypocrisy of ‘Women’s Rights’
Supporters, including Andreia Neto of the ruling Social Democratic Party, describe the measure as a step toward “gender equality.” Yet, such logic collapses under scrutiny. True equality gives women freedom of choice; this bill strips it away.
For countless Muslim women, the veil is not oppression—it is autonomy. Stripping Muslim women of dignity, character, and honor under the guise of ‘liberal values’ is false freedom in practice. Basically, this is the Western sort of discriminating trick that neither freedom nor feminism, but oppression. That is being shown as the progress of cultural imperialism but is in fact degradation.
Religious Freedom or Selective Freedom?
The law’s contradictions expose its hypocrisy. Veils would be allowed in airplanes, diplomatic missions, and places of worship, yet banned in public streets or government buildings. How can a woman be allowed to pray in a niqab but not walk home in it? This fragmented policy divides faith from daily life, as if religion must remain hidden to be tolerated.
Such a policy directly violates Portugal’s <a href="https://fra.europa.eu/en/law-reference/constitution-portuguese-republic-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://fra.europa.eu/en/law-reference/constitution-portuguese-republic-8&source=gmail&ust=1762388615770000&usg=AOvVaw3wn4jXhUT1LLGhc7TRboYx">constitutional protections of religious freedom</a> and <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/core-international-human-rights-instruments-and-their-monitoring-bodies" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ohchr.org/en/core-international-human-rights-instruments-and-their-monitoring-bodies&source=gmail&ust=1762388615770000&usg=AOvVaw3pxyckIYnOvt3QkeJTfbl-">international human rights treaties</a>. Instead of promoting harmony, it will deepen divisions, incite prejudice, and alienate an already small and vulnerable Muslim community.
Islamophobia Masquerading as Modernity
Portugal’s move follows a growing European trend: repackaging Islamophobia as “modernisation” or “security.” Yet, by all estimates, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Portugal" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Portugal&source=gmail&ust=1762388615770000&usg=AOvVaw31Z2qBK0_w7KJXN27m4eLx">Muslim women who wear face veils in Portugal are exceedingly rare.</a> The problem does not exist—but inventing it serves political gain.
By fabricating a “Muslim threat,” the far-right Chega party distracts voters from the nation’s actual crises. As with Modi’s India, symbolic battles replace real reform. Instead of addressing corruption, inflation, and social collapse, populists choose the easiest target—a woman in a veil.
On the one hand, the <a href="https://www.hrw.org/legacy/pubweb/pubscat/spring00pcwd-06.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/pubweb/pubscat/spring00pcwd-06.htm&source=gmail&ust=1762388615770000&usg=AOvVaw3x6aJQMmrLjcMdZU85OjbT">genocide of Muslims</a> continues unabated in Gaza, Sudan, Yemen, Lebanon, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, and Palestine—regions where Muslim lives are lost daily while weapons continue to be sold to the West. Across these lands, the Muslim identity is under siege. Even wealthy Muslim nations remain largely silent, while ordinary believers suffer displacement, hunger, and humiliation.
Switzerland’s ban came quietly on <a href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/01/03/switzerlands-burqa-ban-a-crossroads-of-freedom-identity-and-social-cohesion" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/01/03/switzerlands-burqa-ban-a-crossroads-of-freedom-identity-and-social-cohesion&source=gmail&ust=1762388615770000&usg=AOvVaw1lr1AkGcNFpzPsqtwdh7Pb">December 31st</a>, as the world celebrated the New Year—an act symbolic of Europe’s moral contradiction: celebrating “freedom” while suppressing faith. And now, Portugal follows suit. The message is unmistakable—Muslims may live here, work here, even invest their wealth here, but they will never truly belong.
It is designed to make Muslims feel foreign even after decades of contribution. And if Portugal’s population is declining, if birth rates are falling, how can the modesty of Muslim women be to blame? Punishing them for maintaining family and faith only exposes Europe’s deep-seated discomfort with its own demographic decline.
The Real Problems Portugal Ignores
While politicians waste energy policing how Muslim women dress, Portugal faces interconnected national crises that threaten its stability far more than any piece of fabric ever could.
Environmental and Security Challenges in States.
Environmental risks are on the rise, from <a href="https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/oecd-environmental-performance-reviews-portugal-2023_d9783cbf-en.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/oecd-environmental-performance-reviews-portugal-2023_d9783cbf-en.htm&source=gmail&ust=1762441756871000&usg=AOvVaw21LAfpoFamYKq9XkKuxUqg">coastal erosion and forest fires</a> to poor waste management. Meanwhile, the <a href="https://www.intechopen.com/online-first/1213172" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.intechopen.com/online-first/1213172&source=gmail&ust=1762441756871000&usg=AOvVaw083ax_C5YzfipCKZIzBZXb">social safety net</a> remains a patchwork-an oral history which is confounding and ill-directed and does not keep poverty at bay much.
These are the real crises for which political courage and policy innovation are required. The far-right demagogues fixate on the burqa in order to detract from ongoing corruption, stagnant economies, and failures of governance.
A Moral Test for Europe
Europe is losing its identity. Its legacy of conscience, freedom, and pluralism is fading. The same continent that defends the right to express atheism or sexuality now persecutes religious modesty.
Portugal’s proposed fines pose a moral question:
Can a democracy that fines faith still claim to defend freedom?
To criminalise a woman’s attire is to criminalise her belief. It is to punish piety and commodify conscience.
Conclusion — Faith Must Not Be Fined
Portugal stands at a crossroads. If President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa upholds constitutional justice, he must veto this discriminatory bill or send it for judicial review. Approving it would mark Portugal as one of Europe’s least tolerant democracies.
For Muslims worldwide, this is not a debate about clothing—it is about dignity, visibility, and freedom of belief. Modesty is not a crime. Faith must never be fined.
Instead of policing veils, Portugal’s leaders should confront the real problems: a collapsing housing market, political corruption, failing public services, and social inequality. Focusing on Muslim women’s attire is not reform; it is deflection. It is an old, cynical strategy used by populists like Modi: blame the minority, hide the failure, and call it patriotism.
But history is unforgiving to nations that mistake prejudice for progress.The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/portugals-fight-over-the-muslim-veil/">Portugal’s Fight over the Muslim Veil</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>Venezuela’s Oil, US-led “Regime Change,” and America’s Gangster Politics</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/venezuelas-oil-us-led-regime-change-and-americas-gangster-politics/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jeffrey Sachs and Sybil Fares]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 05 Nov 2025 16:03:29 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA["Regime Change"]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Hugo Chavez]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Imperialism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Juan Guaidó]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Militarism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nicolas Maduro]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Oil, Gas, Coal, Pipelines]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Venezuela]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[War]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Executive Order 13692]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Francisco Rodríguez]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[gangsterism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Lindsay O’Rourke]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Lindsey Graham]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Rick Scott]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=162791</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The flimsy moral pretext today is the fight against narcotics, yet the real objective is to overthrow a sovereign government, and the collateral damage is the suffering of the Venezuelan people. If this sounds familiar, that’s because it is. The United States is dusting off its old regime-change playbook in Venezuela. Although the slogan has shifted from “restoring […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/venezuelas-oil-us-led-regime-change-and-americas-gangster-politics/">Venezuela’s Oil, US-led “Regime Change,” and America’s Gangster Politics</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/venezuela-maduro-kicks-out-trump-no-trump-protest-august-2019-by-ben-norton-e1597077654106.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-107797" src="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/venezuela-maduro-kicks-out-trump-no-trump-protest-august-2019-by-ben-norton-e1597077654106.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="300" /></a>
The flimsy moral pretext today is the fight against narcotics, yet the real objective is to overthrow a sovereign government, and the collateral damage is the suffering of the Venezuelan people. If this sounds familiar, that’s because it is.
The <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=33ad3c0f9f&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3D33ad3c0f9f%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935731000&usg=AOvVaw2qQHRsd01i2MRc3HcBywZJ">United States</a> is dusting off its old regime-change playbook in <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=e518fa603f&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3De518fa603f%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935731000&usg=AOvVaw1HuZWWVap637RWQyGiZEl1">Venezuela</a>. Although the slogan has shifted from “restoring democracy” to “fighting narco-terrorists,” the objective remains the same, which is control of Venezuela’s <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=c54a461ac1&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3Dc54a461ac1%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935731000&usg=AOvVaw3qZIvHFTCQrg8zOtSr3H7q">oil</a>. The methods followed by the US are familiar: <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=f0e4d9e133&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3Df0e4d9e133%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935731000&usg=AOvVaw0Ql_whFx4VAT5yYmkO5DGZ">sanctions</a> that strangle the economy, threats of force, and a $50 million bounty on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as if this were the Wild West.
The US is addicted to war. With the renaming of the Department of War, a proposed <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=2d4199ec7a&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3D2d4199ec7a%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935731000&usg=AOvVaw2IN4ods535ThXqWN-5y8QB">Pentagon</a> <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=a18550bcbb&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3Da18550bcbb%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935731000&usg=AOvVaw31kDIVPvsPhuxsWPaJxh7D">budget</a> of <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=dc0163e4bf&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3Ddc0163e4bf%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935731000&usg=AOvVaw0u6D7c8zpom2TEIw6uQdN4">$1.01 trillion</a>, and more than 750 military bases across some 80 countries, this is not a nation pursuing peace. For the past two decades, Venezuela has been a persistent target of US regime change. The motive, which is clearly laid out by President <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=0f4619e196&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3D0f4619e196%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935731000&usg=AOvVaw3JaKeAGmBuKQ3ychhfoODL">Donald Trump</a>, is the roughly 300 billion barrels of oil reserves beneath the Orinoco belt, the largest petroleum reserves on the planet.
In 2023, Trump <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=ddee5dc3bb&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3Dddee5dc3bb%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935731000&usg=AOvVaw0KDcLUlphLlq5UR3p5yelK">openly stated</a>: “When I left, Venezuela was ready to collapse. We would have taken it over, we would have gotten all that oil… but now we’re buying oil from Venezuela, so we’re making a dictator very rich.” His words reveal the underlying logic of US foreign policy that has an utter disregard for sovereignty and instead favors the grabbing of other country’s resources.
What’s underway today is a typical US-led regime-change operation dressed up in the language of anti-drug interdiction. The US has amassed <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=2dcf94a62a&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3D2dcf94a62a%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935731000&usg=AOvVaw20EJMZSiZKYDjDH3X-iMZm">thousands of troops</a>, warships, and aircraft in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The president has boastfully <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=bdacb01427&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3Dbdacb01427%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935731000&usg=AOvVaw0DA05SjM8sVeiP4vdLfvvC">authorized the CIA</a> to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela.
On October 26, 2025, <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=b5a06af739&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3Db5a06af739%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935731000&usg=AOvVaw1o3cVI2F0ml-yugMkEqfpt">Sen. Lindsey Graham</a> (R-S.C.) went on national television to defend recent <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=a9ddd31384&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3Da9ddd31384%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935731000&usg=AOvVaw0xJfOfrWajGR8MEwW41k4b">US military</a> strikes on Venezuelan vessels and to say land strikes inside Venezuela and <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=a942debe02&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3Da942debe02%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935731000&usg=AOvVaw0yaFGU3r52FRc4uRM_ZUbP">Colombia</a> are a “real possibility.” <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=6a68e541d1&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3D6a68e541d1%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935731000&usg=AOvVaw2i-VXyeRAER4LUva5A2-P1">Florida</a> <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=bf4962dd70&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3Dbf4962dd70%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935731000&usg=AOvVaw0JaNoDeHQoiatOuuygC9Dp">Sen. Rick Scott</a>, in the same news cycle, mused that if he were Nicolás Maduro he’d “head to <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=f642bf0bc9&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3Df642bf0bc9%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935731000&usg=AOvVaw0_dxoHBgpWbOSJggJ6gwAD">Russia</a> or <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=b2eae34f54&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3Db2eae34f54%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935731000&usg=AOvVaw2IEeFL2QgjIQYmiYwngOP1">China</a> right now.” These senators aim to normalize the idea that <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=186f04aedf&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3D186f04aedf%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935732000&usg=AOvVaw0ZofTzfJguj4c5snuJbnAV">Washington</a> decides who governs Venezuela and what happens to its oil. Remember that Graham similarly champions the US fighting Russia in <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=0a4c7ef18e&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3D0a4c7ef18e%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935732000&usg=AOvVaw30st5YMteUOzBVmTHgQ-9C">Ukraine</a> to secure the $10 trillion of mineral wealth that Graham fatuously claims are available for the US to grab.
Nor are Trump’s moves a new story vis-à-vis Venezuela. For more than 20 years, successive US administrations have tried to submit Venezuela’s internal politics to Washington’s will. In April 2002, a short-lived military coup briefly ousted then-President Hugo Chávez. The <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=20bd5fdd45&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3D20bd5fdd45%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935732000&usg=AOvVaw3HotT4diLpfrbD8dNOmnGJ">CIA</a> knew the details of the coup in advance, and the US immediately recognized the new government. In the end, Chávez retook power. Yet the US did not end its support for regime change.
In March 2015, <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=53bc3bf537&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3D53bc3bf537%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935732000&usg=AOvVaw3_vMRsyZx7N3DwHD_Og1O5">Barack Obama</a> codified a remarkable legal fiction. Obama signed <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=841b579e9d&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3D841b579e9d%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935732000&usg=AOvVaw3iIbs2XBcGTyOsMbnw-rJx">Executive Order 13692</a>, declaring Venezuela’s internal political situation an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US national security to trigger US economic sanctions. That move set the stage for escalating coercion by the US. The <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=96751b2210&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3D96751b2210%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935732000&usg=AOvVaw1J4AZ32_haR24FbPzUsbBu">White House</a> has maintained that claim of a US “national emergency” ever since. Trump added increasingly draconian economic sanctions during his first term. Astoundingly, in January 2019, Trump declared Juan Guaidó, then an opposition figure, to be Venezuela’s “interim president,” as if Trump could simply name a new Venezuelan president. This tragicomedy of the US eventually fell to pieces in 2023, when the US dropped this failed and ludicrous gambit.
The US is now starting a new chapter of resource grabbing. Trump has long been vocal about “keeping the oil.” In 2019, when <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=a43761c335&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3Da43761c335%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935732000&usg=AOvVaw0188cSpt-tV8qtG6zUg-Dt">discussing Syria</a>, President Trump said “We are keeping the oil, we have the oil, the oil is secure, we left troops behind only for the oil.” To those in doubt, US troops are still in the northeast of <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=e6b8de339f&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3De6b8de339f%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935732000&usg=AOvVaw0kDad7Kmst0F_QIU-eOT8G">Syria</a> today, occupying the oil fields. Earlier in 2016, on <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=0662764d12&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3D0662764d12%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935732000&usg=AOvVaw2oazJzMzjQ9YfJx-m7HS-o">Iraq’s oil</a>, Trump said, “I was saying this constantly and consistently to whoever would listen, I said keep the oil, keep the oil, keep the oil, don’t let somebody else get it.”
Now, with fresh military strikes on Venezuela vessels and open talk of land attacks, the administration is invoking narcotics to justify regime change. Yet <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=429a808f82&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3D429a808f82%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935732000&usg=AOvVaw2pt1Oqk1DzhR-wOeVpaKpS">Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter</a> expressly prohibits “the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.” No US theory of “cartel wars” remotely justifies coercive regime change.
Even before the military strikes, US coercive sanctions have functioned as a siege engine. Obama built the sanctions framework in 2015, and Trump further weaponized it to topple Maduro. The claim was that “maximum pressure” would empower Venezuelans. In practice, the sanctions have caused widespread suffering. As economist and renowned sanctions expert <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=4385fc07ab&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3D4385fc07ab%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935732000&usg=AOvVaw2-zp8seTs1Tc_18Zcz8rbL">Francisco Rodríguez</a> found in his study of the “Human Consequences of Economic Sanctions,” the result of the coercive US measures has been a catastrophic decline in Venezuelan living standards, starkly worsening health and nutrition, and dire harm to vulnerable populations.
The flimsy moral pretext today is the fight against narcotics, yet the real objective is to overthrow a sovereign government, and the collateral damage is the suffering of the Venezuelan people. If this sounds familiar, that’s because it is. The US has repeatedly undertaken regime-change operations in pursuit of oil, uranium, banana plantations, pipeline routes, and other resources: <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=8802c4e504&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3D8802c4e504%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935732000&usg=AOvVaw3sKzkwxXc8yX54nVtb-_rv">Iran</a> (1953), <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=b50e6ffdab&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3Db50e6ffdab%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935732000&usg=AOvVaw3eF8w_LukGfbPSSVe5c-Q0">Guatemala</a> (1954), Congo (1960), <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=ab0bcbdbaa&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3Dab0bcbdbaa%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935732000&usg=AOvVaw2an7gVAw-5ULnTDtOhhKva">Chile</a> (1973), <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=69dd3c223c&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3D69dd3c223c%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935732000&usg=AOvVaw02EO00rs1qiptBzdmtSliT">Iraq</a> (2003), <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=3fc0b29f27&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3D3fc0b29f27%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935732000&usg=AOvVaw2-PvqDZnpEbjuokKRz5c68">Haiti</a> (2004), Syria (2011), <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=4294e5fb35&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3D4294e5fb35%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935732000&usg=AOvVaw2490GJ_d2di-_aUGeUIUnb">Libya</a> (2011), and Ukraine (2014), just to name a few such cases. Now Venezuela is on the block.
In her brilliant book <a href="https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u=50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf&id=2cdd653bb0&e=ad30159897" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.us19.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D50ec04f7fdd8f247aecfa0ddf%26id%3D2cdd653bb0%26e%3Dad30159897&source=gmail&ust=1762443935732000&usg=AOvVaw1rPqwXYTHRbWd04l7qFhxc">Covert Regime Change</a> (2017), Professor Lindsay O’Rourke details the machinations, blowbacks, and disasters of no fewer than 64 US covert regime-change operations during the years 1947-1989! She focused on this earlier period because many key documents for that era have by now been declassified. Tragically, the pattern of a US foreign policy based on covert (and not-so-covert) regime-change operations continues to this day.
The calls by the US government for escalation reflect a reckless disregard for Venezuela’s sovereignty, international law, and human life. A war against Venezuela would be a war that Americans do not want, against a country that has not threatened or attacked the US, and on legal grounds that would fail a first-year law student. Bombing vessels, ports, refineries, or soldiers is not a show of strength. It is the epitome of gangsterism.
<ul>
<li>First published at <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/us-regime-change-venezuela">Common Dreams</a>.</li>
</ul>The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/venezuelas-oil-us-led-regime-change-and-americas-gangster-politics/">Venezuela’s Oil, US-led “Regime Change,” and America’s Gangster Politics</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>Florida “Schools of Hope” Law Intensifies School Privatization</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/florida-schools-of-hope-law-intensifies-school-privatization/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Shawgi Tell]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 05 Nov 2025 16:01:18 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Charter Schools]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Neoliberalism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Privatization]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[accountability]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[competition]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Mater Academy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[public school property]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[top-down law]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[“parent empowerment”]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[“results”]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[“school choice”]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=162784</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Over the past 33 years privately-operated charter schools have seized billions of dollars in public funds and public property that rightly belong to public schools. This neoliberal parasitism has been achieved mainly through state laws and schemes that legalize and normalize such wealth transfers in the name of “school choice,” “parent empowerment,” “accountability,” “competition,” and […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/florida-schools-of-hope-law-intensifies-school-privatization/">Florida “Schools of Hope” Law Intensifies School Privatization</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/shawgi-tell-charter-school.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/shawgi-tell-charter-school-146x300.jpg" alt="" width="146" height="300" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-162787" srcset="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/shawgi-tell-charter-school-146x300.jpg 146w, https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/shawgi-tell-charter-school.jpg 487w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 146px) 100vw, 146px" /></a>Over the past 33 years privately-operated charter schools have seized billions of dollars in public funds and public property that rightly belong to public schools. This neoliberal parasitism has been achieved mainly through state laws and schemes that legalize and normalize such wealth transfers in the name of “school choice,” “parent empowerment,” “accountability,” “competition,” and “results.”
One of the most recent and egregious examples of such pay-the-rich schemes is a newly-modified controversial Florida law known as the “Schools of Hope” law that permits charter schools (e.g., Miami-based charter-school operator Mater Academy) to claim and occupy underused public school campuses at no cost and regardless of the public school’s academic performance. Once upon a time only so-called “failing” public schools were targeted by privatizers and neoliberals, but now it appears that greed has intensified to include high-performing public schools.
In theory and practice this top-down law means that a private charter school operator in Florida can unilaterally override local control and claim the use of underutilized classroom space for free, regardless of what public school officials, teachers, students, parents, and residents want. To add insult to injury, public schools would also be forced to pick up the tab for a range of services and programs for these external private operators. Equally offensive is the fact that many charter schools already have <a href="https://www.mysuncoast.com/2025/10/31/schools-hope-eyes-underused-public-schools-charters-have-empty-seats-too/">unused spaces</a> of their own, which raises questions about the real motive behind the seizure of public school property.
Naturally, this antisocial set-up has compelled many public school districts in Florida to find ways to oppose such a brazen heist of their space and resources (see <a href="https://floridapolitics.com/archives/760922-parents-fix-floridas-out-of-control-schools-of-hope-law-before-it-dismantles-local-schools-piece-by-piece/">here</a> and <a href="https://www.wqcs.org/text/wqcs-news/2025-10-24/indian-river-county-school-board-pleads-push-back-against-charter-schools-moving-in">here</a>). One main strategy is for public schools to reconfigure what constitutes “unused spaces” in a way that undermines any takeovers by external private entities.
Such attacks on the public interest remind everyone that the neoliberal assault on their rights and public institutions continues unabated. The “Schools of Hope” law is a nice-sounding law meant to fool the gullible but it is nothing more than parasitic extortion of public wealth. It does not improve education or advance the general interests of society. In this context it is imperative for everyone to join hands to reverse such attacks and to demand modern arrangements that serve the public interest. It can be done. Only the public, not self-serving private interests, can protect a social good and set its direction and content to advance the general interests of society. Private interests are only interested in commodifying education and maximizing profits as fast as possible regardless of the damage incurred on the social and natural environment.
The first charter school in Florida opened in 1996. Today, Florida is home to hundreds of charter schools and is <a href="https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/investigations/10-investigates/florida-charter-schools/67-758325c2-5144-4abb-bf32-f24c7f6495d8">number two</a> in the country for charter school closures. Across the country, thousands of charter schools have <a href="https://networkforpubliceducation.org/doomed-to-fail-an-analysis-of-charter-closures-from-1998-2022/">failed and closed</a> over the years, leaving many families and educators out in the cold.The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/florida-schools-of-hope-law-intensifies-school-privatization/">Florida “Schools of Hope” Law Intensifies School Privatization</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>China’s Ten Noes: Sun Tzu Has Swallowed the Frog and Is Keeping His Smile to Himself</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/chinas-ten-noes-sun-tzu-has-swallowed-the-frog-and-is-keeping-his-smile-to-himself/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[John Helmer]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 05 Nov 2025 15:03:40 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Sanctions]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Xi Jinping]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Dmitry Peskov]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[LUKOil]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nvidia chips]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Rosneft]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=162769</guid>
<description><![CDATA[In a conversation lasting one hour and forty minutes according to the Chinese stopwatch– “a long meeting” on President Donald Trump’s clock — President Xi Jinping first knocked the stuffing out of Trump’s warmaking threats, then forced him to beat a retreat behind a 12-month ceasefire with the man the Pentagon has designated its principal enemy but whom […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/chinas-ten-noes-sun-tzu-has-swallowed-the-frog-and-is-keeping-his-smile-to-himself/">China’s Ten Noes: Sun Tzu Has Swallowed the Frog and Is Keeping His Smile to Himself</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://johnhelmer.net/wp-content/webpc-passthru.php?src=https://johnhelmer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/3304.png&nocache=1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-92680" src="https://johnhelmer.net/wp-content/webpc-passthru.php?src=https://johnhelmer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/3304.png&nocache=1" sizes="auto, (max-width: 519px) 100vw, 519px" srcset="https://johnhelmer.net/wp-content/webpc-passthru.php?src=https://johnhelmer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/3304.png&nocache=1 657w, https://johnhelmer.net/wp-content/webpc-passthru.php?src=https://johnhelmer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/3304-300x101.png&nocache=1 300w" alt="" width="505" height="167" /></a>
In a conversation lasting one hour and forty minutes according to the Chinese stopwatch– “a long meeting” on President Donald Trump’s <a href="https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-press-gaggle-air-force-one-october-30-2025/">clock</a> — President Xi Jinping first knocked the stuffing out of Trump’s warmaking threats, then forced him to beat a retreat behind a 12-month ceasefire with the man the Pentagon has designated its principal enemy but whom Trump praised effusively as “a great leader, great leader of a very powerful, very strong country…a tremendous leader of a very powerful country and I give great respect to <a href="https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-press-gaggle-air-force-one-october-30-2025/">him</a>.”
“Uh,” Trump told reporters on board his aircraft as it rocked in crosswinds flying eastward, “a lot of things we discussed in great detail. A lot of things we brought to finalization. A lot of finalization.” <a href="https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-press-gaggle-air-force-one-october-30-2025/">This was false.</a>
Worse for the Trump warfighting strategy, the Chinese have retained escalation dominance by making Trump’s concessions their pre-condition for China’s temporary suspension of their sanctions on rare earths exports and imports of <a href="https://www.nvidia.com/en-au/data-center/technologies/blackwell-architecture/">US computer chips</a>. For this, Xi offered to buy US soybeans slowly for $34.2 billion over four years – roughly half in tonnage, half in price over twice the interval that China had agreed to in the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/business/economy/soybean-farmers-us-china-truce.html">past</a>.
In General Sun Tzu’s ancient manual for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Tzu#:~:text=Sun%20Tzu%20">warfighting</a>, “the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting”. The old man also confessed his limitation: “there is an intelligent way to eat a live frog – I just don’t know what it is.” Xi just demonstrated the way to do it. Trump went down smiling.
Xi has not yet telephoned President Vladimir Putin to brief him on what happened. After Putin’s meeting with Trump in Alaska on August 6, Putin telephoned Xi on <a href="http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/77738">August 8</a>. “So far,” <a href="https://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/news/2025/10/30/1151101-u-putina-ne-zaplanirovan?from=newsline">said</a> Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov, ”there is no such conversation in the schedule, but it can be quickly agreed upon if necessary,”
The Russian state media have interpreted the outcome of the talks to be a “temporary ceasefire” achieved by not discussing the key economic and territorial war issues at all. “There have been no joint statements yet,” Tass <a href="https://tass.com/world/2037595">noted</a>, “and some of the most important issues of bilateral relations, such as Nvidia chips and advanced products, have remained unresolved.” Nothing was achieved, the official Moscow commentators think, in the US attempt to split Xi from Putin, and secure Chinese pressure on Russia to end the Ukraine war on US and NATO terms. “Ukraine came up, uh, very strongly,” Trump <a href="https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-press-gaggle-air-force-one-october-30-2025/">told</a> reporters as he flew back to Washington. “We talked about it for a long time and we’re both gonna work together to see if we can get something done. Uh, we agreed the, the sides there, you know, locked in, fighting, and sometimes you have to let him fight, I guess. Crazy. But he’s gonna help us and we’re gonna work together on Ukraine.”
The Russian state media have yet to notice that Trump is abandoning his attempt, through the Rosneft and LUKOIL oil trade sanctions of <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0290">October 25</a>, to stop China buying Russian oil. “There’s not a lot more we can do,” Trump replied to a reporter who asked if he and Xi had discussed his threat to sanction Chinese companies for buying Russian crude oil and petroleum products. “Uh, you know, he’s been buying oil from Russia for a long time. It takes care of a, a big part of China. And, you know, I, I can say India’s been very good, good on that, uh, front. Uh, but, uh, we, we didn’t really discuss the oil. We discussed working together to see if we could get that war finished. You know, it doesn’t affect <a href="https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-press-gaggle-air-force-one-october-30-2025/">China</a>.”The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/chinas-ten-noes-sun-tzu-has-swallowed-the-frog-and-is-keeping-his-smile-to-himself/">China’s Ten Noes: Sun Tzu Has Swallowed the Frog and Is Keeping His Smile to Himself</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>How a Fed Overhaul Could Eliminate the Federal Debt Crisis, Part II: Curbing Fed Independence</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/how-a-fed-overhaul-could-eliminate-the-federal-debt-crisis-part-ii-curbing-fed-independence/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ellen Brown]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 05 Nov 2025 09:38:41 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Banks]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Federal Reserve]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Public banks]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ben Bernanke]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[central banks]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[China Development Bank]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[European Central Bank]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[investor optimism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Jerome Powell]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Kevin Warsh]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[money creation]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[PBOC]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[People’s Bank of China]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Reconstruction Finance Corporation]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Richard Werner]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Thomas Massie]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=162761</guid>
<description><![CDATA[There has been considerable discussion in recent years about reforming, modifying, or even abolishing the Federal Reserve. Proposals range from ending its independence, to integrating its functions into the U.S. Treasury Department, to dismantling it and returning monetary policy to direct congressional or Treasury oversight. The Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act (H.R. 1846 and S. 869, 119th […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/how-a-fed-overhaul-could-eliminate-the-federal-debt-crisis-part-ii-curbing-fed-independence/">How a Fed Overhaul Could Eliminate the Federal Debt Crisis, Part II: Curbing Fed Independence</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[There has been considerable discussion in recent years about reforming, modifying, or even abolishing the Federal Reserve. Proposals range from ending its independence, to integrating its functions into the U.S. Treasury Department, to dismantling it and returning monetary policy to direct congressional or Treasury oversight.
The Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act (<a href="http://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1846">H.R. 1846</a> and <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/869">S. 869</a>, 119th Congress, 2025-2026), introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie in the House and Sen. Mike Lee in the Senate on March 4, 2025, calls for abolishing the Fed’s Board of Governors and regional banks within one year of enactment, liquidating Fed assets and transferring net proceeds to the Treasury. It echoes earlier efforts like Ron Paul’s 1999 bill to “end the Fed”, but the odds of its passing are slim.
Less radical are proposals to curb the independence of the Federal Reserve. Former Fed governor Kevin Warsh is considered one of <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/10/trumps-fed-chair-candidates-list-narrowed-down-to-five-by-bessent-after-interviews-sources-say.html">five finalists</a> to take over as chairman after Jerome Powell. In <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/17/kevin-warsh-touts-regime-change-at-fed-and-calls-for-partnership-with-treasury.html">a July 17 CNBC interview</a>, he called for sweeping changes in how the central bank conducts business, and suggested a policy alliance with the Treasury Department.
Substantial precedent exists for that approach, both in the United States and abroad. In the 1930s and 1940s, before the Fed officially became “independent,” it worked with the federal government to fund the most productive period in our country’s history. More on that shortly.
The Werner Findings: Fed Independence Is Correlated with Economic Decline
In a Sept. 1 Substack post titled “<a href="https://rwerner.substack.com/p/the-federal-reserve-faces-its-biggest">Fed Faces Biggest Direct Challenge by a President Since JFK – and This Is a Good Thing</a>”, UK Prof. Richard Werner cited multiple studies showing that central bank independence not only does not reduce inflation but can actually harm economic performance. He wrote:
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">The published consensus is that there is no evidence that more independent central banks deliver lower inflation and better macroeconomic performance. In fact, more independent central banks deliver worse results: lower growth, greater inequality, higher unemployment. Considering the 1970s and 2020s we must also say: higher inflation.</blockquote>
Werner referenced a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2077833?origin=crossref">1993 paper by Alesina and Summers</a> that claimed to show a correlation between independence and low inflation. But <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4227412">later analyses</a> revealed that the data was cherry-picked and the methodology was flawed. Werner also pointed to the European Central Bank (ECB), one of the most independent in the world, which has reigned during a period of extended stagnation and deflation in much of the Eurozone. He suggests that the notion that independence is a universal ideal is a Western invention, often used to shield monetary policy from democratic accountability.
The Fed’s Historical Errors
The Federal Reserve’s track record, like the ECB’s, is less than pristine. In <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2002/20021108/default.htm">a 2002 speech</a> honoring Milton Friedman, then-Fed Chair Ben Bernanke famously admitted, “Regarding the Great Depression … we did it. We’re very sorry. … We won’t do it again.”
Bernanke was referring to the Fed’s failure to act as lender of last resort during the banking panics of the early 1930s. Instead of expanding liquidity, the Fed tightened it. Its goal was to curb excessive stock market speculation, but reducing the money supply raised borrowing costs and triggered a contraction that cascaded globally. The result was a decade of mass unemployment, deflation, and social upheaval.
The Fed Was Not Independent During the Great Depression and World War II
Following the monetary contraction that triggered the Great Depression, the Fed shifted course in 1932, <a href="https://www.frbsf.org/wp-content/uploads/S01_P1_Arunima-Sinha.pdf">pegging interest at very low rates</a> to support banking liquidity and boost economic development. Large public projects were funded and directed through the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), a federal agency established by Pres. Hoover to save the failing banks.
The <a href="https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/reconstruction-finance-corporation">RFC was greatly expanded</a> under the New Deal to fund public works, agriculture, and housing. By 1941 it had injected over $10 billion into the economy, a sizable sum at the time. During WWII, the RFC transformed into <a href="https://guides.loc.gov/new-deal/reconstruction-finance-corporation">a war production engine</a>, financing synthetic rubber plants, aircraft factories, and shipyards, and establishing subsidiaries like the Defense Plant Corporation to accelerate industrial output. <a href="https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/234.html">By the war’s end</a>, the RFC had disbursed more than $35 billion, catalyzing both economic recovery and military victory.
During its existence between 1932 and 1957, the RFC authorized over $50 billion in loans and commitments, with significant portions directed toward self-liquidating infrastructure projects like bridges, dams, and utilities repaid through tolls or fees, along with factories and other emerging industries. It raised funds by issuing bonds, most of which were bought by the Treasury; but the Treasury also issued bonds, some of which were bought by the Fed. These Fed purchases were modest in the 1930s but were greatly expanded in the 1940s, when the United States was running deficits exceeding 40% of GDP funded largely by Treasury-issued debt. To support the war effort, the Fed committed to maintaining a very low interest rate on short-term Treasury bills, something it did by engaging in “direct debt monetization” – it bought large amounts of government securities with new reserves. This was later <a href="https://www.chicagofed.org/publications/economic-perspectives/2021/2">described in Fed papers</a> as <a href="https://www.frbsf.org/wp-content/uploads/S01_P1_Arunima-Sinha.pdf">an early form of quantitative easing</a>.
By 1945, the U.S. had full employment and rising wages; and infrastructure investment surged postwar, with returning veterans trained as engineers and builders. The Fed’s collaboration with the Treasury enabled economic development, technological innovation and full employment.
The Ideological Breakthrough that Mobilized the Economy 
“America’s response to World War II was the most extraordinary mobilization of an idle economy in the history of the world,” wrote Doris Kearns Goodwin in her 1992 article “<a href="https://breznikar.com/article/the-way-we-won-america-s-economic-breakthrough-during-world-war-ii/1781#google_vignette">The Way We Won</a>”:
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">Historians, economists, and politicians have long wondered why this remarkable social and economic mobilization of latent human and physical resources required a war. The answer, I think, is partly ideological. World War II provided the ideological breakthrough that finally allowed the U.S. government to surmount the Great Depression. Despite the New Deal, even President Roosevelt had been constrained from intervening massively enough to stimulate a full recovery. By 1938 he had lost his working majority in Congress, and a conservative coalition was back, stifling the New Deal programs. When the economy had begun to bounce back, FDR pulled back on government spending to balance the budget, which contributed to the recession of 1938. The war was like a wave coming over that conservative coalition; the old ideological constraints collapsed and government outlays powered a recovery.</blockquote>
<a href="https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/research/staff_reports/sr913.pdf">Fed holdings of Treasury securities</a> rose from $2.25 billion at the end of 1941 to $24.26 billion at the end of 1945 (a $22 billion increase), while total Treasury indebtedness grew from $58 billion to $276 billion (a $218 billion increase). That means the Fed absorbed about 10% of the expansion of the federal debt to finance war deficits.
If the Fed did that today, it could purchase about $3.8 trillion of the $37.89 trillion federal debt, more than enough to pay the interest on it <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A091RC1Q027SBEA">($1.16 trillion)</a> and close the federal deficit <a href="https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2025-10-16/us-budget-deficit-falls-41-billion-to-1-775-trillion-in-fiscal-2025">($1.775 trillion)</a>. It could, but the economy would need to grow in tandem to avoid price inflation. More on that shortly.
The Fed Did Not Officially Become Independent Until 1951
<a href="https://eh.net/encyclopedia/the-american-economy-during-world-war-ii/">Inflation was held to modest levels</a> during World War II, and the economy boomed. But to support the war effort, the Fed’s commitment to buying large amounts of government securities with new reserves (basically QE) increased the money supply, and this increase was blamed for a surge in price inflation after the war. It was not the only reason prices went up. There were also major supply shortages – from global supply bulk bottlenecks, industrial retooling (e.g. turning auto industries that had been turned into airplane factories back into auto factories), labor strikes, and a surge in pent-up demand after the war.
But postwar inflation was the trigger for relieving the Fed of the federal mandate that it keep interest rates low by buying federal securities, and this was achieved in a <a href="https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/treasury-fed-accord">1951 Treasury-Fed Accord</a> giving the Fed its independence. The Accord was not a law but was just a joint statement issued by the Treasury and the Fed after oral negotiations, but it did give the Fed independent control of interest rates and the money supply.
The Fed became independent of public control, but the Accord opened the door for Wall Street control of its operations for the benefit of the banks – particularly the largest banks. Bank mergers and consolidations in the 1950s and 1960s created “Too Big to Fail” institutions including J.P. Morgan Chase and Citibank. Wall Street influence culminated in the 1999 repeal of major portions of the Glass-Steagall Act, formally fusing investment and commercial banking. Speculative bubbles and systemic risk then led to the financial crises of 2007-09 and the bailout of the Too Big to Fail banks, leaving the victims to bear the losses. See <a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-Presidents-Bankers-Alliances-American-ebook/dp/B00IWGTYA6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3OMDLO5FQJ4QW&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._24OVm5GnYm2XowW37sh_3Pp387XTWgG0EwCJj5Ii4g.6gEGfvg0fcFDIfyNrfHA4wb0QqX3te-mBOEHumB2t3E&dib_tag=se&keywords=Nomi+Prins%2C+all+the+Presidents+bankers&qid=1761171931&s=books&sprefix=nomi+prins%2C+all+the+presidents+bankers%2Cstripbooks%2C283&sr=1-1">Nomi Prins, All the Presidents’ Bankers</a>.
GDP Growth, Not Fed Independence, Curbed Postwar Inflation
The Consumer Price Index did stabilize after World War II, but it was not due to an independent Fed raising interest rates. It was the result of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post%E2%80%93World_War_II_economic_expansion">major productivity gains that drove up GDP</a>, lowering the debt to GDP ratio to sustainable levels. Technological advances to meet war demands transformed domestic manufacturing; women joined the workforce; soldiers trained in the military brought new engineering skills; and the G.I. Bill provided low-cost higher education and affordable housing for returning veterans.
This GDP growth was greatly aided by RFC funding, with the help of the Treasury and the Fed. A 2025 <a href="https://fairmodel.econ.yale.edu/rayfair/pdf/2019d.PDF">Yale study</a> showed that U.S. infrastructure as a share of GDP peaked in the 1940s–60s, then declined steadily. Productivity gains from infrastructure were highest during periods of federal investment, not austerity. <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joes.12037">Meta-analyses confirm</a> that public infrastructure investment boosts private sector productivity, especially when targeted toward transportation, energy, and digital systems.
China’s Central Bank: Liquidity for Development, Not Speculation
Today, a number of central banks are not independent but align their policies with their national governments. The leading and most successful example is China, the chief economic competitor of the United States. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) operates under the State Council, aligning credit creation with the government’s five-year plans. Through policy banks including the China Development Bank, the PBOC channels liquidity into infrastructure, energy, and industrial development.
In 2024, the PBOC and Finance Ministry held their first joint meeting to align treasury bond issuance with monetary policy, with fiscal and monetary tools synchronized to support national development goals. <a href="https://english.www.gov.cn/news/202410/09/content_WS670678e5c6d0868f4e8eb9ce.html">According to the State Council</a>, “The two authorities will coordinate development and security, strengthen policy synergy, maintain the stable development of the bond market, and provide a sound environment for the central bank’s treasury bond trading in its open market operations.”
The PBOC also engaged in massive sovereign money printing over the 28 year period from 1996 to 2024, increasing the national money supply by more than 5300% — from 5.84 billion to 314 billion Chinese yuan. Details are in my earlier article <a href="https://ellenbrown.com/2025/02/11/quantitative-easing-with-chinese-characteristics-how-to-fund-an-economic-miracle/">here</a>.
The PBOC Collaborates with the China Development Bank in Funding Productive Investment
Like the RFC during the New Deal and World War II, the China Development Bank (CDB) plays a pivotal role in coordinating and executing long-term infrastructure funding for China. With over <a href="https://www.soas.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2025-03/SOAS%20DLD%20Case%20Study%20China%20Development%20Bank.pdf">$2.6 trillion in assets</a>, CDB is larger than the World Bank, the European Investment Bank, and Germany’s KfW combined. In collaboration with the PBOC, it provides capital for large infrastructure projects such as railways, energy grids, and green technology. In 2025, CDB increased loan support for logistics, housing, and ecological restoration, including a <a href="https://www.cdb.com.cn/English/">¥185 billion boost</a> to leading regional economies.
The Chinese model has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty and built unprecedented infrastructure. Rather than the sort of speculative finance that profited from the Fed’s 2007-09 QE, the CDB and PBOC target liquidity for productive expansion aligned with national priorities. This joint mechanism allows China to issue new bonds for specific purposes — transport, housing, manufacturing — and to have them absorbed by the central bank with newly created currency. CDB then executes the plan by deploying the funds. Supply rises with demand, stabilizing prices.
Other Non-Independent Central Banks
Other central banks operating in coordination with their governments today include the <a href="https://www.siasat.com/rbi-finance-ministry-coordination-at-its-best-shaktikanta-das-3145577/">Reserve Bank of India</a>, which has limited independence and works closely with the Ministry of Finance; the <a href="https://cbr.ru/eng/about_br/publ/ondkp/on_2025_2027/">Central Bank of Russia</a>, which is state-aligned and supports national development goals; and the <a href="https://www.a2f-c.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/MF4WA_Agricultural_Finance_Policy_Coordination_Synthesis_Report_ENG.pdf">central banks of many African nations</a>, which coordinate with their ministries of finance to support infrastructure and agriculture.
This has also been true of a number of central banks historically. Besides the U.S. Fed itself, notable examples include the <a href="https://citizensparty.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/aust-hamiltonian-credit.pdf">Commonwealth Bank of Australia</a>, <a href="https://counter-currents.com/2011/08/breaking-the-bondage-of-interest-a-right-answer-to-usury-part">the Reserve Bank of New Zealand</a>, and the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Itself-Canada-Threat-Nations-Economy/dp/0773756213/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3T52DTLXT249B&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.d3U1wWu4TpQoAviWWXIhTmzWKlPVNgjEODJ8TmbIVAPGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.bZ3T9VYBkNgA5A5Qifp-SlfS8LX_5fJ7FF9C6RQy5aI&dib_tag=se&keywords=Krehm%2C+A+Power+Unto+Itself&qid=1761168870&s=books&sprefix=krehm%2C+a+power+unto+itself%2Cstripbooks%2C145&sr=1-1">Bank of Canada</a>, all of which funded substantial development in their early years either by direct money issuance or by money issued as bank credit without full reserve backing. Those early experiments in “sovereign” money creation deserve a separate article, but in the meantime if interested you can read about them in my book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Public-Bank-Solution-Austerity-Prosperity-ebook/dp/B00DKDCNTA/ref=sr_1_1?crid=T99TPAOK0SWC&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.hxmwOti6yPF0hUs7sOl8XDJTJdsZaVp3DJh-dhDge1Vd25fchxY2f4ufO7N9aHTYsrgtVVy4wkwfzHuIr3bHxCB3r2XUNizccV_vWPlKpkWvTJGyK_EN7x6eBb18Iug2EU8YnWsIIvMQdY9-4FgBoPTDC7_EOS9alUzqY2Uzjn0wDgWP5xIkjCFyFzToqnPZwPkxdRL8M6QeRmsy-hod1IWikFzGbF9rX_AdHg7_16I.dkLMiFF2X4eSWGtboP6929XZfC3S3_7uYFVaJlziZeM&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+public+bank+solution&qid=1760976045&s=books&sprefix=the+public+bank+solution%2Cstripbooks%2C128&sr=1-1">The Public Bank Solution</a>.
The lesson of these precedents is that when government-issued money is spent on productive assets – roads, factories, energy grids and the like – supply expands along with demand and prices remain stable.
Can the United States Generate the Necessary Supply? 
The U.S. government also has the sovereign capacity to issue money directly, provided that real productivity rises in tandem with monetary expansion to maintain stable price levels. But is that possible today? The current economic landscape shows signs of recession and systemic strain, yet the stock market continues to soar. Why? Much of the momentum is fueled by <a href="https://tech-champion.com/stock-markets/ai-drives-stock-market-records-in-october-2025-with-tech-led-momentum">investor optimism around artificial intelligence (AI)</a>, which is seen as a transformative engine of future productivity.
Hopefully those visions will manifest, but to compete with China’s rapid development, we also need a national development bank similar to the CDB. A dedicated development bank can ensure that credit creation is funneled into productive endeavors rather than speculative bubbles, and it can finance long-term, large-scale projects that are beyond the reach of private capital.
A bill for a national infrastructure bank on the Hamiltonian model, <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5356/cosponsors?s=1&r=3&overview=closed#tabs">HR5356: The National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2025</a>, is currently before Congress and has 42 cosponsors. Like the RFC and the early 20th century banks of Australia, New Zealand and Canada, it can provide off-budget financing for a wide range of urgently needed infrastructure projects without tapping the federal budget. For more information, see <a href="https://www.nibcoalition.com/">NIBCoalition.com</a>.
Conclusion: Print to Build, Not to Bail
Printing money is not inherently inflationary. It depends on what the money is used for. If it funds speculation, it inflates bubbles. If it funds production, it builds prosperity. The vaunted independence of the Fed is not a constitutional mandate but is a political choice. As Prof. Werner wrote in <a href="https://rwerner.substack.com/p/chinese-lessons-part-i-the-darkest">an October 10 Substack post</a>:
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">Given the facts of the credit creation process and the powers of central bankers, we know that whenever we see a country in recession, this is a policy-decision by the central planners, because the tools are available to quickly exit any recession and deliver high growth and prosperity for all.</blockquote>
History shows that sovereign money creation can be a tool for public good when wielded wisely. It is time to reclaim that tool, not to serve the banks and speculative investment but to serve the public and the productive economy.
<ul>
<li>First posted on <a href="https://scheerpost.com/2025/10/30/ellen-brown-how-a-fed-overhaul-could-eliminate-the-federal-debt-crisis-part-ii-curbing-fed-independence/">ScheerPost.com</a>.</li>
</ul>The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/how-a-fed-overhaul-could-eliminate-the-federal-debt-crisis-part-ii-curbing-fed-independence/">How a Fed Overhaul Could Eliminate the Federal Debt Crisis, Part II: Curbing Fed Independence</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>Taps</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/taps/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Brenner]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 05 Nov 2025 09:11:33 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[John Roberts]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=162759</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Who will place coins on the sightless eyes of American democracy when the river Styx carries it to the door of Hades where Charon awaits his due to ensure a serene eternal rest? It has been a shameful/ignominious ordeal and a cowardly demise. This would be the last chance for an act of grace. Will […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/taps/">Taps</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Who will place coins on the sightless eyes of American democracy when the river Styx carries it to the door of Hades where Charon awaits his due to ensure a serene eternal rest? It has been a shameful/ignominious ordeal and a cowardly demise. This would be the last chance for an act of grace.
Will it be Barack Obama, the aloof, laid-back observer perched on Cloud 9?
Will it be the two boys from Brooklyn – Schumer & Jeffries – whose Houdini disappearing act erased the “opposition” from the nation’s political equation?
Will it be the Bar Associations who temporized and equivocated in admitted fear of Trump lawsuits?
Will it be the 5-star law firms who pimped themselves to pay an extortionist?
Will it be the captains of industry whose civic conscience ends at the 19th hole?
Will it be the wolves of Wall Street for whom “Our Thing” is the only thing?
Will it be media moguls who spell news “Entertainment?”
Will it be the haughty lords of IT who bow-and-scrape when their sovereign commands?
Will it be the churchmen who exhausted their social conscience in pursuit of Woke?
Will it be the AMA leadership whose 75-word “statements of concern” cut no ice where it counts?
Will it be the craven university authorities who have mocked their ancient vow to preserve the academy’s integrity and dedication to Truth-seeking?
Will it be the think-tankers whose torrent of verbiage missed the biggest story since the Civil War?
Will it be the Publisher and Editors of The New York Times so steeped in the paper’s self-image as a buttress to an enduring Republic that they normalized a fatal pathology instead of crying havoc?
Will it be the corps of stenographic faux ‘journalists?’
Will it be the American Psychiatrist Association that trumpeted its irrelevance to public matters when it was most needed?
BEST GUESS: The shade of the American Republic will be doomed to wander the bleak riverbanks for eternity for want of a pittance of remorse or shame.
Perhaps John Roberts will sail in on a billionaire’s yacht to lead a choir of 6 in a chorus of Auld Lang Syne.
<a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/image.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/image.jpg" alt="" width="275" height="176" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-162789" /></a>The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/taps/">Taps</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>Trump: Sincerity and Verisimilitude</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/trump-sincerity-and-verisimilitude/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Kim Petersen]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 04 Nov 2025 16:30:41 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Christianity]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Islam]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Israel (part of Mandate Palestine)]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nigeria]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Oil, Gas, Coal, Pipelines]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Palestine]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Syria]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Venezuela]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ahmad Al Sharaa]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[al Qaeda]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Alawites]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Bola Ahmed Tinubu]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Druze]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Fool me once]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[HTS]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Pete Hegseth]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[shame on me]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[shame on you; Fool me twice]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Sunnis]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=162720</guid>
<description><![CDATA[US president Donald Trump is apparently trying to burnish his Christian bona fides on Truth Social: If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, “guns-a-blazing,” to completely wipe out the Islamic […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/trump-sincerity-and-verisimilitude/">Trump: Sincerity and Verisimilitude</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[US president Donald Trump is apparently trying to burnish his Christian bona fides on <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115476385101120405">Truth Social</a>:
<blockquote>If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, “guns-a-blazing,” to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities. I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians! WARNING: THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT BETTER MOVE FAST!</blockquote>
Secretary-of-war <a href="https://x.com/petehegseth/status/1984751436102791607">Pete Hegseth saluted</a> his commander-in-chief:
<blockquote>Yes sir.
The killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria — and anywhere — must end immediately. The Department of War is preparing for action. Either the Nigerian Government protects Christians, or we will kill the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.</blockquote>
Nigerian president Bola Ahmed Tinubu <a href="https://x.com/officialABAT/status/1984640117361840491">took exception</a> to Trump’s and Hegseth’s depiction of internecine conflict in his country:
<blockquote>The characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality, nor does it take into consideration the consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians.</blockquote>
Nonetheless, Trump the Savior doubled down, stating,
<blockquote>Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter…. We stand ready, willing, and able to save our Great Christian population around the World!</blockquote>
First off, any comments made by Trump and his yes-men/yes-women ought to be greeted with utmost skepticism. And the aphorism of “Fool me once, shame on you; Fool me twice, shame on me,” ought to be rigorously applied.
There are some questions that should spring to mind in judging the sincerity of Trump and his minions recent pronouncements.
For instance, if Trump is so concerned about the plight of Christians in Nigeria, then where was this concern for the Christian segment of Palestinians killed “by [Jewish] Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”
Elementary morality demands that ethnicity or religious allegiance should neither condemn nor exculpate a people purely by virtue of their birthright, inculcation, or even belief. We are all humans, and it is the actions of humans that speak louder than any words.
Another question: If Trump claims a right to intervene in a purported religious conflict in far-off Nigeria, how does this relate to Russia coming to the defense of ethnic Russians under attack in next-door Donbass? Or is this moot, eclipsed by American exceptionalism?
What about Trump inviting al Qaeda terrorist cum Syrian president Ahmad al-Sharaa to the White House on 10 November? Ahmad al-Sharaa’s rebranded Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is reportedly behind an “<a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/P-10-2025-001051_EN.html">abominable massacre of Christians and Alawites in Syria</a>,” as well as “<a href="https://nypost.com/2025/07/26/world-news/terrified-druze-christians-speak-out-after-deadly-violence-in-syria/">heinous violence, including the indiscriminate murders of children and elderly</a>” Druze Syrians.
Now ask yourself, given just these three examples, how much verisimilitude should one extend to Trump’s concern for Christian Nigerians?
Moreover, is this even about ethnicity and religious confession?
Ask: What ties all these examples together?
Oil.
Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer. Russia is the world’s third largest oil producer. Trump already <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYc8UXhjLH0">bragged about stealing Syrian oil</a>. As for Palestine: “<a href="https://atmos.earth/political-landscapes/this-genocide-is-about-oil/">This genocide is about oil</a>.” A <a href="https://unctad.org/publication/economic-costs-israeli-occupation-palestinian-people-unrealized-oil-and-natural-gas">report by UN Trade and Development</a> (UNCTAD) notes, “Geologists and natural resources economists have confirmed that the Occupied Palestinian Territory lies above sizeable reservoirs of oil and natural gas wealth, in Area C of the occupied West Bank and the Mediterranean coast off the Gaza Strip…. discoveries of oil and natural gas in the Levant Basin, amounting to 122 trillion cubic feet of natural gas at a net value of $453 billion (in 2017 prices) and 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil at a net value of about $71 billion…”
Why did Trump bomb Iran this summer? Because Iran is legally developing its nuclear program? Democracy Now! offers another reason: “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7coh9-MpFJo">‘It’s Always About Oil’: CIA & MI6 Staged Coup in Iran 70 Years Ago, Destroying Democracy in Iran</a>.” And why is Trump currently blowing up fishing boats and positioning US forces threateningly around Venezuela? Venezuela has the <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/oil/oil-reserves-by-country/">largest oil reserves in the world</a>, with approximately 300 billion barrels.
The self-declared peace president has promoted a cornucopia of fake news stories to gullible folk, disseminated disinformation, and openly bragged.
The Solution
Practice open-minded skepticism or risk shaming yourself.The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/trump-sincerity-and-verisimilitude/">Trump: Sincerity and Verisimilitude</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>From Strip Mall USA, to Gaza, to Venezuela: An Architecture of Lies</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/from-strip-mall-usa-to-gaza-to-venezuela-an-architecture-of-lies/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Phil Rockstroh]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 04 Nov 2025 16:22:05 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Israel (part of Mandate Palestine)]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[War Crimes]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Zionism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ecclesiastes]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Fallujah]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[James Hillman]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[My Lai]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Pete Hegseth]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Steven Miller]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Wounded Knee]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=162742</guid>
<description><![CDATA[So begins the revolution in behalf of soul: The world is primarily and always an aesthetic phenomenon with which our animal senses and innate reactions are attuned. — James Hillman, Healing Fiction We tell white lies to avoid conflict or embarrassment. We tell ourselves wholly subjective tales in order to cope with crushing realities. Nations […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/from-strip-mall-usa-to-gaza-to-venezuela-an-architecture-of-lies/">From Strip Mall USA, to Gaza, to Venezuela: An Architecture of Lies</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[So begins the revolution in behalf of soul:
<blockquote>The world is primarily and always an aesthetic phenomenon with which our animal senses and innate reactions are attuned. 
— James Hillman, Healing Fiction</blockquote>
We tell white lies to avoid conflict or embarrassment. We tell ourselves wholly subjective tales in order to cope with crushing realities. Nations pull creation myths out of the ass of the nation’s collective unconscious. In the case of the Zionist ethnostate the (all too real) storyline has been banished, from the state’s inception, from the Israeli psyche.
What does it do to the collective soul of a nation whose crimes against humanity go without consequence? It goes without saying, they are prone to perpetrate ever increasing criminality until they suffer the consequences of their actions. To wit, Israel will never be capable of living in peace with those who they deem outsiders.
The worst aspects of the Zionist character have been rewarded e.g., as a militarist ethnostate that was created by acts of ethnic cleansing. Nations rise by believing their collective lies…that is, until said lies cause them to fall.
Israelis know the fact. The quiet part spoken aloud is evinced by their actions: They are leaving Israel em masse. Tel Aviv’s Ashkenazi elite dispatch their children to live abroad. They detest the religious zealot death cults arrayed as agents of ethnic cleansing in the occupied territories.
The liberal elites of the Zionist state are mortified by the religious right. Why? The authoritarian lunatics are a glaring emblem of the true character of the state. Liberal Zionists shunt from their conscious minds the reality that they are complicit in the crimes by which the Zionist ethnostate was conceived and the awareness of the nation’s right-wing authoritarian death cultists are the inevitable embodiment of the state itself.
This is the unspoken consequence of Israel’s crimes against humanity; withal, an ugly minded citizenry dwelling in a nation in which its very psychical architecture is a litany of lies.
<a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!z7zS!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F118d06bd-0883-4dbb-9a60-4112d91389c3_952x990.jpeg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img decoding="async" title="Untitled - Zdzislaw Beksinski - 1985; Poland" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!z7zS!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F118d06bd-0883-4dbb-9a60-4112d91389c3_952x990.jpeg" alt="Untitled - Zdzislaw Beksinski - 1985; Poland" /></a>
Untitled (1985; Poland) by Zdzislaw Beksinski
<blockquote>By repressing our reactions to the basic ugliness of simple details, like ceilings, by denying our annoyance and outrage, we actually encourage an unconsciousness that estranges and disorients the interior soul. 
— James Hillman, Healing Fiction</blockquote>
With Hillman’s insight in mind gaze upon the hideous, ad hoc, hyper-commercialized griftscape of the US: the nation’s collective mode of mind is manifested in the extant wasteland, and is embodied by the shambling, crass, decaying-before-our-eyes figure of Donald J. Trump.
The president’s brain has turned into rancid guacamole. Moreover, as an analog of the nation’s decline, Trump’s pronounced physical infirmities and florid mental decay have become a form of public spectacle.
Trump:
<blockquote>They have Jasmine Crockett — a low IQ person. AOC is low IQ. Have her pass the exams I decided to take when I was at Walter Reed. They’re cognitive tests. Let AOC go against Trump. Let Jasmine go against Trump. The first couple questions are easy — a tiger, an elephant, a giraffe …</blockquote>
Donald Trump cannot cover up all signs of decay and decline by indulging in his Versailles-adjacent rampage of theWhite House’s structure and decor, all in an attempt to cover up his Dime Store-level, located in a decaying strip mall, brain.
From the US griftscape rises the president as grifter.
From Wounded Knee, My Lai, Fallujah, and slaughtered-at-sea Venezuelan fishermen…rise US mass shooters; from the true believer lunacy of 18th Century tent-revivalist, religious zealots…rise present day, authoritarian, gun-worshipping, counterfeit Christians convinced their right-wing interpretation and governmental enforcement of Biblical laws will cause a New Jerusalem to rise from the crushed-to-compost republic beneath the feet of their trooping legions of Christian-nationalist zealots.
<blockquote>depth is afforded by the surface, that is: the world is aesthetic presentation
[…]
To walk right by an ill-designed building, be served and accept poorly prepared food, put on your body a badly cut and badly sewn jacket, to say nothing of not hearing the birds, not noticing the twilight, is to ignore the world. This state of ignorance, this anesthesia is largely the modern human condition, 
— James Hillman, City and Soul</blockquote>
On display at MAGA rallies and Christian-nationalist megachurches we are witness to staged spectacles in which beauty has been all but banished. In Trump’s White House assault on the senses — by being pummeled by crass — we are buffeted by the aesthetic equivalent of pussy-grabbing.
<a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/grandeur.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-162745" src="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/grandeur-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" srcset="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/grandeur-300x199.jpg 300w, https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/grandeur-768x510.jpg 768w, https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/grandeur.jpg 930w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a> Grandeur is Beauty’s eternal dance with Time while grandiosity is but mental vapor in air.
Trump is acting as a vessel of God only if the god in question is the 2nd Law Of Thermodynamics i.e., the ruling god of fascists e.g., “The Thousand-Year Reich” lasted a grand total of 12 years. The MAGA manifestation of end-stage empire embodies the permanence of Trump devoured Big Mac engendered flatulence.
<blockquote>Ugliness turns us inward, away from the world [while, conversely] “beauty…returns our longing to this world.” 
— James Hillman, The Thought of the Heart and the Soul of the World</blockquote>
<a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/latter.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-162746" src="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/latter-300x212.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="212" srcset="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/latter-300x212.jpg 300w, https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/latter-1024x724.jpg 1024w, https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/latter-768x543.jpg 768w, https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/latter.jpg 1456w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>An example of the latter (“beauty…returns our longing to this world.”) Palace of Justice by Mecanoo, Córdoba, Spain
Soul flees when power besotted men evince an obsessive drive for total dominance over beauty. Moreover, there is a festering rot raging at the core of this vanity-blotted maniac as he revels over the destruction of the natural order of earthly conditions that allowed for the rise of — and is essential for maintaining human existence — on the planet:
“I (WE!) just won the War on the Climate Change Hoax,” Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Bill Gates has finally admitted that he was completely WRONG on the issue. It took courage to do so, and for that we are all grateful. MAGA!!!”
Are you feeling demoralized by the raging fuckwit forced upon us by the Empire Of Soul-Defying Fuckery? From the right we are slagged as a feckless “leftard” from the liberal class we are shunned for being a denizens of the “dirtbag left.”
First, in regard to the latter: Dirt holds nutrients that sustain life on land. No wonder the sterile of ideas/desiccated of mind liberacrats of the Democratic Party bandy the ad hominem at those of us who notice their fecklessness borne of corruption. Embrace the term. Their reeking status quo is the compost wherein a new political ecosystem can grow and flourish. The beauty of this world rises from the dirt of the breathing earth.
Regarding being perpetually pummeled into despair inflicted by feelings of powerlessness by the total dominance of capitalism and the soul-defying systems legion of rightwing bullyboy enforcers, from lowly, online rightist grifters and shitposters to ICE/militarized police state thuggery, James Hillman in Re-Visioning Psychology counsels:
<blockquote>As long as we are caught in cycles of hope and despair, each productive of the other, as long as our actions in regard to depression are resurrective, implying that being down and staying down is sin, we remain Christian in psychology.
Yet through depression we enter depths and in depths find soul. Depression is essential to the tragic sense of life. It moistens the dry soul, and dries the wet. It brings refuge, limitation, focus, gravity, weight, and humble powerlessness. It reminds of death. The true revolution begins in the individual who can be true to his or her depression. Neither jerking oneself out of it, caught in cycles of hope and despair, nor suffering it through til it turns, nor theologizing it — but discovering the consciousness and depth it wants. So begins the revolution in behalf of soul.</blockquote>
So begins the revolution in behalf of soul.
Few things are uglier than a flagrant lie. For example, Zionist origin stories that erase the very existence of the Palestinian people; and the noxious mythos of Christian-nationalist that warps the figure of Jesus Christ into an emblem of hyper-authoritarian tyranny and fastbuck grifting; then there is, every hate-rancid word uttered by Steven Miller and the jingoist palaver spewed by Pete Hegseth.
Conversely, beauty broods like a dreaming seed in the hearts of those driven to risk calling out the false mythos churned out by domination-driven power. Hence we come upon the reason that resistance to violence waged against Gaza, Venezuela, and upon human beings slandered as “illegals” stands at the heart of things.
<blockquote>The world, because of its breakdown, is entering a new moment of consciousness: by drawing attention to itself by means of its symptoms, it is becoming aware of itself as a psychic reality. The world is now the subject of immense suffering, exhibiting acute and crass symptoms by means of which it defends itself against collapse. 
— James Hillman, The Thought of the Heart and The Soul of the World</blockquote>
<a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/face.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-162747" src="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/face.jpg" alt="" width="505" height="604" srcset="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/face.jpg 505w, https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/face-251x300.jpg 251w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 505px) 100vw, 505px" /></a> 
The Face of the City by Zdzislaw Beksinski
Speaking of manic defense:
<blockquote>We’re going to win so much, you’re going to get tired of winning. You’re going to say, ‘Please, Mr. President, I have a headache. Please, don’t win so much. This is getting terrible.’ And I’m going to say, ‘I’m sorry, but we’re going to keep winning, winning, winning… 
— Donald Trump</blockquote>
At present, lies of the authoritarian mind are the dominating force of US political life because they are the last barriers, albeit shoddy, of defense erected against the knowledge of their (self-inflicted) undoing.
Grandiosity becomes the stuff of dust. If there was an honest Christian or Tanakh-true Jew in their authoritarian klavern they would admonish their fellows thus:
“Vanity of vanities; all is vanity” Ecclesiastes 1:2
“He that loveth silver [or cryptocurrency scams] shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase. This is also vanity.” — Ecclesiastes 5:10
In essence, the agendas of Trump and his gallery of hyper-obsequious, human testicle cozies, as well their schemes involving total dominance, are vapor in regard to the vastness of life. They will evaporate in the freedom of air.
In time, their obsessive, all-consuming agenda of total control and absolute power will be the very vehicle of their undoing.
In diametric opposition, the wounded dreams of the afflicted will create the living architecture of the order to come.
<a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Linxia.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-162748" src="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Linxia-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="333" srcset="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Linxia-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Linxia-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Linxia-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Linxia.jpg 1456w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /></a>
Linxia National Grand Theater by DUTS design, Gansu, ChinaThe post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/from-strip-mall-usa-to-gaza-to-venezuela-an-architecture-of-lies/">From Strip Mall USA, to Gaza, to Venezuela: An Architecture of Lies</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>Nobel Prize or Not, Trump is the Winner!</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/nobel-prize-or-not-trump-is-the-winner/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[B.R. Gowani]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 04 Nov 2025 16:12:59 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Genocide]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[George W. Bush]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Hugo Chavez]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nicolas Maduro]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Peace]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Venezuela]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Asim Munir]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Chinese economists]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Francesca Albanese]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Greg Grandin]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Han Feizi]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[John Ross]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Karoline Levitt]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Maria Corina Machado]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Michelle Ellner]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nobel Peace Prize]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Stephen Cheung]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=162753</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, and the United States President Donald Trump IMAGE/semana.com/Duck Duck Go Trump Some crave fame, recognition, medals, and honors persistently, more so in competitive cutthroat societies, one may say it is widely prevalent in the US — the most capitalist country in the world. President Donald […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/nobel-prize-or-not-trump-is-the-winner/">Nobel Prize or Not, Trump is the Winner!</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img decoding="async" class="CToWUd a6T" tabindex="0" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/meips/ADKq_NarpyiKpmzy2yJIu0moTOmDwqTFdtdcKZ1Y4gIKG7iZW-bzAWkh8eZ7ZZFWwofzgWMRuhegU44aHUyyzlB3jh_QK7DkpBGGo46ajxYJULBgQPTPu682RRc6m40Tqgf8E7QYkEB4MHUVbwAQT5USMe-BLXBWksiVUa7OFnMgYINr3aEzTOmlwH4963ZMoS05BvpEXTT9yO7t4gLh_MC94jpMAlfzKevghWTmkS-NxcpFRhgCNEAxiAmkeMocdVP-ri_UT4TnRAbk-vXD46YFKeeEXiFBClftXrsxuSJpEG-Ea353C1a5p6-ByHA_zUeu0ebTQhenYhqD8FkmnDBFwmt4RCMbw-0yPyB8vKXazMMFgLa_-A7qU1NIgPN7aGIC2I9-oXsyDagOr47sR_ahAQQYRJWttPxzUoy0TcOwXt3LgyiqIDSW7qUnlT3YXJlD9rDfSgeTNrvdudJPd5Y24QbQfz4HDkVX=s0-d-e1-ft#https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.semana.com%2Fresizer%2Fv2%2F5DZER5M4SBELHGHOFO57OLIOVI.jpg%3Fauth%3D2aff8606adc4f24584ff5b2fff5837b7d7c938b93a486c79f603ca2ff4791ae8%26smart%3Dtrue%26quality%3D75%26width%3D1280%26height%3D720&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=808486e9e0cf633845ad78898780ba33400ed16d0c732d486ff375ab39f778a0" alt="" data-bit="iit" />Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, and the United States President Donald Trump IMAGE/<a href="http://semana.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://semana.com/&source=gmail&ust=1762357238449000&usg=AOvVaw18uYVAjjg4WiF9Icbz-scT">semana.com/</a><a href="https://duckduckgo.com/?q=donald+trump%2C+maria+corina+machado%2C+nicolas+maduro&iar=images&t=ftsa&atb=v88-1&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.semana.com%2Fresizer%2Fv2%2F5DZER5M4SBELHGHOFO57OLIOVI.jpg%3Fauth%3D2aff8606adc4f24584ff5b2fff5837b7d7c938b93a486c79f603ca2ff4791ae8%26smart%3Dtrue%26quality%3D75%26width%3D1280%26height%3D720" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://duckduckgo.com/?q%3Ddonald%2Btrump%252C%2Bmaria%2Bcorina%2Bmachado%252C%2Bnicolas%2Bmaduro%26iar%3Dimages%26t%3Dftsa%26atb%3Dv88-1%26iai%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.semana.com%252Fresizer%252Fv2%252F5DZER5M4SBELHGHOFO57OLIOVI.jpg%253Fauth%253D2aff8606adc4f24584ff5b2fff5837b7d7c938b93a486c79f603ca2ff4791ae8%2526smart%253Dtrue%2526quality%253D75%2526width%253D1280%2526height%253D720&source=gmail&ust=1762357238449000&usg=AOvVaw1CBSjz6DtBY8BTaBE7oU_j">Duck Duck Go</a>
Trump
Some crave fame, recognition, medals, and honors persistently, more so in competitive cutthroat societies, one may say it is widely prevalent in the US — the most capitalist country in the world. President Donald Trump is one of those who love to be on top all the time with medals, honors, and what not.
Trump was looking forward to be announced recipient of 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for his, according to him, role in stopping <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/map-which-countries-trump-nobel-peace-prize-nomination-support-2112798" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.newsweek.com/map-which-countries-trump-nobel-peace-prize-nomination-support-2112798&source=gmail&ust=1762357238449000&usg=AOvVaw1quWlcM1QjU3QoebvvBeea">many wars</a>, and especially the Israeli war against Gazans which has turned Gaza, Palestine, into ruins and a graveyard of <a href="https://www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/p/the-real-death-toll-in-gaza" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/p/the-real-death-toll-in-gaza&source=gmail&ust=1762357238449000&usg=AOvVaw3awvdc7PAdk0eHZNf8YF6h">well over 500,000 Palestinians</a>.
Trump boasted: “<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/map-shows-where-donald-trump-has-helped-broker-peace-deals-since-election-2110970" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.newsweek.com/map-shows-where-donald-trump-has-helped-broker-peace-deals-since-election-2110970&source=gmail&ust=1762357238449000&usg=AOvVaw1DIAnJ5T0KGwWuUDxm1To0">I’ve stopped six wars</a>—I’m averaging about a war a month.”
White House press secretary Karoline Levitt parroted: “It is well past time that President Trump was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.”
Trump also passed the <a href="https://www.nobelpeaceprize.org/nobel-peace-prize/nomination/criteria-for-nominators?ftag=MSF0951a18" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nobelpeaceprize.org/nobel-peace-prize/nomination/criteria-for-nominators?ftag%3DMSF0951a18&source=gmail&ust=1762357238449000&usg=AOvVaw37r8ymh-k15YiYHex0mOgb">criteria</a> set up by the Nobel Peace Prize committee. He was nominated by many leaders, including <a href="https://globeistan.com/?p=121402" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://globeistan.com/?p%3D121402&source=gmail&ust=1762357238449000&usg=AOvVaw2SvUjH2gpniEtkdcdubt9_">Pakistan’s Islamist supreme leader Asim Munir</a> and Israel’s “<a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231229-us-congresswoman-tlaib-slams-netanyahu-as-genocidal-maniac/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231229-us-congresswoman-tlaib-slams-netanyahu-as-genocidal-maniac/&source=gmail&ust=1762357238449000&usg=AOvVaw3AewqborZ20_DWJntkd6Jy">genocidal maniac</a>” Benjamin Netanyahu. Most of the nominations came after the January 31, 2025, the deadline for submissions to the Nobel committee.
If Trump had won, it would have been in keeping with past winners: <a href="https://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Kissinger/PolPotKissinger_Herman.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Kissinger/PolPotKissinger_Herman.html&source=gmail&ust=1762357238449000&usg=AOvVaw1LY3fz1ZvcCEe2zxuWv_Bl">Henry Kissinger</a><a href="https://globeistan.com/?p=73751" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://globeistan.com/?p%3D73751&source=gmail&ust=1762357238449000&usg=AOvVaw14FRRp0tka2_5iOWmOGJdO">,</a> <a href="https://globeistan.com/?p=98990" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://globeistan.com/?p%3D98990&source=gmail&ust=1762357238449000&usg=AOvVaw2bv4Icobo7gqHUJeBWrDv7">Elie Wiesel</a>, <a href="https://globeistan.com/?p=54674" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://globeistan.com/?p%3D54674&source=gmail&ust=1762357238449000&usg=AOvVaw1AHQ-vpjEk9LqqV9WMZ00S">Barack Obama</a>, <a href="https://globeistan.com/?p=73751" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://globeistan.com/?p%3D73751&source=gmail&ust=1762357238449000&usg=AOvVaw14FRRp0tka2_5iOWmOGJdO">Menacham Begin</a>, etc. who have received it, too.
Maria Corina Machado
The Nobel Committee had someone else in mind for choosing the 2025 winner; it went to Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, “somebody who’s completely aligned with the most militarist and darkest face of U.S. imperialism,” as historian <a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2025/10/10/nobel_peace_prize" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.democracynow.org/2025/10/10/nobel_peace_prize&source=gmail&ust=1762357238449000&usg=AOvVaw2NHsqoe2lT8lFPSl4Q4YyM"> Greg Grandin told Amy Goodman</a>.
<img decoding="async" class="CToWUd a6T" tabindex="0" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/meips/ADKq_NaUD-rG4m9747kU-6FZKnDgQaYmtI3Wyfayi6E0vrTqUBooHVLC7Z1tUrIlxGhmYJYtDXAd_vxj1DCqE1NM0VKIRsC4xWl0ClEcWzqxNBCuy-fZrYB4e8biN4wKRTKCyEOf7LrrsvKxWw=s0-d-e1-ft#https://www.wsws.org/asset/c43d4aa2-7e20-4f3c-99a7-8ba8f1e41339?rendition=image1280" alt="" data-bit="iit" />Venezuela’s María Corina Machado with US President George W. Bush at the White House in 2005 IMAGE/White House/Eric Draper
White House Communications Director Stephen Cheung <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-truth-social-nobel-peace-prize-b2843249.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-truth-social-nobel-peace-prize-b2843249.html&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw3QBSCEcNrrIgNw-AWYBviI">blasted the verdict</a>:
<blockquote>“President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives. He has the heart of a humanitarian, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will. The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace.”</blockquote>
Maria Corina Machado?
Absolutely not a right choice. There are many deserving candidates [1] who are fighting for peace and justice despite facing adversities, sanctions, and, sometimes, even death. As a matter of fact, many have died too. But then Western institutions do their work keeping Western interests in mind [2].
Why would the Nobel committee choose a dubious Venezuelan for the prize when Trump is already looking for an excuse to remove its leader Nicolas Maduro? The Trump government has already killed <a href="https://www.factcheck.org/2025/10/assessing-the-facts-and-legal-questions-about-the-u-s-strikes-on-alleged-drug-boats/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.factcheck.org/2025/10/assessing-the-facts-and-legal-questions-about-the-u-s-strikes-on-alleged-drug-boats/&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw0U43PP6KuNSwGo61xGpcvy">61 people</a> by attacking 14 boats on a pretext of attacking “narco-terrorists.”
Venezuela’s Machado approves of US deadly sanctions on her own country, that have already killed <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/10/11/sjsy-o11.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/10/11/sjsy-o11.html&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw1E7p42JMmYgFNduDh-b-L1">over 100,000</a> Venezuelans.
Talking to Fox TV, <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/10/11/sjsy-o11.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/10/11/sjsy-o11.html&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw1E7p42JMmYgFNduDh-b-L1">Machado claimed</a>: “Maduro has turned Venezuela into the biggest threat to the national security of the US and the stability of the region.”
Every power-hungry politician always tells the same thing to the US, that his or her country is the biggest threat to the US national security, even though it i always other way around.
<img decoding="async" class="CToWUd a6T" tabindex="0" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/meips/ADKq_NYhfS77dzbUA_svJye7bYaXshQzo9fWEV_nmAy6gW71hqt0pM3rwafYTtm7EGcEJypuA-fJQXTp-P2sw6D6lH4ThCnhgFIhXxAT6WPH69xGMWQWRKtwtrNRRp9oiigwAIrApqV46XF2i-t9jyrmqgFYI-hBtl0qkPVJNHPeZpoL0gqhrnx2Ye96IV0BDlJVd4MR2husswI6nv0FlId6uN78u3o8t8FM4AyI_WkPmqrUcnw9XKt2nGuovepXyJpq6lHawdTmh1XfbcoUln6eO1NIG49UAZMBZsCR5U771wEc-mlSZStjRFaW-vD2xyWV3w5Pu9Rvbpp17xpFtEMB4ExtInc=s0-d-e1-ft#https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.elestimulo.com%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F02%2FEE-DonalTrumpJR-Maria-Corina-Machado-DESTACADO.webp&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=e22036911adea5d00c14fafa14d31f9da128488c6835bce33aa60002401fe97b" alt="" data-bit="iit" />Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and Donald Trump Jr. IMAGE/<a href="http://elestimul.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://elestimul.com/&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw0qEkQXJzJEta0WXTVBvqXx">elestimul.com/</a><a href="https://duckduckgo.com/?q=donald+trump+with+maria+corina+machado&iar=images&t=ftsa&atb=v88-1&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.elestimulo.com%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F02%2FEE-DonalTrumpJR-Maria-Corina-Machado-DESTACADO.webp" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://duckduckgo.com/?q%3Ddonald%2Btrump%2Bwith%2Bmaria%2Bcorina%2Bmachado%26iar%3Dimages%26t%3Dftsa%26atb%3Dv88-1%26iai%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fmedia.elestimulo.com%252Fuploads%252F2025%252F02%252FEE-DonalTrumpJR-Maria-Corina-Machado-DESTACADO.webp&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw1NRrd8T0855_96l4D4sjyB">Duck Duck Go</a>
<a href="https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/when-maria-corina-machado-wins-the-nobel-peace-prize-peace-has-lost-its-meaning/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/when-maria-corina-machado-wins-the-nobel-peace-prize-peace-has-lost-its-meaning/&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw1hCrityUlACGwkfWvBeFCd">Michelle Ellner</a>, a Venezuelan-American, described her correctly:
<blockquote>“She’s the smiling face of Washington’s regime-change machine, the polished spokesperson for sanctions, privatization, and foreign intervention dressed up as democracy.”</blockquote>
Trump, who was not happy for being ignored by the Nobel Committee, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-truth-social-nobel-peace-prize-b2843249.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-truth-social-nobel-peace-prize-b2843249.html&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw3QBSCEcNrrIgNw-AWYBviI">said</a>:
<blockquote>“The person who actually got the Nobel Prize called today, called me and said, I’m accepting this in honor of you, because you really deserved it. A very nice thing to do.”
“I didn’t say ‘then give it to me,’ though, I think she might have.” “She was very nice. And I’ve been, you know, I’ve been helping her along the way. She — they need a lot of help in Venezuela, it’s a basic disaster.”</blockquote>
Machado tweeted on X and <a href="https://x.com/MariaCorinaYA/status/1976642376119549990" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://x.com/MariaCorinaYA/status/1976642376119549990&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw2hqkUDflPbB2w9JrUGuUjm">dedicated the award to Trump</a>.
<blockquote>“I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!”</blockquote>
Trump has lost the Peace Prize but has procured the right to war -because of her winning the Prize — thanks to the Western Nobel Peace committee that provided fuel to Trump in his zeal to overthrow Maduro and push Venezuela into chaos. If Trump goes to war against Venezuela, which it seems likely, he will justify that the Venezuelans “<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-truth-social-nobel-peace-prize-b2843249.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-truth-social-nobel-peace-prize-b2843249.html&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw3QBSCEcNrrIgNw-AWYBviI">need a lot of help</a>.”
<a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2025/10/10/nobel_peace_prize" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.democracynow.org/2025/10/10/nobel_peace_prize&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw1V5_f664Iqq1JucfoyWXYR">Professor Grandin</a> is baffled by the Nobel Committee’s decision:
<blockquote>“… it’s laying the groundwork and justifying greater military escalation. It’s really a disaster. It’s really, really hard to understand how they came to this decision.”</blockquote>
Machado’s history:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://globeistan.com/?p=39509" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://globeistan.com/?p%3D39509&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw3YAI1jQx5havVHqLvENtol">Hugo Chavez</a> (1954 – 2013) came to power in 1999. Machado <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/world/nobel-peace-prize-venezeuala-war/#" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.thenation.com/article/world/nobel-peace-prize-venezeuala-war/%23&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw2oQuqv13MJeoFy5QHmmz0F">supported a brief coup against Chavez</a> in 2002 led by Baby Bush. Chavez called President George W. Bush, “<a href="https://countercurrents.org/us-gowani270107.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://countercurrents.org/us-gowani270107.htm&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw3uuQiEyH_u2UXSKmfWB7NY">danger man</a>.”</li>
<li>Machado has promised to “<a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2025/10/10/nobel_peace_prize" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.democracynow.org/2025/10/10/nobel_peace_prize&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw1V5_f664Iqq1JucfoyWXYR">privatize Venezuela’s state oil industry</a>.”</li>
<li>In February 2025, Machado joined a meeting of “<a href="https://www.newarab.com/opinion/reconquista-christian-far-right-joins-zionism-neo-crusade" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.newarab.com/opinion/reconquista-christian-far-right-joins-zionism-neo-crusade&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw0mr95wybZOiqr-eTsul6yi">Patriots for Europe</a>,” a movement which includes many fascistic elements. One of the slogan used was “Reconquista,” or “re-conquer,” that is, re-conversion of Muslims and expulsion of Muslims and Jews in the 15th century. Israeli Likud Party was present at that meeting, too.</li>
<li>Machado <a href="https://www.newarab.com/opinion/reconquista-christian-far-right-joins-zionism-neo-crusade" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.newarab.com/opinion/reconquista-christian-far-right-joins-zionism-neo-crusade&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw0mr95wybZOiqr-eTsul6yi">claimed</a> “Venezuela’s struggle is Israel’s struggle.” Chavez broke off relations with Israel after Israel’s more than three week war against Palestinians in 2008 -2009. After winning the Prize, <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20251011-nobel-peace-prize-winner-machado-voices-support-for-israel/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20251011-nobel-peace-prize-winner-machado-voices-support-for-israel/&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw2hs4CWXz-RC4GJ4ViA98OH">Machado declared:</a>“I promise one day, we’ll have a close relationship between Venezuela and Israel. That will be part of our support to the State of Israel.”</li>
</ul>
Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to a clearly undeserving candidate reduces its value greatly in the opinion of people who are well versed with world events.
Notes:
[1] The Nobel Committee is blind to the many deserving candidates. There is something seriously wrong with the Nobel Committee not wanting to award for peace efforts in resolving the Israeli war against the Palestinians in Gaza, journalists reporting from the ruins of Gaza, the people involved in trying for ceasefire, and halting death and destruction there.
There were <a href="https://www.nobelpeaceprize.org/press/press-releases/nominations-for-the-nobel-peace-prize-2025" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nobelpeaceprize.org/press/press-releases/nominations-for-the-nobel-peace-prize-2025&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw18PIIpmfScsLtwatKB1PRV">338</a> contenders, 244 individuals and 94 organizations, for the 2025 nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize.
There were so many deserving people and institutions to choose from if the Nobel Committee was genuinely concerned about peace and justice. A few individuals involved with full intensity and true concern for the Palestinian lives.
<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/who-francesca-albanese-and-why-us-sanctioning-her" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/who-francesca-albanese-and-why-us-sanctioning-her&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw20yskkOgQnGwIZn16Xbe_w">Francesca Albanese</a>, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, occupied since 1967, is a real hero who understands the pain of Palestinians, and who has worked day and night preparing reports, giving lectures and interviews, and drawing world’s attention to the death and destruction caused by Israel in Gaza.
<img decoding="async" class="CToWUd a6T" tabindex="0" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/meips/ADKq_NYurnNAnesY2Rxs2U_5YVMfMPOXLI51rxt4iBcneA_VZDIF5eOHkiCLofbOlrIeI1lYDO8-YZTFPlLaYEtnssjZkxmD1eBk584VGJeZ6sBgrUMTbrHcjgBqKEFYqIWJlPzA7XQrS9Uy4NdX2k0NvG7raDeCZH9UR8UuHA=s0-d-e1-ft#https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/image-1746364239.jpg?resize=730%2C410&quality=80" alt="" data-bit="iit" />United Nations’ Francesca Albanese defiant amid Israeli pressure and Gaza catastrophe IMAGE/<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/video/talk-to-al-jazeera/2025/5/4/uns-francesca-albanese-defiant-amid-israeli-pressure-and-gaza-catastrophe" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aljazeera.com/video/talk-to-al-jazeera/2025/5/4/uns-francesca-albanese-defiant-amid-israeli-pressure-and-gaza-catastrophe&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw3bs-2WxD_SLZFF8IKoI733">Al Jazeera</a>
One of her reports, “<a href="https://www.un.org/unispal/document/a-hrc-59-23-from-economy-of-occupation-to-economy-of-genocide-report-special-rapporteur-francesca-albanese-palestine-2025/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.un.org/unispal/document/a-hrc-59-23-from-economy-of-occupation-to-economy-of-genocide-report-special-rapporteur-francesca-albanese-palestine-2025/&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw3H_wQCuebDhvircDgbmzaT">From Economy Of Occupation To Economy Of Genocide</a>” – (A/HRC/59/23) has detailed how big corporations, including Caterpillar Inc. (US), Swedish Volvo Group, Spanish/Basque Construcciones Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, Keller Williams Realty LLC (global), Swiss Glencore plc, US-based Lockheed Martin, Microsoft (US), Alphabet Inc (Google) (US), Amazon.com Inc. (US) and even religious organizations, educational institutions, and all sorts of groups are involved. (See the full report <a href="https://www.un.org/unispal/document/a-hrc-59-23-from-economy-of-occupation-to-economy-of-genocide-report-special-rapporteur-francesca-albanese-palestine-2025/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.un.org/unispal/document/a-hrc-59-23-from-economy-of-occupation-to-economy-of-genocide-report-special-rapporteur-francesca-albanese-palestine-2025/&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw3H_wQCuebDhvircDgbmzaT">here</a>.)
The <a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2025/7/10/francesca_albanese_sanctions" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.democracynow.org/2025/7/10/francesca_albanese_sanctions&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw0iJ1y6uKdVjWymV97fb7XD">US government sanctioned Albanese</a> for calling out companies profiting from the Israeli genocide by selling services, goods, and arms to Israel.
Albanese responded:
<blockquote>“<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/9/us-sanctions-un-expert-albanese-over-israel-criticism" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/9/us-sanctions-un-expert-albanese-over-israel-criticism&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw384j_hqTHNiCqIj2zoQrly">No comment on mafia style intimidation techniques</a>.” “Busy reminding member states of their obligations to stop and punish genocide. And those who profit from it.”</blockquote>
(The website Change.org is collecting signatures for a petition<a href="https://www.change.org/p/nominate-francesca-albanese-for-nobel-peace-prize-a994861c-9df4-49cc-9235-e4662e333182?recruited_by_id=79502f00-61be-11ea-ac85-91879f4e21d5" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.change.org/p/nominate-francesca-albanese-for-nobel-peace-prize-a994861c-9df4-49cc-9235-e4662e333182?recruited_by_id%3D79502f00-61be-11ea-ac85-91879f4e21d5&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw14uXvfYmRB3IcVFlzbPX9j"> </a>to nominate Francesca Albanese for a Nobel Peace Prize <a href="https://www.change.org/p/nominate-francesca-albanese-for-nobel-peace-prize-a994861c-9df4-49cc-9235-e4662e333182?recruited_by_id=79502f00-61be-11ea-ac85-91879f4e21d5" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.change.org/p/nominate-francesca-albanese-for-nobel-peace-prize-a994861c-9df4-49cc-9235-e4662e333182?recruited_by_id%3D79502f00-61be-11ea-ac85-91879f4e21d5&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw14uXvfYmRB3IcVFlzbPX9j">here</a>.)
Many Arab countries and Turkey have been <a href="https://globeistan.com/?p=110508" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://globeistan.com/?p%3D110508&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw2HRWae4Kc-8qJ9N2RNMJaM">doing business</a> with Israel for a long time.
Israel has murdered <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/11/here-are-the-names-of-the-journalists-israel-killed-in-gaza" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/11/here-are-the-names-of-the-journalists-israel-killed-in-gaza&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw0jXURJIKhXBpsAhldZ2LXL">more than 270 journalists</a> and media workers in Gaza who were risking their lives and reporting on the genocide. These reporters could have been nominated.
Likewise, Palestinian nurses, doctors, aid workers, and so many other people deserved the Nobel too for serving humanity’s most devastated victims.
In a way it is good that <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/who-francesca-albanese-and-why-us-sanctioning-her" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/who-francesca-albanese-and-why-us-sanctioning-her&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw20yskkOgQnGwIZn16Xbe_w">Francesca Albanese</a>, journalists in Gaza, nurses and other health workers didn’t get the Nobel Peace Prize; they deserve something better than the tainted Nobel Peace Prize.
[2] British economist <a href="https://mronline.org/2023/06/06/why-chinas-socialist-economy-is-more-efficient-than-capitalism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://mronline.org/2023/06/06/why-chinas-socialist-economy-is-more-efficient-than-capitalism/&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw1f7fdwAK_yUvdgxivsTmRg">John Ross</a> told an interviewer <a href="https://asiatimes.com/2025/10/cmon-nobel-committee-zhu-rongji-is-96-do-the-right-thing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://asiatimes.com/2025/10/cmon-nobel-committee-zhu-rongji-is-96-do-the-right-thing/&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw2e_WcYInkoRCai71WsILpT">Chinese economists</a> should have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for the last four decades. <a href="https://asiatimes.com/2025/10/cmon-nobel-committee-zhu-rongji-is-96-do-the-right-thing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://asiatimes.com/2025/10/cmon-nobel-committee-zhu-rongji-is-96-do-the-right-thing/&source=gmail&ust=1762357238450000&usg=AOvVaw2e_WcYInkoRCai71WsILpT">Han Feizi</a> agrees and points out the reason:
<blockquote>A 50x increase in GDP since 1978 for 1.4 billion people has certainly been more impactful than, say, a neat little math tool whose most primary use case is to match US and Canadian medical students with residency programs.</blockquote>The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/nobel-prize-or-not-trump-is-the-winner/">Nobel Prize or Not, Trump is the Winner!</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>Faith, Fire, and the Table We Build</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/faith-fire-and-the-table-we-build/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Sammy Attoh]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 04 Nov 2025 16:01:04 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Classism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Economic Inequality]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Justice]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Poverty]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[avarice]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[dogma]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[greed]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=162750</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Our assembly here transcends mere consensus; it is an urgent summons to awakening. We speak of a table, not hewn from material wealth or embellished by status, but forged in the crucible of collective memory. Its surface is etched with the silent pleas of the forgotten, the poignant elegies of the disenfranchised, and the unyielding […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/faith-fire-and-the-table-we-build/">Faith, Fire, and the Table We Build</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Our assembly here transcends mere consensus; it is an urgent summons to awakening. We speak of a table, not hewn from material wealth or embellished by status, but forged in the crucible of collective memory. Its surface is etched with the silent pleas of the forgotten, the poignant elegies of the disenfranchised, and the unyielding tenacity of those who refuse to be erased from existence. This is a sanctuary where entry requires no credentials, where the famished find sustenance without interrogation, and the wounded are not compelled to bare their scars. Even ghosts have a seats and the the echoes of history are afforded a place, for the past, too, demands its rightful seat at our communal feast.
We inhabit an epoch where avarice has shed its pejorative cloak, emerging instead as a celebrated virtue, paraded in opulent attire within the hallowed halls of power. It is the silent architect of our societal schisms, the unseen force that plucks sustenance from the hands of the innocent, offering meager alms disguised as benevolence. Greed, in its modern iteration, transcends individual failing; it is a meticulously constructed system, institutionalized and consecrated by the very language of progress. It erects empires upon the exploited, transmutes fundamental human needs into lucrative profit margins, and indoctrinates us into a warped metric where worth is measured by accumulation, not enlightenment.
The pervasive chasm of inequality is no accidental byproduct; it is a deliberate construct, meticulously assembled, policy by policy, silence by silence. It is the grim harvest of decisions made in insulated chambers, where the voices of the vulnerable are never heard, where justice is bartered for expediency, and where the powerful contort societal rules to perpetuate their dominion at the cost of the common good. The bitter fruit of this inequity now bursts beyond the confines of poverty lines and neglected enclaves, igniting global unrest, fueling conflicts, and bleeding across nations. A world fractured by this insatiable hunger for more is undeniably hemorrhaging.
Conflicts erupt not solely from ideological clashes, but from profound desperation—while the very architects of this disparity grow ever more engorged with ill-gotten gains, thriving on the very chaos they helped orchestrate. They peddle instruments of destruction to all sides, erect barriers against the repercussions of their actions, and label it strategic foresight. Yet, we know better. We understand that true peace cannot be purchased with bloodshed, nor can genuine justice be outsourced or delegated.
This table—this hallowed, defiant nexus—is beyond their ownership. It is meticulously crafted by those who carry the weight of memory, by those who resolutely refuse to consign the names of the disappeared, the displaced, and the discarded to oblivion. It is adorned by hands trembling not with fear, but with conviction, and hearts ablaze with the inextinguishable fire of righteous justice. Here, our fare is not corporeal sustenance, but remembrance itself, seasoned with an unwavering refusal to forget. The acrid taste of injustice endures far longer than any transient banquet.
This is not a casual repast; it is a profound reckoning. A sacred communion of awakened consciences. A confluence of spirits who comprehend that silence equates to complicity, and that authentic love—a love that is truly transformative—can never remain neutral. This is scripture unchained. Love, brought to a fervent boil. Truth, served with unflinching candor. And the ultimate decree? No dogma is prerequisite. No labels are affixed at the threshold. Only a singular, profound directive: Arrive with an empty soul, and depart profoundly renewed.The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/faith-fire-and-the-table-we-build/">Faith, Fire, and the Table We Build</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>Sanctuary Won and Lost</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/sanctuary-won-and-lost/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[J.S. O’Keefe]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 04 Nov 2025 16:00:22 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Fiction]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[lobotomy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[stretch]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=162702</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Human beings tend to long for a refuge, and occasionally find one. And there exist places, outside of geography, that serve as playgrounds of thought, shared intimately between people. Even though these spaces are never physical, they can still generate strong connection through unspoken understanding. The existence of such chimeric islands fosters a sense of […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/sanctuary-won-and-lost/">Sanctuary Won and Lost</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Human beings tend to long for a refuge, and occasionally find one. 
And there exist places, outside of geography, that serve as playgrounds of thought, shared intimately between people. Even though these spaces are never physical, they can still generate strong connection through unspoken understanding. The existence of such chimeric islands fosters a sense of having sanctuary where true identity and original ideas can be revealed, free from governmental restrictions and polite society’s moralistic expectations. 
But, eventually, the landscape shifts, dark forces get wise to the game. The elites believe they cannot allow uncontrolled concepts cropping up all over, threatening the permanence of the system. The sanctuary is revealed to be subject to the tides of political whim and the blow of the heavy hand. 
The ensuing ritual of claiming and confessing reminds us, even shards of dissent are perceived perilous by the higher echelon. The ultimatum: Stretch only as far as your blanket reaches. Your other option: lobotomy.
The world moves on and becomes zombie land.The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/sanctuary-won-and-lost/">Sanctuary Won and Lost</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>Accomplishing Change</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/accomplishing-change/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Dan Lieberman]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 03 Nov 2025 16:05:07 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Biology]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Capitalism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Economy/Economics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Evolution]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Health/Medical]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Alzheimer’s Disease]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[epigenesis]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[evidence]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[finches]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[inheritance of acquired characteristics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Lamarck]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Mars]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[NASA.]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[natural selection]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[peppered moths]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Radiation]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[scientific method]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[space exploration]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[The Viking I]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[vitamins]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=162716</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Accomplishing change in the institutions that control and manipulate society for their personal benefit has been difficult. Inability to succeed in the endeavor is due to the inability to create the organizations that can effectively oppose the powers that exercise control. This control is maintained by investment. Protecting the investment by preventing alternative teaching and […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/accomplishing-change/">Accomplishing Change</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Accomplishing change in the institutions that control and manipulate society for their personal benefit has been difficult. Inability to succeed in the endeavor is due to the inability to create the organizations that can effectively oppose the powers that exercise control. This control is maintained by investment. Protecting the investment by preventing alternative teaching and preaching is the first line of defense. Knowledge is a challenge to power.
Modern science and scientific methods promote developments, analyze problems, and guide solutions to the problems. Those in control, more and more, proceed with archaic science, in which they are invested, and eschew scientific methods that interfere with the conclusions they prefer.
A two-part article examines a few examples that explain the dilemma.
Part I – The Social
Economics
Take economics, which is accepted as a dismal science. If it were a science, there would not be several schools of economics in the same disciplines, each having its own endowed college. Economic education is dominated by theories that defy practical applications and applications that cannot predict, prevent, or ameliorate periodic crises. Students learn economics from unverified theories, many contradicting each other, which leads to confused understandings of the discipline and complicated approaches to resolve problems. <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/db6b2379-84ee-498d-a7e6-b0825ee30323?j=eyJ1Ijoiam4wMmoifQ.PaddeBtKle9joHJvDN3ueADzsKO9yeCM5BKLmMw0ldw" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://substack.com/redirect/db6b2379-84ee-498d-a7e6-b0825ee30323?j%3DeyJ1Ijoiam4wMmoifQ.PaddeBtKle9joHJvDN3ueADzsKO9yeCM5BKLmMw0ldw&source=gmail&ust=1762197037774000&usg=AOvVaw2DWjGOfEDKLAoHLBABL0-A">I examined five accepted theories, proved them wrong</a>, and sent my findings to Economic Department heads in about 50 universities. Heard from only one individual. Others were content with not examining the possibility that they may be teaching falsehoods
True science demands an accepted postulate from which theoretical analysis continues. Capitalism had its contradictions that led to “boom” and “bust,” until some wise economists realized that government intervention in the economic system could ameliorate the intensity of the swings. Why has intervention worked? Capitalism cannot generate more capital and advance without the money supply increasing. Because money enters the economy, from either bank loans (private debt) or by Federal Reserve open market operations (public debt), all money is debt. The latter is a postulate for the Capitalist system.
The postulate leads to Capitalism advancing a far as public debt can be sustained. Credit reaches a peak and, as debt is repaid, the money supply shrinks and demand for products diminish. Capitalism has a short life. Enter government borrowing at lower interest rates and able to roll over the debt, essentially never repaying the debt. Add government spending in a managed economy and Capitalism is rescued. Capitalists who decry government intervention do not realize that their breath depends on government supplying the oxygen.
Why is this significant?
Scientific method starts with an accepted postulate. From “all money is debt,” we proceed along a defined trail of proofs that uncover the workings of the economy and not along a confused path determined by who shouts louder. A defined path leads to predictable outcomes; erratic assumptions lead to catastrophes.
Natural selection
Another bête noir is natural selection. How can natural selection explain the development of the complex human body with its autonomic nervous systems, emotions, and biological apparatuses that can only exist if all their parts arose in a defined order or simultaneously? Doubts of natural selection’s authenticity are contemptuously squashed. Alternatives theories are ridiculed. Directed evolution or Intelligent Design, where a species guides its development in response to the environment, is sidetracked to being a belief in a higher being, and is identified with the Discovery Institute, which is a mixture of scientists and theologians.
Lamarck’s theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics has been <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/eeec1130-2cba-4253-98b3-4cb8daf1400d?j=eyJ1Ijoiam4wMmoifQ.PaddeBtKle9joHJvDN3ueADzsKO9yeCM5BKLmMw0ldw" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://substack.com/redirect/eeec1130-2cba-4253-98b3-4cb8daf1400d?j%3DeyJ1Ijoiam4wMmoifQ.PaddeBtKle9joHJvDN3ueADzsKO9yeCM5BKLmMw0ldw&source=gmail&ust=1762197037774000&usg=AOvVaw39T4PJpGma9Wq9h6lafDPI">proven true in many studies</a> and adequately explains what natural selection cannot explain. The theory is intentionally derided by the entrenched cadre of natural selection supporters. Their principal complaint is that no mechanism exists to inherit the characteristics, now contradicted by observations that acquired characteristics have been inherited by <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/302d445a-5b07-41a4-9610-48022fcf3268?j=eyJ1Ijoiam4wMmoifQ.PaddeBtKle9joHJvDN3ueADzsKO9yeCM5BKLmMw0ldw" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://substack.com/redirect/302d445a-5b07-41a4-9610-48022fcf3268?j%3DeyJ1Ijoiam4wMmoifQ.PaddeBtKle9joHJvDN3ueADzsKO9yeCM5BKLmMw0ldw&source=gmail&ust=1762197037774000&usg=AOvVaw3wqSJh-GCuSNwRu6v-K4az">epigenetics</a>, and might be by other mechanisms that still defy discovery. No academic discussion of the topic is allowed.
Empirical proof for natural selection is meagre and what is offered is better understood by inheritance of acquired characteristics.
1. Peppered Moths: Before the Industrial Revolution in England, light-colored peppered moths were common, camouflaged against lichen-covered trees. Dark moths were rare. With industrial pollution, tree trunks darkened with soot, and the lichen died. The dark moths were now better camouflaged from bird predators. The population rapidly shifted to almost entirely dark moths. This has been cited as a direct observation of natural selection, of shifting allele frequencies due to selective pressure.
Note the phrase, “The population rapidly shifted to almost entirely dark moths.” Natural selection is a long-long term process. Inheritance of acquired characteristics, in which genes are switched “on” and ‘off” to adapt to the environment, is a rapid process. Michael Nachman and colleagues at the University of Arizona have pinpointed camouflage mutations of rock pocket mice to a gene MC1R, which acts as a control for how dark and light pigments are produced. Same with peppered moths.
2. Darwin’s Finches: Peter and Rosemary Grant spent decades studying finches in the Galápagos. They documented that during a severe drought, birds with larger and deeper beaks were better able to crack the tough seeds and survived. The average beak size in the population increased measurably after a single season. When rains returned and smaller seeds became abundant, the average beak size shifted back. The Grants determined this was direct evidence of natural selection in response to environmental change.
Note again the rapid change, not characteristic of natural selection and the “response to environmental change,” which is a characteristic of Lamarck’s inheritance of acquired characteristics. Clifford Tabin and colleagues at Harvard Medical School in Boston have shown that a protein (Bmp) determines beak size and shape in Darwin’s finches. For the switch that turns on genes involved in increasing beak length, the investigation focused on calmodulin, a messenger protein that transduces calcium signals by binding calcium ions and then modifying their interactions with various target proteins. Change the environment, stimulate calmodulin, and change the beak size.
3. Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria: When a population of bacteria was exposed to an antibiotic, natural selection advocates claimed a few bacteria may have had a random mutation that made them resistant. The antibiotic killed the susceptible bacteria, leaving the resistant ones to reproduce. The next generation was almost entirely resistant. They saw this in hospitals worldwide, forcing the development of new drugs. To them, this is natural selection in action.
Poor reasoning. Harvard experimenters used bacteria that could not grow in a specific environment because they lacked a working gene for an enzyme needed to metabolize the only available food. By genetic engineering, the bacteria were given versions of the necessary gene in which the coded message was, in effect, scrambled and therefore useless. Most, if not all, the bacteria failed to grow. After a few days they began thriving, feeding and reproducing. The distribution of bacteria colonies that survived showed that many bacteria had unscrambled the code and performed self-directed mutations that corrected the deficiency. Self-directed mutations and not random mutations enabled the bacteria to survive.
Scientific fulfillment is not the only reason driving the Neo-Lamarckians. Lamarckian evolution, as a driving force of directed evolution, enhances social progress. Natural Selection deters progress.
<ul>
<li>Darwin speaks of competition. Lamarck speaks of cooperation.</li>
<li>Darwin represents survival of the fittest. Lamarck speaks of the species making itself fit.</li>
<li>Natural selection makes humankind a pawn of random mutations that indirectly determine its fate. Inheritance of acquired characteristics has humankind more directly involved in its fate.</li>
<li>Natural Selection is harsh, cruel and insensitive. Inheritance of acquired characteristics is optimistic, soothing, and sensitive.</li>
<li>Natural Selection has not shown practical applications. Inheritance of acquired characteristics promises practical applications that can benefit humankind.</li>
<li>Random mutations can be lethal. Adaptive mutations are beneficial.</li>
</ul>
Medicine
The medical profession and its allied government agencies, services, pharmaceutical and medical equipment industries condemn themselves by their excessive public relations and product advertising. Similar to Trump, those who constantly tell us how great they are must be defending themselves against exposure. Watching television is watching a few minutes of entertainment, interrupted by several minutes of commercials for drugs that have esoteric names, deadly side effects, and may, together with exercise and healthy foods (another questionable industry), decrease your symptoms by a few percent.
Medical science has developed drugs that combat disease and enhance life. Surgical methods that repair and replace organs and bones have been extraordinary. On the other hand, excessive use of dubious drugs has hampered the reputation of the medical profession; medical advances have become less allied with enriching pedestrian life and more allied with enriching corporate life. Medicine has become more promotion, using dubious statistics and prejudicial observations rather than theory and refined <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/6e78c246-c2b2-4b65-8ae8-aecbc76b1726?j=eyJ1Ijoiam4wMmoifQ.PaddeBtKle9joHJvDN3ueADzsKO9yeCM5BKLmMw0ldw" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://substack.com/redirect/6e78c246-c2b2-4b65-8ae8-aecbc76b1726?j%3DeyJ1Ijoiam4wMmoifQ.PaddeBtKle9joHJvDN3ueADzsKO9yeCM5BKLmMw0ldw&source=gmail&ust=1762197037774000&usg=AOvVaw3naT4_Ho52208Q3DUAkbkV">heuristics</a>to guide diagnostics and health solutions. As examples:
Daily intake of vitamins and minerals are recommended enhancements for increasing the quality of life. Are there any benefits to multivitamins? <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/159b4ca3-c587-48aa-a0a6-e8535aa1542c?j=eyJ1Ijoiam4wMmoifQ.PaddeBtKle9joHJvDN3ueADzsKO9yeCM5BKLmMw0ldw" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://substack.com/redirect/159b4ca3-c587-48aa-a0a6-e8535aa1542c?j%3DeyJ1Ijoiam4wMmoifQ.PaddeBtKle9joHJvDN3ueADzsKO9yeCM5BKLmMw0ldw&source=gmail&ust=1762197037774000&usg=AOvVaw1-fxNexDj1nbp_ApWQaMY9">Nutrition experts at Johns Hopkins are dubious</a>.
<blockquote>Half of all American adults—including 70 percent of those age 65 and older—take a multivitamin or another vitamin or mineral supplement regularly. The total price tag exceeds $12 billion per year—money that Johns Hopkins nutrition experts say might be better spent on nutrient-packed foods like fruit, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products.</blockquote>
<blockquote>The researchers concluded that multivitamins don’t reduce the risk for heart disease, cancer, cognitive decline (such as memory loss and slowed-down thinking) or an early death. They also noted that in prior studies, vitamin E and beta-carotene supplements appear to be harmful, especially at high doses.</blockquote>
Drug trials and testing made made to appear as if getting approval is a major advancement in therapy. Examine the highly touted <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/171263ca-1510-4463-99f9-5b96891d0202?j=eyJ1Ijoiam4wMmoifQ.PaddeBtKle9joHJvDN3ueADzsKO9yeCM5BKLmMw0ldw" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://substack.com/redirect/171263ca-1510-4463-99f9-5b96891d0202?j%3DeyJ1Ijoiam4wMmoifQ.PaddeBtKle9joHJvDN3ueADzsKO9yeCM5BKLmMw0ldw&source=gmail&ust=1762197037774000&usg=AOvVaw2xLILXcK-iOGHho1vb99Ls">Lecanemab and Donanemab as Therapies for Alzheimer’s Disease</a>.
<blockquote>In summary, the new mAb do not improve cognition but rather reduce the decline by an arguably smaller magnitude than donepezil and below the individual threshold of perception for most patients, carrying a worrisome safety profile. The advantage of these drugs seems to be related more to the theoretical possibility that they are disease modifying (in keeping with the prevailing framework of amyloid toxicity), rather than in their actual risk/cost–benefit trade-off. Before these expensive drugs are administered broadly, both the safety profile of subgroups and the efficacy relative to the benchmark drug donepezil should ideally be tested. If this does not happen, we risk adopting a potentially less effective drug with significant potential harm over the benchmark drug on the market, donepezil. Excess deaths occur with mAb infusions along with frequent brain swelling and bleeding. This concern is all the more acute given the acceleration of brain volume loss they induce (Alves et al., 2023)</blockquote>
<blockquote>The small and uncertain benefits, the worrisome and poorly understood risks, and the very high costs of treatment suggest that these drugs are promoted largely out of theoretical rather than practical benefits. For patients and society—both of whom bear the costs of this treatment—caveat emptor.</blockquote>
Left out of medical studies and the surge to market drugs for profit is an important consideration; <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/76531972-8ac3-4d1c-b967-b80f24d15c09?j=eyJ1Ijoiam4wMmoifQ.PaddeBtKle9joHJvDN3ueADzsKO9yeCM5BKLmMw0ldw" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://substack.com/redirect/76531972-8ac3-4d1c-b967-b80f24d15c09?j%3DeyJ1Ijoiam4wMmoifQ.PaddeBtKle9joHJvDN3ueADzsKO9yeCM5BKLmMw0ldw&source=gmail&ust=1762197037774000&usg=AOvVaw3eBRMy0LBI0vaZZ2FC2fdS">health is a socio-economic problem.</a> Reports have shown that a large inequality in the distributions of wealth and income are more significant factors than either absolute poverty or low income in determining the health of deprived populations.
The research and analysis that demonstrate the significance of effect of disparity in income on health emphasizes the unwillingness of social, medical and economic disciplines to validate the research. During the last century, advances in health were more due to advances in the socio-economic system, and much less to medical advances.
<center><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/02bcb565-fb67-440f-b8c7-ed5529fa3d6c?j=eyJ1Ijoiam4wMmoifQ.PaddeBtKle9joHJvDN3ueADzsKO9yeCM5BKLmMw0ldw" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://substack.com/redirect/02bcb565-fb67-440f-b8c7-ed5529fa3d6c?j%3DeyJ1Ijoiam4wMmoifQ.PaddeBtKle9joHJvDN3ueADzsKO9yeCM5BKLmMw0ldw&source=gmail&ust=1762197037775000&usg=AOvVaw3sUV4zg_ApJNShpDbF9J8O"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="CToWUd" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/meips/ADKq_NYzR1itwJw7ybF2wVfMtZE7_Oy_DtL4nKnr0abDH3qvK0-iJ8jfv704BKBgFre6Xg2e0NHo_0x2fIQgYFSAXDygWPDpyBKEhUwTuDi9NIGyYIrHcYofmZ6i09UgAsxeCvxESjCtJQkBu_z_3qDlAWdH5Bpvg58BFD8n2uZy7TP2tYv2QSDdLJMqySQzcpf2RaoztPypgjY75AbMvTipoXxtRiGk_xwdsnRQVm4-B4e5NqOUzmdUM8r55p01low2Ay9HPx9z06YdmeB8-wV83RE7tikf5U2mB2iZ3SrgDDJhLyWDT8iqMHfP6tzmL8J1vIIr=s0-d-e1-ft#https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!SqUE!,w_469,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8e29a877-71c1-4259-a3a4-78d6e1c0783b_469x552.png" alt="" width="469" height="552" data-bit="iit" /></a></center>The medical profession credits the decrease in mortality and the conquering of many communicable diseases to the discoveries and uses of vaccines and antibiotics. Historical trends on mortality and disease clearly indicate that the infant and adult mortality rate steadily declined due to the economic benefits of the industrial revolution, which included improved scientific knowledge, increased incomes, improved health care and nutrition.
At the same time government regulation and social factors enabled cleaner water and safer environments. Although the introduction of vaccines and antibiotics have had a role in controlling communicable diseases, these diseases were already on a decline before modern controlled methods.
If social and economic inequalities cause inequalities in health, then it’s obvious that reducing the former will reduce the latter. This means attacking the wage and benefit scales from both sides; increasing wages and benefits for the less fortunate and reducing the wages and benefits for the more fortunate. Why should the person who labors at irregular hours to clean a floor be much less rewarded than the person who walks the floor and labors easily during regular hours? Income can be more fairly distributed with total wages and benefits in the system remaining the same. The health will increase for those presently at the low end of the scale and will stay the same for those at the high end of the scale.
The United States government has successfully regulated behavior (tobacco laws, intravenous users, and pollution), and this type of regulation has greatly improved the health of its citizens. The government has also regulated the economic system (minimum wage laws, anti-trust laws, communication and exchange commissions, and banking laws) and this regulation has served to improve the health of its citizens. The government can do more for public health by applying pressure that narrows income distribution.
Space Exploration
Walking among the stars is an unequalled scientific accomplishment. In space exploration, there is no lack of application of scientific methods to resolve immense problems and create gigantic achievements. The more satisfactory word is benefits. What benefit have the scientific achievements in space exploration been to mankind?
I am referring specifically to manned space efforts and not to some of the unmanned space explorations or to satellite use in telecommunication, geolocation services, and surveillance. <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/d0314cd2-3cdc-4d22-8924-175bcee4a98c?j=eyJ1Ijoiam4wMmoifQ.PaddeBtKle9joHJvDN3ueADzsKO9yeCM5BKLmMw0ldw" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://substack.com/redirect/d0314cd2-3cdc-4d22-8924-175bcee4a98c?j%3DeyJ1Ijoiam4wMmoifQ.PaddeBtKle9joHJvDN3ueADzsKO9yeCM5BKLmMw0ldw&source=gmail&ust=1762197037775000&usg=AOvVaw1CFK2dFRdc8Yr4AqpeyybI">NASA’s list of 20 breakthroughs in space</a> aboard the international space station are not impressive and many could have been done on solid earth in an artificially created gravity free environment. Maybe, it is just me, but I don’t care to examine moon and Mars rocks and am content with what is seen by telescope. The Viking I landing on Mars generated enticing headlines of “life discovered on Mars,” and degenerated into a possibility of traces of water under the barren landscape.
Sending manned spacecraft to Mars baffles me. Remove a helmet for one breath, and you are dead in seconds. Your blood will literally boil, and that’s not even the worst part. Mars has no ozone layer in its atmosphere as Earth does, and ultraviolet radiation from the Sun and astronomical sources reaches the surface unhindered. NASA scientists reported that “a possible Mars mission may involve great radiation risk, with the calculated radiation dose being 0.66 sieverts round-trip while the agency’s career radiation limit for astronauts is 1 sievert. In mid-September 2017, NASA reported temporarily doubled radiation levels on the surface of Mars with an aurora 25 times brighter than any observed earlier due to a massive unexpected solar storm. A thin layer of gold on current space helmet visors shields the face from harmful parts of the Sun’s spectrum, with visor designs having the goal of allowing astronauts to see while blocking ultraviolet and heat besides meeting pressure requirements. Breathing equipment would need radiation shielding that makes a nuclear reactor’s containment system look basic.”
Breathing carbon dioxide, fighting dust storms, enduring temperature swings of -80 degrees Fahrenheit to 70 degrees in one day, and protecting the body from radiation is not a healthy way to live. Not much energy nor time left to build a sand castle on the red planet.
Conclusion
Obtaining control is prerequisite to accomplishing change. Concentration of efforts on imposing rather than exposing, confronting rather than debating, doing rather than preaching, teaching rather than intellectualizing, and not giving lip service to those who seal the lips augment the chances of gaining control. True, easily said than done. The depth and tightness of the mechanisms of control are difficult to reach and unbind.
Part II will examine the political control that has made the United States party to the genocide of the Palestinian people.The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/accomplishing-change/">Accomplishing Change</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>In the Time of the Open Secret: Palestine and the Fundamental Choice of Our Era</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/in-the-time-of-the-open-secret-palestine-and-the-fundamental-choice-of-our-era/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Amel-Ba’al]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 03 Nov 2025 16:02:09 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Crimes against Humanity]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[History]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Imperialism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Israel (part of Mandate Palestine)]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Palestine]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Resistance]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Zionism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Chaim Weizmann]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[David Ben Gurion]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ghassan Kanafani]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[occupation]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Theodor Herzl]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Lenin]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ze’ev Jabotinsky]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=162711</guid>
<description><![CDATA[“Imperialism is capitalism in that stage of development in which the dominance of monopolies and finance capital has established itself; in which the export of capital has acquired pronounced importance; in which the division of the world among the international trusts has begun; in which the division of all territories of the globe among the […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/in-the-time-of-the-open-secret-palestine-and-the-fundamental-choice-of-our-era/">In the Time of the Open Secret: Palestine and the Fundamental Choice of Our Era</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img decoding="async" class="sizing-normal" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iCgJ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2de8dce5-2e55-4d55-9456-0da3066155f5_960x679.jpeg" sizes="100vw" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iCgJ!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2de8dce5-2e55-4d55-9456-0da3066155f5_960x679.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iCgJ!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2de8dce5-2e55-4d55-9456-0da3066155f5_960x679.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iCgJ!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2de8dce5-2e55-4d55-9456-0da3066155f5_960x679.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iCgJ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2de8dce5-2e55-4d55-9456-0da3066155f5_960x679.jpeg 1456w" alt="" width="505" height="357.2" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/2de8dce5-2e55-4d55-9456-0da3066155f5_960x679.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":679,"width":960,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":83687,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":false,"topImage":true,"internalRedirect":"https://canaan48.substack.com/i/175677844?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F96229ff1-a747-4725-9ddd-2cb040cfd924_960x679.jpeg","isProcessing":false,"align":null,"offset":false}" />
<blockquote>“Imperialism is capitalism in that stage of development in which the dominance of monopolies and finance capital has established itself; in which the export of capital has acquired pronounced importance; in which the division of the world among the international trusts has begun; in which the division of all territories of the globe among the great capitalist powers has been completed.”
“Imperialism has the tendency to create among the nations a class of ‘rentiers’ (people who live by income from property or investments), a state which lives by the exploitation of labour of several overseas countries and colonies.”
—Lenin’s Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, 1916.</blockquote>
“Deep things are not necessarily complex, and simple things are not necessarily naive,”1 wrote the novelist and iconic revolutionary Ghassan Kanafani. “The real artistic bias is: How can a human being say something profound simply?”
We have already named <a href="https://canaan48.substack.com/p/the-convenient-lie" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">the lie of the passive citizen</a>. But to understand that lie, we must diagnose the system that requires it. This is not a dissection of a machine’s parts, but a diagnosis of its terminal condition. The great capitalist machinery of the West no longer produces dreams; it produces only ghosts. This is the parasitic, spectral phase of what Lenin identified as the highest stage of capitalism: ‘the dominance of monopolies and finance capital,’ a system whose completion was ‘the division of all territories of the globe among the great capitalist powers.’ Its foundations, laid with the stones of stolen continents and cemented with the blood of enslaved peoples, are now haunted by the very violence that built them. The chaos you see—the flailing leaders, the rotting institutions—is not a failure of the system. It is the system in its final, truthful phase, where the parade of clowns and strongmen are not anomalies but logical administrators for a state that has abandoned persuasion for pure coercion.
This is the era of the open secret, the great unmasking. And Palestine remains its crucible. The criminal logic of the settler-colonial project was articulated from the beginning with a chilling clarity. It echoes, right to left, across the foundational texts of political zionism.
The Austrian Theodor Herzl, the founder of political zionism, defined his own project in his appeal for help from the archetypal colonizer, Cecil Rhodes, with unambiguous clarity: “Because it is something colonial.”2 This was not an accusation from a critic, but the movement’s own self-identification. A generation later, the Russian right-wing zionist <a href="https://canaan48.substack.com/p/the-nonethic-of-the-iron-wall" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">Ze’ev Jabotinsky</a> codified the mandatory strategy of all colonization in his “Iron Wall” doctrine: it must proceed, he wrote, “in defiance of the will of the native population.”3 This is not a historical artifact. It is the active, breathing principle of the project.
The same logic was betrayed by the Russian centrist zionist Chaim Weizmann’s casual dismissal of the Palestinian people as “several hundred thousand Negroes”4 of “no significance.” It was confessed by the Polish “Labor” zionist <a href="https://canaan48.substack.com/p/why-should-the-arabs-not-make-peace" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">David Ben-Gurion</a>’s blunt admission: “We have taken their country.”5
Their words are the indictment. A conscious, ongoing program of displacement, articulated from its very origins. A project that became, simultaneously, the perfected model of the imperial enterprise and its most fanatical instrument.
The imperial core, having exhausted the external world to plunder, now turns its cannibalistic logic inward. The frontier is no longer overseas; it is the street, the neighborhood, the dissident. The police doctrines and weaponry engineered for the management of imprisoned populations in Gaza, Occupied Palestine, are now the standard arsenal for the pacification of the marginalized in New York, London and Berlin. The surveillance technology perfected on a captive people is marketed to governments for use on their own citizenry. The rhetoric that dehumanized the “native” as a demographic threat is now seamlessly directed at the immigrant, the poor, the political dissenter within the gates. There is no longer an “over there” and a “here.” There is only the expanding territory of the empire, and within it, a hierarchy of the controlled.
The strongman’s popularity is no mystery in this context. A demagogue is not an individual; he is a phenomenon—the type of maggot that swarms from the rot of a falling empire. This is the magic turning against the magician, the logical conclusion of a society that has dumbed down its population and forged them into consumerist individuals—a populace drowning in the psychic trauma of a meaningless existence. Such a populace will flock to anyone who offers a target for their rage and a spectacle of force. They would rather be actors in a nightmare than passengers on a derelict ship. This is the final stage of the bargain: the Western citizen-consumer, having traded their political soul for material comfort, now finds the comfort disappearing. All that remains is a hollowed-out identity, which the strongman fills with manufactured nationalist fury. They are given a flag to wave as their world burns, a scapegoat to blame for the encroaching cage whose blueprint was drawn in someone else’s stolen home.
Into this desolate landscape, the Palestinian people introduce a radical alternative: not a dream, but a reality.
The indigenous Palestinians are not an abstraction of resistance, but a society of existence—a people whose eternal roots predate the settler-colonial state that seeks to erase them. Their identity is not a reaction to occupation, but a positive, enduring culture built on the land itself; a land that holds their ancestors, their olive groves, and their stories in the language of the place, Arabic. In the face of this deep-rooted reality, the colonial project can only be understood as a recent, foreign implant, a contingent political ideology defined by its violence and its need to negate what was already there.
This is a truth the European zionist colonialists’ most lucid strategists were forced to concede. As Ze’ev Jabotinsky admitted: “They look upon Palestine with the same instinctive love and true favor the Aztecs looked upon Mexico or any Sioux looked upon his prairie. Palestine will remain for the Palestinians not a borderland, but their birthplace, the center and basis of their own national existence.”6
The Palestinian struggle does not create this connection—it emerges from it. It is a defense born of a profound, pre-existing love and belonging. In the most profound sense, it is the land defending its people as much as the people defending their land.
The Palestinian cause, therefore, is the defense of this tangible, living world. It is the assertion that a homeland was not absent, but stolen—that, as Ghassan Kanafani wrote, this is “not a case of a people without a homeland, but of a people with a homeland that was stolen from them.”7 Consequently, their resistance is not merely political; it is the active, daily cultivation of life—sumud—in the face of a genocidal machine. It is the olive tree that refuses to wither; the student who learns in the rubble of a bombed university; the archivist collecting names that the bomber seeks to erase. This is the spirit embodied by Handala, the child created by Naji al-Ali—his back forever turned, his hands clasped in defiance, a perpetual witness who “will not end after my end,” as Naji told us. He is the unyielding conscience that the criminal can neither answer nor silence.
In this landscape, Occupied Palestine is the epicenter. It is the laboratory where the techniques of total control were perfected, and it is the mirror held up to the world. The unceasing resistance of the Palestinian people is the single greatest act of truth-telling in our time. Every child that points to the sky and names the bomber, every poem written in the dust, is a strike aimed at the heart of the imperial and colonial narrative, proving Kanafani’s dictum: “bodies fall but ideas endure.”
The struggle is not for a better version of the same system. It is a struggle between two irreconcilable forces. On one side, the force of enclosure, control, genocide, and death, built on the criminal premise that land can be emptied of its native people. On the other, the force of truth, justice, land, and liberation, a cause that, as Kanafani wrote, “is not a cause for Palestinians only, but a cause for every revolutionary, wherever he is, as a cause of the exploited and oppressed masses in our era.”8
There is no reforming a machine built on a colonizing, racist adventure. There is no petitioning a butcher to become a vegetarian. This is the fundamental choice. You are either upholding a dying order defined by the criminals who designed it, or you are aligning with a people defending existence and life itself. You are, in Kanafani’s words, part of the “generation who will give [the revolution] life.”
The project of the imperial West, built by war criminals and robbers, offers a future of managed decline and comfortable despair. Palestine, rooted in its people, offers a future, period.
ENDNOTES:The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/11/in-the-time-of-the-open-secret-palestine-and-the-fundamental-choice-of-our-era/">In the Time of the Open Secret: Palestine and the Fundamental Choice of Our Era</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.<div>1    Ghassan Kanafani, The introduction to his novel al-ʿĀshiq (The Lover), 1966.</div><div>2    Theodor Herzl: The Complete Diaries, Volume 3, January 11, 1901.</div><div>3    Ze’ev Jabotinsky, “The Iron Wall (We and the Arabs),” 1923.</div><div>4    Chaim Weizmann, The Letters and Papers of Chaim Weizmann, 1919.</div><div>5    David Ben-Gurion, Nahum Goldmann in his memoir The Jewish Paradox.</div><div>6    Ze’ev Jabotinsky, A speech titled “The East Bank of the Jordan,” in Warsaw, 1931, as cited in Avi Shlaim’s The Iron Wall.</div><div>7    Ghassan Kanafani, “Thoughts on Change and the ‘Blind Language,’” published in the newspaper Al-Muharrir, October 15.</div><div>8    Ghassan Kanafani, Final TV interview (ABC Australia), June 1972.</div>]]></content:encoded>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>

If you would like to create a banner that links to this page (i.e. this validation result), do the following:

Download the "valid RSS" banner.
Upload the image to your own server. (This step is important. Please do not link directly to the image on this server.)
Add this HTML to your page (change the image src attribute if necessary):

<a href="http://www.feedvalidator.org/check.cgi?url=https%3A//dissidentvoice.org/feed/"><img src="valid-rss-rogers.png" alt="[Valid RSS]" title="Validate my RSS feed" /></a>

If you would like to create a text link instead, here is the URL you can use:

http://www.feedvalidator.org/check.cgi?url=https%3A//dissidentvoice.org/feed/

Home · About · News · Docs · Terms