Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Behind the Great Western Firewall Is the Ugly Truth


By: Jeff J. Brown

Cross linked with 44 Days




The Great Western Firewall vs. the Great Firewall of China: different methodologies, identical results. (www.guardian.co.uk)

A truth untold is a lie. A fact hidden is censorship. – The Author

When I recently signed off of Reflections in Sinoland, saying I was not going to do any more columns for the time being, so as to write my third book, Red Letters – The Diaries of Xi Jinping, I really meant it. But an interesting and thought provoking series of events happened over the last couple of weeks, which has inspired me to write a non-fiction piece again.

This is a plea to everyone reading, that we Westerners had better wake up before it’s too late. If we don’t, we are going to continue to have many repetitions of Ukraine, Serbia, Georgia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Libya, Mali and the list goes on, non-stop, since the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. That was when the West’s elites perceived a genuine global threat to the status quo of capitalism and their dominion over Earth’s resources. Now with the world being more multipolar than ever, we come to China and Russia. As Western Empire’s decline accelerates, in desperation, America is trying to take down these two colossal civilizations. This, even as Russia and China work openly and secretly to interlock their cooperation and resistance. It is clear they are creating a unified front in the face of Western bellicosity. Yes, the United States is delusional and megalomaniac, but it’s frightening to know that if carried to its logical conclusion, it will mean the end of humanity as we know it.

A big part of this plea to my readers is for Westerners to quit using the mainstream media and to start seeking out alternative news sources, as frustratingly fractured as they are, and to invest a modicum of time to do some research and investigation along the way. A good place to start would be all the hyperlinks below and then take advantage of the list of resources at the end of this article. The other plea is to come to terms with just how evil and corrupt our Western governments and capital are, in spite of what we learned in school text books. All of our lives and future absolutely depend on it. You will see what I mean after reading this.

An author friend of mine sent me a hyperlink about Hillary Clinton and her possible political downfall. This is due to America’s decision to destroy Libya, using France and the UK as proxies. It was also a major slap in the face to China and Russia, who did not veto the US led, 2011 UN Security Council vote for a “no fly” zone over Libya. “No fly” as in bombs away, baby, much like Slim Pickens’ Major Kong riding bronco in Dr. Strangelove. We know how this flagrant disregard for international law is playing out. Under the guise of “humanitarian” wars, the West pushes its fatuous, well-worn R2P (so called “Responsibility to Protect”), to overthrow, or at least control, resource rich governments. In reality, R2P really means the West’s “Right to Plunder”.

According to this article series, Hillary apparently went over the heads of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the CIA to push through the bloody regime change. I replied to my friend that given Americans’ predilection to cheer on their government’s slaughter and maiming of millions of dark skinned, mostly Muslims, across the planet (not to mention, by current Kiev proxies, thousands of fair skinned Ukrainians as well), then surely this macho orchestration of Kaddafi’s murder might actually help her win the White House. I then said that even if Queen Clinton is not the Democratic candidate, her replacement will just be another Wall Street-Anglozionist-Russophobe one percenter, so what difference does it make? Think Joe Biden or John Kerry. His closing comment was that I was probably right, but “he despises Bill and Hillary Clinton with a passion”.

That got me to thinking about how much my thinking has evolved and grown in the last 4.5 years of living in China. In 2010, I thought Bill and Hillary were good leaders and capable politicians. I voted for Clinton twice and Obama the first time. By 2012, I futilely wrote in the Green Party presidential candidate on my Oklahoma ballot, as my awareness of the truth was growing. But I still thought that Hillary would make a great president. Not anymore. Being a dual national, that same year, I also voted for François Hollande, thinking that he, as a so called Socialist, would be different than Mini-Me Nicolas “W.” Sarkozy. Wrong again and if I have to, I’ll write in a name on my ballot for France’s elections in 2017.

Working as a school teacher affords me a lot of personal time. We work about 190 days a year and I can usually leave my professional life on campus, so I have my evenings and weekends to myself. As a result, since 2010, I have spent thousands of hours writing books, columns and more importantly, doing the necessary research to generate my work as accurately and as truthfully as possible. It is this massive amount of investigation that has opened my eyes about how the world really works. Especially revealing has been the West and its 500 years of brutal colonialism, with its exploitation of our planet’s human and natural resources. The myth is that the West has nobly done all this in the name of progress and the pursuit of knowledge. But the impetus has been and continues to be profit, Empire and global domination. To legitimize it all in the eyes of its citizens, throw in God, Country and King. Voilà, the annals of history as told by the Princes of Power.

The second thing that happened these last few days was an exchange of emails with another writer friend of mine. This time, it was to congratulate them for having an article published in a heavyweight American newspaper. In their article, they forcefully condemned a Communist country’s use of censorship to control its version of history. To get published in this newspaper is a quite an achievement. It is one of those news sources which is so well respected, that if they print something, it’s the truth. And if they don’t write about an event happening in the world, it never occurred. So, my friend can now stake claim as a mainstream “made” (wo)man in the news establishment world, and I am truly happy for them and their success. It is a dream that many a writer and journalist fantasize doing.

Yes, this Communist country’s censorship is more overt compared to what I like to call the West’s Great Western Firewall (GWF), but the aims and results are identical. Why do countries like Cuba, China, Vietnam, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, Ecuador and countless others not have faith in the West’s tried and true GWF, where the state and capital know that merely controlling the mainstream media is enough to define what is true, not true, what happened and didn’t happen? That the alternative media is too diffuse, too fractured and ultimately only constitutes feeble background noise, attenuated over time?

The difference is that for 80% of the world’s people and their governments, they have been the victim of five centuries of Western colonialism and exploitation. And all these countries continue to be ceaselessly assailed by so called Western “civil society” and “democracy” NGOs, to effect psyops, destabilization and ultimately, regime change through assassination, coups and armed uprisings (not to mention the economic and social predations of the IMF and World Bank). With these examples of “superior” Western virtues and civilization trying to tear the 80%’s countries apart, one can empathize with their belief that they need to be more controlling and heavy handed than maybe they would like to be. Being the aggressor and not the victim, the West plays by a different, privileged set of rules. For 500 years, the West has had and continues to own the copyright to the human race’s history books and current events. These other countries must battle against this massive, distorting prism of perceived reality.

A long time ago, I had a girlfriend who had been savagely raped at a young age. She kept a pistol in her purse 24/7, even going to the bathroom, and slept with it under her pillow. She was paranoid and trusting of nobody, not even me in our intimate relationship. Can't say that I blame her. And she reminds me of China, Vietnam, Cuba and all rest of the 80% of the people of the world, who were and are being savagely raped during 500 years of Western colonialism. Like my old friend, I can empathize with their paranoia and lack of trust.

In any case, the West can be just has heavy handed at censorship as these more criticized countries. Westerners who criticize Baba Beijing for setting up thousands of social media accounts to help control the official government narrative don’t realize that their governments spend billions doing exactly the same thing. If you think all those thousands of comment trolls who haunt mainstream and alternative websites across the planet work for free, think again.

I have learned over the last 4.5 years that my friend’s mainstream acceptance can sometimes come at a cost. They replied to another email I had sent. My original email contained a link for an article that explained the background history of this very same Communist country that my friend wrote about. The revelations in this article that I sent were written by a non-establishment journalist who researches FOIA released documents, testimonies, court documents, interviews, etc., and has contacts in the dark, dank netherworld of spydom. I was very surprised to get back a reply from my writer friend, saying that this investigative journalist is, “a nut case conspiracy theorist”. I wanted to reply to this riposte that I wasn’t sure who was sending it, the friend I’ve known for 30 years, or the one who wrote the article for that high powered, establishment newspaper. I joked to myself saying maybe they wrote it, knowing that the NSA and America’s 15 other spy agencies would store a copy for future reference.

Alvin Toffler said,

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.

Being outside of the West for the last 4.5 years has afforded me the opportunity to leave the Matrix and its iron fisted control of the Washington-London-Paris consensus. As a born scientist, I am in a never ending quest for the truth, as uncomfortable as it may be to discover. All my research has allowed me the luxury of unlearning and relearning humanity’s ancient and modern history, up to our resulting current events. I am not sure, if I were still living in the West, if I could have broken my brainwashed chains and set myself free from the bondage of its suffocating conventional narrative.

I worked in the corporate world for 25 years before becoming a teacher. Like almost all of us, I felt compelled to spout “the imperial party line” of the West’s tightly scripted version of history and current events. In fact, until 2010, I still believed much of it was true. Conformity is society’s most powerful control mechanism. Those who don’t go along to get along can pay a very heavy price. Just ask Malcolm X, JFK, RFK, MLK, Oscar Romero, Gandhi, Ché Guevara, the four American nuns raped and killed in El Salvador, Jesus Christ and millions of other (less) well known martyrs, whose lives were and still are being cut short, or imprisoned, beaten, raped, tortured, bankrupted, ostracized, or made stateless or jobless. Just in the last week alone are the cases of Sami Al-Arian, Barrett Brown and Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s Guantánamo Diary, which brilliantly leaves in line after line of blacked out text – pages and pages of censored truth. Makes you proud to be an American, doesn’t it? There are many multitudes like them who are ignored by the mainstream media. And we know that if they are not objectively reported on in the New York Times, Washington Post or on CNN and Fox, then they don’t exist and they don’t matter.

As I wrote in a Reflections in Sinoland column, it takes courage to leave the Matrix and seek the truth. For the multitudes who escape martyr status, sacrifices still often have to be made, both professional and personal. Rejection and ridicule by the vast majority, who is still ensconced in the mainstream propaganda bubble, are commonplace. It means being labeled a conspiracy theorist. In reality though, it is those in the Matrix who are the real conspiracy nuts, for trying to rationalize and justify the world they are selectively presented, in the suffocating cocoon of the GWF. Baba Beijing has its just as ruthless and controlling Great Firewall of China and the outcomes are identical. Only the methodology is different. The big difference is that most Chinese know their information is censored. Most Westerners obediently believe they have “freedom of the press” and that censorship is everybody else’s problem. Sadly, Westerners are deluded, gullible and easily manipulated. But this has been true of all citizens of Empire, since the dawn of civilization.

It is hard to accept and very disillusioning to realize just how irredeemably corrupt and evil are the West’s supposedly democratic systems and the political and business leaders who own the process. All my thousands of hours of extensive research confirm this and nothing surprises me anymore. Especially that false flag operations are not the exception, but the banal norm of imperial national governments. They most certainly have been the weapon of choice since the first civilizations in Sumer, China, India and Africa, and they continue at a fast and furious pace in current events. This article lists many false flags that governments have admitted to, or were exposed by FOIA laws, while they last. False flags routinely change the course of human history. Let’s remember that Maidan in Ukraine was a classic false flag and since then, at least weekly, the West is launching one after another there, which has brought our planet to the threshold of World War III.

False flags are ingrained in the DNA of Empire, to control and manipulate their subjects. Empire keeps on perpetrating false flags relentlessly, because they are so ruthlessly successful at achieving their aims. False flags brilliantly create mass fear and uncertainty among the people and justify the persecution of the group to be dehumanized for exploitation or destruction. The shock and awe of false flags allow governments and capital to herd the masses like sheeple, to induce them to gleefully go to war, commit genocide, accept economic servitude and environmentally destructive resource extraction, while willfully renouncing their free will to the tyranny of fascism and oligarchy, for “security and safety”. It’s been working like a charm since 5,000BC and will undoubtedly continue to work, because of all our embedded social memes for group survival and evolutionary genes for individual survival. At the end of the day, in spite of our “superior” intelligence, we as a species are not much better than a herd of gazelle or a colony of ants.

Unless we get smart and get involved, it brings me to a frightening conclusion: false flags will continue unabated, until they cause the demise of the human race. To put the challenge before us into perspective, here are a few recent cases, going back in time.

Charlie Hebdo. The whole thing stinks to high heaven. Even my Parisian wife was raising her eyebrows: how could they get so many thousands of matching Je Suis Charlie t-shirts on people and color placards in their hands, for mass television exposure, immediately after the incident? A supposed terrorist just happened to “leave” their ID in the getaway car? This is as laughable as Mohammed Atta’s fake passport “found” in the molten rubble of the 9/11 Twin Towers, which the FBI then conveniently “lost”, when even the mainstream media had the temerity to question its validity. But it was enough to “identify” the supposed 9/11 perpetrators immediately after the supposed attack. Ditto Charlie Hebdo.

My extensive research shows that one of the key components of successful false flags is to imprint in the minds of the sheeple exactly who the perpetrators are, as soon as it happens, almost like embedding a social meme across the population. If the sheeple are given any time at all to think about it and to ask questions, then the false flag can easily fail. Thus, the 9/11 Nineteen, Lee Harvey Oswald , James Earl Ray, Sirhan Sirhan, the “Communists” who burned down the Reichstag, the Spanish who “blew up” the USS Maine, the North Vietnamese who “attacked” the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin, the supposed Boston bomber brothers Tsarnaev and on and on, were clearly and convincingly identified by the authorities within hours of the false flags. Surely, Nero loudly accused the Christians, as soon as his arsonists were setting fire to Rome, while sending out crisis actors to dramatize these followers’ perfidy. He not only got his grand palace, for which the Roman Senators were refusing to give the (now) burned neighborhoods’ land to build it, but Nero also got to kill thousands of Christians in the process. The hallmarks of a truly successful false flag.

A few hours of research on Charlie Hebdo makes it glaringly apparent that the deep state was involved. The film footage of the police officer supposedly shot in the head at point blank, while lying on the sidewalk, was quickly extirpated by the mainstream media. With millions of views on YouTube in just two days, it was censored. In the West, our masters have learned that the alternative press is like low grade interference. It is too scattered and diffuse to cause critical mass. But when something like the censored Charlie Hebdo hoax assassination goes viral in a matter of hours, then it can become a threat to the official narrative, and often gets censored. On alternative websites, it’s still there. Break out the popcorn and beer, boys and girls, and watch crisis actors help dupe the world.

The shooter supposedly blasts a bullet at point blank range into the cop’s head with a high powered machine gun, yet there is no blood and the “victim’s” head stays intact. Had he really been shot, his skull would have exploded like a gangrenous pumpkin. He wasn’t shot at all. So, a combat trained "terrorist" just happens to miss his target from centimeters away. Yet, all the mainstream media are lined up with their propaganda, saying a police officer was viciously assassinated by the so called terrorists, while lying helplessly wounded on the sidewalk. Later, a Star News reporter had a colossal slip of the tongue and stated that (fake) blood was put on the ground after the fact, which is obviously true. It goes on and on. The supposed hostage taker, Amedy Coulibaly, at a (surprise, surprise) Jewish grocery store, was obviously already handcuffed when he was practically pushed outside into a hail of fire. I wonder what his handler inside was telling him in his final moments? We’ll never know, because dead men don’t talk. Neither can his supposed Charlie Hebdo shooter partners, the Kouachi Brothers, who got cut to pieces the same day.

Speaking of important dead witnesses, there was a top cop, Helric Fredou, investigating the Charlie Hebdo hoax. Lemme see if I got this right. The day after the false flag, late in the night while he was writing his report, Mr. Fredou “commits suicide”. Whatever he was writing was surely destroyed on the spot. The biggest case of his life, one of the great cases of the decade and he offs himself? Yeah, sure. My research shows that deadly accidents, sudden fatal illnesses and suicides happen inordinately often in false flags. Funny how it works out that way. This very important story was largely censored in the West.

There is another Charlie Hebdo story that the West highly censored, A third suspect, Hamyd Mourad, turned himself in, declaring that he had an unassailable alibi – he was in class at high school. Alternative media reported this faithfully, but I found only The Daily Telegraph which reported that Mourad had an alibi. The rest of the MSM Ministry of Truth omitted this key fact, leaving everyone with the impression that he turned himself in, because he was guilty:

• The Washington Post (January 7) “Charlie Hebdo suspect said to surrender; two others at large after Paris terror attack”
• Die Welt (Germany), “One suspect has turned himself in to police in connection with Wednesday’s massacre at the offices of Parisian satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo”
• ABC News (January 7), “Youngest suspect in Charlie Hebdo Attack turns himself in”
• CNN (January 8), “Citing sources, the Agence France Presse news agency reported that an 18-year- old suspect in the attack had surrendered to police”

This is not coincidental. There is a concerted effort by the MSM to act as ventriloquist dummies on TV and marionettes in the newsroom, to do the bidding for the West’s elite owners. The MSM is riddled with CIA agents and “intelligence” NOCs (non-official covers) of all stripes, to help keep everybody singing in unison. A journalist with the courage to spill the beans has turned this truth into a best seller in Germany. Former CIA Director William Casey was just stating the obvious, when he went on record saying,

The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media.

There are many, many videos on the internet exposing the Charlie Hebdo false flag: Here is a French SWAT member opening machine gun fire into the backs of his comrades, obviously shooting blanks. Here's another cop setting off an explosion in the middle of the swarm of cops surrounding him. Had it been a real stun grenade, everybody around him would have been floored by the percussion wave. You can compare all these videos to an “official” mainstream NBC video to see how the latter one has been expertly edited to excise all the incriminating evidence. Winston Smith in 1984’s Oceania would feel right at home in the West’s “newsrooms”, as history is cut, pasted and censored to the requisites of Big Brother. Just like my friend lambasted a Communist country for censorship, the West works tirelessly to control its past too.

Apparently, in false flags, there is a psychological slip of the tongue, where crisis actors can’t help but smile or smirk when they get in front of the camera, for the joy of fooling the world. It’s called “duping delight” and this website has catalogued a bunch of them. Even the million man march in Paris, supposedly led by the defiant leaders of the “free world” was a hoax. Benjamin Netanyahu is waving to nobody. Who needs Kim Jong-un? Heck, he probably gets his best ideas from his Western counterparts. Nobody does censorship and propaganda better than Westerners do. After all, they’ve been writing the playbook for 500 years.

As all false flags are used to manipulate the masses after the fact, it is happening in spades, thanks to Charlie Hebdo. France’s authorities and thus their mainstream media marionettes are already talking about how Charlie Hebdo is France’s 9/11 and the government will be passing a Patriot Act law, like the United States. Sayanora to Liberté, Fraternité, Egalité. You can kiss your Quiche Lorraine goodbye, mes chers. Say hello to indefinite imprisonment, black sites for torture and murder, SWAT teams and military weaponized police replacing cops on the beat, shooting first and asking questions later, while committing what used to be illegal search and seizure. My fellow French citizens, welcome to Angloland’s New World Order. Kafka was a fellow European, remember? It’s reality imitating art.

It keeps on keeping on. Just Google “crisis actors Boston bombing” and you will see real actors pretending to be injured. The hoax double amputee, Jeff Bauman, is photoed after supposedly losing both legs, conscious and sitting up, with a phony tourniquet that is loose. The joke is on us. I’ve had the good fortune to work on major movie and TV sets numerous times in France and China and all the photos and this video look like, well, a movie set. One lady has been interviewed on international TV for at least three different “terrorist acts”, and has apparently even been identified. There are many videos showing similar actors before and after the supposed bombing. Also, the private “security” contractors near where the supposed bombs went off, dressed identically like the two patsy Tsuravev brothers, replete with carbon copy, oversized backpacks are a nice touch. They were from a company owned and operated at the time by Chris Kyle, of American Assassin fame, who has mercifully been put out of his psychopathic misery.

If you believe the official, Hollywood version of 9/11, you are saying on that day, the natural laws of physics, chemistry, gravity and matter were supernaturally suspended. You are insisting that Newton, Einstein, Bohr, Planck, Lavoisier, Mendeleev and all the foundations of science did not apply that morning in New York City and Washington, D.C. No, it was pure Harry Potter. You are claiming that for the first time ever, 815°C, burning jet fuel melted thousands of tons of steel, steel that has a melting point of 1,510°C. That’s more fantastic than alchemy. You are claiming that tens of thousands of massive, bolted, welded, riveted steel I-beams, girders, piers and supports just miraculously gave way, like hot butter, and collapsed at nearly the same rate as an object falling off the Leaning Tower of Pisa. And not just the two 110 story Twin Towers, but WTC 7, which wasn’t hit by an airplane. Yet this massive, 52 story skyscraper (226m/743ft) went down in free fall in six seconds flat. If you had jumped off the top when WTC 7 began to collapse, you would have hit the ground at the same time as the top of its roof did.

There is only one compound that can cut through hardened steel the way the three WTC skyscrapers were brought down in the blink of an eye, and that is military grade thermite, which is what is used for controlled demolition of steel buildings. Its use outside the military is tightly regulated and licensed, just like dynamite is. Independent scientists found military thermite at the WTC sites. They also found pools and puddles of still molten steel, several days after the supposed terrorist attacks. Only military grade thermite can heat up hardened steel and keep it that hot for so long. Otherwise, the steel would have cooled off much quicker.

Again, you have to suspend the natural laws of the Universe to swallow the guffaw, official story about the Pentagon being hit by a Boeing 757. This was a plane with a 38 meter wing span (124ft), still carrying 32,000 liters (8,600 gallons) of highly flammable jet fuel in its wings and two massive jet engines, along with its 47m long (155ft) fuselage, plowing into the outside of the building at several hundred kilometers/miles per hour. Miraculously, that 38m, fuel-filled wingspan supposedly left only a narrow, 19m gash in the Pentagon. Plane wreckage and debris just magically disappeared, no dead bodies, no luggage, no plane seats – it all just evaporated into thin air, like Bewitched. Just as damning, all those supposed 32,000 liters of burning jet fuel did not rage into a towering ball of inferno, for hours on end. Nope, all the contents of the offices right next to where the supposed 115 ton plane careened at flight speed into the Pentagon, were still sitting there. Desks, computers, file cabinets, chairs – even papers and documents were miraculously still sitting on tops of desks right where the fiery “crash” supposedly occurred. A security camera accidentally caught the explosion on film and that massive 757 jetliner never enters the picture, although it looks like possibly a missile on the right came in low for the strike, if it was not blown up from inside. That could explain the damage done. But a 757? No way. Where I grew up, in Oklahoma, we are fond of saying that you can’t stuff ten pounds of manure in a five pound bag. Well, you can’t slam a 38m wide jetliner into a 19m hole.

All of this is just the tip of the iceberg of what a hoax the official 9/11 fantasy story really is. I have studied it for many countless hours, analyzing all the evidence. An outstanding, one hour-forty five minute documentary, Zero Hour, fills out the whole sordid saga. A brave, highly qualified group of 1,500 architects and engineers has come together, to make the public aware of the greatest false flag in modern times ever being pulled off. They all deserve our attention.

It all goes back to the murder of the JFK, by the CIA and the Joint Chiefs of Staff doesn’t it? In fact, in their heart of hearts, Americans know the truth. Since the Warren Commission, in its annual Gallup poll, a majority of Americans believe the deep state killed Kennedy. A solid majority believe the same deep state was responsible for Martin Luther King’s murder. A solid plurality of Americans think there was a cover up about 9/11. This plurality will surely grow to a majority with the help of groups like AE911.

It’s not just Americans who recognize rotten fish when they smell it. My high school daughter was fascinated by all the evidence I showed her and my wife about Charlie Hebdo, so she agreed to watch Zero Hour. She not only watched it, but took it to school and gave it to her Theory of Knowledge teacher, who in turn showed it to the class. Hats off to the prof. They would surely have been fired had they done that in the United States. The shocking result: my daughter said all of the students already knew that 9/11 was perpetrated by the American government. And it is their sense of resignation to do anything about that I find so disturbing and shameful. My wife too was just as telling. After looking at all the evidence about Charlie Hebdo and glancing over at the TV screen and seeing millions of sheeple wearing their t-shirts and holding up their absurd Je Suis Charlie placards, she said, “OK, so what can you really do about it”? It is this feeling of helplessness that is so damning of the West’s state of affairs. Our so called democracy is a hollow mirage.

This brings me to the crux of this article. In spite of our evolutionary tendencies to deny and block out unpleasant events, deep down, we know our governments and capital are committing very bloody and disastrous false flags. And it is our acquiescence to all these false flags that is giving the Princes of Power a carte blanche to drive the human race towards a dystopian, fascist future. After all, if our leaders can murder their own president and get away with a coup d’état in Dealy Plaza in broad daylight, they can bring down the 9/11 towers and will surely do much worse, confident of humanity’s powerlessness. And it makes the Iraq’s, Ukraine’s and all the other false flags just that much easier for them to pull off.

Until we rise up and protest openly against our leaders’ false flags, we will have no freedom in our future and probably no future at all. For our very survival, we must, in mass, get informed of the truth and stop saying, “No, it can’t be”, because it is. False flags is where it all starts and where the nightmare has to end. The Princes of Power are playing for keeps and it’s either us or them, now or never. Who knows how long internet freedom and FOIA laws will stay on the books? Another 9/11 sized false flag is inevitable, at which point we can kiss goodbye the alternative media and a still relatively open internet.

OK, I said it. I don’t think this article will be appearing in a mainstream newspaper any time soon. Such is life. But I can live with that.

Postscript: The United States just weighed in as having the 49th most free press in the world, behind Malta, Niger, Burkino Faso, El Salvador, Tonga, Chile and Botswana. You can rest assured this story will not see the light of day in the mainstream West. Stand tall, stand proud.

Alternative News, Information and Research Sources: Operation Get Smart

In 1807, Thomas Jefferson wrote,

Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies of the day.

Great advice to us all, two centuries later. The disinformation, propaganda and myth making have never stopped. So, quit flagellating yourself by wasting time accessing the mainstream media. You know they are marionettes for the One Percent, and that includes PBS, NPR, BBC and ersatz “liberal” aggregators like Huffington Post and Slate. When I stopped, I felt like I got off bad drugs. My mind cleared and I could think objectively again. At the end of the day, whose voice has the most credibility: the world’s victimized 80% or the West’s aggressor 15% (20% if you throw in vassal Japan, South Korea and the other usual suspects)?

Instead, use that time to read the following books, as weapons of truth to combat Western Empire. All three are exhaustively researched and referenced. Like William Blake’s cleansed Doors of Perception, they literally changed my life:

• JFK and the Unspeakable, by James W. Douglass. This was the American deep state’s great first false flag, a coup d’état that changed the world for worse, much worse. Our slippery slope started here.
• NATO's Secret Armies: Operation GLADIO and Terrorism in Western Europe, by Daniele Ganser. A gripping, sordid account of how NATO has killed, assassinated, maimed and terrorized thousands of their own European citizens and leaders, while overthrowing a few more, and most assuredly still are.
• Killing Hope, by William Blum. It’s all here, a detailed dirty laundry list of the CIA’s endless coups, assassinations, psyops, (mainstream) propaganda, destabilization, running drugs, partnering with the Mafia, ad nauseam, across the four corners of the planet. The heart of the deep state.

On the internet, only two “mainstream” Western sources are listed here. The Guardian is usually good, but their bias against Russia since the 2014 Ukrainian junta has been servile abomination. If you want to really know what’s going on in the Middle East, its history and interrelationships, Robert Fisk at The Independent pushes his editors to the limit. My daily dose from A-Z is Al-Jazeera, Global Research, Global Times, The Guardian, RT, Russian Insider, Saker, Sputnik News, teleSUR and Voltaire. For several, like Paul Craig Roberts, American Conservative and ICH, I get email alerts. They all get looked at in cycles, over the days and weeks. I’m still looking for alternative Indian and Brazilian websites in English, and I’m committed to finding one in South Africa, to fully cover BRICS.

Al Jazeera English - Live US, Europe, Middle East, Asia, Sports, Weather & Business News
The American Conservative
Antiwar.com
China Daily Website - Connecting China Connecting the World
China | South China Morning Post
chomsky.info : The Noam Chomsky Website (his website is always outdated, but he’s all over the internet)
Chris Hedges, Columnist - Truthdig
ClubOrlov
CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
Deena Stryker
Fort Russ
Trends Monthly - Trends Research Institute
Fire Dog Lake (I contribute to this website)
Globaltimes.cn | Latest China, world news and business stories, comments from the Global Times
Guardian | World news | The Guardian
Global Research
The Greanville Post • Vol. VIII
Hidden Harmonies China Blog | 中国博客 探索和谐
INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE
Russia & India Report: Top Stories
The Intercept
The Journal | Articles & Archives | Life+Outdoors | Field Notes (great site for science, history, etc.)
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While it is not strictly politics, to keep up on the latest in Science and Technology, I read ZME Science almost daily.

Want a fun, low cost honorary degree in Chinese Studies? Jeff's book, 44 Days, will have you laughing while learning and becoming an expert on all things Middle Kingdom. If you live in China, buy it on the 44 Days website, clicking on either Print Book, Ebook or Color Ebook.

Author’s Bio:
Jeff J. Brown is the author of 44 Days Backpacking in China: The Middle Kingdom in the 21st Century, with the United States, Europe and the Fate of the World in Its Looking Glass (2013), Reflections in Sinoland – Musings and Anecdotes from the Belly of the New Century Beast (2015), and Doctor WriteRead’s Treasure Trove to Great English (2015). He is currently writing an historical fiction, Red Letters – The Diaries of Xi Jinping, due out in 2016. He is a member of The Anthill, a collective of authors who write about China, and also submits articles on Oped News and Firedog Lake.

In China, he has been a speaker at TEDx, the Bookworm Literary Festival, the Capital M Literary Festival, the Hutong, as well as being featured in an 18-part series of interviews on Radio Beijing AM774, with former BBC journalist, Bruce Connolly. He has guest lectured at international schools in Beijing and Tianjin.

Jeff grew up in the heartland of the United States, Oklahoma, and graduated from Oklahoma State University. He went to Brazil while in graduate school at Purdue University, to seek his fortune, which whet his appetite for traveling the globe. This helped inspire him to be a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tunisia in 1980 and he lived and worked in Africa, the Middle East, China and Europe for the next 21 years. All the while, he mastered Portuguese, Arabic, French and Mandarin, while traveling to over 85 countries. He then returned to America for nine years, whereupon he moved back to China in 2010. He currently lives in Beijing with his wife and younger daughter, where he writes, while being a school teacher in an international school. Jeff is a dual national French-American.

Jeff can be reached at 44 Days, jeff@44days.net, Facebook, Twitter and Wechat/Whatsapp: +86-18618144837

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Dear Children of Hong Kong

by an anonymous resident of Hong Kong

Dear children of Hong Kong:

Most if not all of you are very concerned about the puzzling scenes and conflicting interpretations/comments (some with fake photos) flying around, each perhaps serving some untold purposes. Concerned but not necessarily adequately informed (not as those who have followed the socio-political development in Hong Kong as a cool pursuit of truth rather than passion – to look for sometimes unpalatable truth rather than what you might prefer to believe, and have done so for a considerable length of time), this must have been a difficult time– though to some, they may actually have a privately congratulatory feeling of “being part of history or history making” as they do what they usually cannot on the streets.

It is difficult because you’ve seen friends estranged because of difference of belief. But it could also be excited (as revolution– what some cold minded scholar had labeled the “opium of intellectuals”)-- is said to be going. However, deep down you may feel unsure and worry about something may happen to destroy Hong Kong. This is particularly hard for those who are deeply entrenched in their beliefs (because you cannot turn back now), but somehow not really sure if what you have long upheld is true --- particularly as things don’t turn out as simple, easy, clear-cut and tangible as originally thought (or led to believe by the so-called “leaders” of civil disobedience).

Here I am not trying to explain the historical metamorphosis of events (for the past 17 to 30 years actually, and accumulated feelings on both sides---actually there is at least one third party few young people would think of---foreign governments). I am only offering a summary analysis plus some recommendations for you to consider.

First, the real bone of contention: “Lack of Mutual Trust”.

The central argument now is all about whether anyone can stand for election to become CE of HK—what pan democrats called “true universal suffrage”. Beijing obviously is worried about this and insists that : First, it must be nominated by the “Nomination Committee” (as spelled out in the Basic Law accepted by both Britain and China); second, only a candidate who claims allegiance to Hong Kong (jargon: “love” Hong Kong), and by extension, allegiance to China of which Hong Kong is a part.

Pan Democrats alleged that this is not true universal suffrage as there is some conditions for who can run. This view is accepted by most youths and some of their parents and teachers (who, because of the British ban of contemporary Chinese history in curriculum during their own school days, are largely uninformed about the development of the country save for its negative – though quite true—aspects). This camp then alleged that the Central Government does not trust Hong Kong people and therefore they are angry. They want CY Leung to step down as they alleged that he had not helped Beijing understand the “true” views of most Hong Kong people.

Let us first remember: trust must come from both sides to be mutual. Pan democrats, on one hand, has never said they trust Beijing. Now, let’s see whether the things they’d done since (actually before) the hand-over till now have laid a solid or even shaky but workable foundation of trust for Beijing? Hell, no! Look at some of the following:

Ever since 1997, from insulting the flag, to challenging the authority of the nation’s congress over the local court, to physically thrusting at then Vice Premier Li (now premier) when he was invited to deliver a lecture on China’s economy at Hong Kong University… and endless blockading and thrusting by force at the Liaison Office of the Central Government at Hong Kong, as well as the fanning up of anti-Mainlanders activities in recent years---apparently all aimed at alienating Hong Kong from Mainland which was united only after 150 years.

Some of them have openly (on TV etc) asserted that they aim at changing China (so much for the principle of “River and Well water stay away from each other 河水不犯井水);

Endless filibuster acts in the Legislative Council (Legco) to block almost all important actions of the government with the purpose of discrediting it --- so as to uphold the myth that only elected government can rule. What about the 150 years rule by governors directly sent from London? No argument about democracy but the message is fabricated and therefore not true.

Now, more in focus is the question for candidacy for the CE post. Before judging the validity of the pan democrats’ claim or understanding Beijing’s worries, let us be reminded of the following facts:

The Britain cunningly devised (and Beijing perhaps unknowingly accepted then) a system in which any foreigner who have resided in HK consecutively and legally for 7 years can become “Permanent Residents”. Note: purposefully blurring the distinction between a citizen and just a person allowed to reside and work (who are not considered citizens in any country), the so-called “permanent residents” in Hong Kong can vote and enjoy all privileges of citizens here without any obligation or commitment! Actually, they enjoy more privilege than the “real” Hong Kong people because: a. They need not forsake their original nationality or allegiance/loyalty to it; b. They can vote in both their own country and here; c. if Hong Kong collapses (and causes harm to China), they either could not care less or even secretly congratulate themselves if their countries are at odds with China – and many of their original countries are. A “genuine” citizen’s vote carries only the same weight as these “permanent residents” in Hong Kong who have no commitment to this place!

The Basic Law specifies that only people of Chinese origin or Chinese born in Hong Kong can assume leading positions in the government. Can the highest government post of Chief Executive be an exemption?

The pan democrats has a verifiable record of trying to push for permanent residency status for foreigners. E.g., the South Asians (members of the British Commonwealth) and even Filipino domestic helpers. No offense to Filipinos but --- need I remind you of the two nation’s hot argument on south sea isles? They are by definition a foreign interest.

Lai Chi Ying, owner of the notorious (chased out of Taiwan as he tried to meddle in the island’s politics) Apple Daily News, was found to have given HKD 40,000,000 to anti government politicians last year (actually, a lot more money in previous years), including Anson Chan who wanted to be CE and the retired archbishop of Hong Kong (who criticized anything related to Mainland China). The case is now under investigation of the ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption). Can Beijing trust these people?

Can Hillary Clinton refuse to pledge loyalty to America if she runs for president? Can anyone in any country do that if he/she runs for a chief public office in their own land? Then how can Beijing accept this to happen in Hong Kong --- where it is no secret that Britain and the US want to have influence, in fact, control?

What would happen if we really have a CE who does not put the interest of Hong Kong (and China) above those of other nations?

Beijing, through the local government, ask Hong Kong to “accept for now 袋住先” the rather stringent requirement (most important, that the nominee must be supported by half or more of the Nominating Committee) the People’s Congress (the highest legislative body in China) has announced – hinting that the conditions could be relaxed later. This is a promise it can hardly go back. But this not accepted by those going to the streets.

Regarding voting right --- what universal suffrage usually means—there is no argument. Beijing already committed itself to that EVERY eligible voter in Hong Kong (including foreigners who may be against China) can have a vote for the CE ---if the present package is accepted by the Legco. This is a required step since the British days. If Legco does not accept it, there will be NO universal suffrage and the old system (through which the previous 3 CEs were elected) would remain.

Next I would like to Beijing’s suspicion and whether it has grounds for it.

Beijing alleged all along that opposition movements (plenty since and before 1997) have been instigated, supported, designed by foreign powers (particularly the US) who provide technical expertise not only on electioneering (seen in previous elections where Democrats often won, though not any more) but also street fight techniques.

Selina Yip Lau (previous Secretary for Security of Hong Kong, now elected Legco member after studying at Stanford) has just published her findings on techniques including the “firechat” software used in Taiwan students’ previous occupation of its legislative college (which does not need the internet to function, is an excellent field communication and command software which works both on the internet and mobile phones). She pointed out that the “amateur” students were able to break through police blockade in a mere 5 minutes, and their stationing of defense and guard posts cannot be done by non military people. See Yahoo.com.hk or Yahoo it. (Not sure if not blocked in Google)

America’s blockade of China is known by anyone in the study of Geopolitics (not available to HK university students yet). Also, separation of any part of China has always been part of American strategy vs a rising China. Hong Kong has always been a key financial, political, and social-cultural hub for China sitting at the mouth of the Pearl River where it meets the South China Sea.

Beijing is aware of the series of “color revolutions” ranging from the Arab Spring to Yugoslavia, Thailand and Ukraine etc. In both Thailand and Ukraine, the democratically elected presidents were thrown out of office by street protest. All these countries touched upon by America are now in miserable conditions. Will Hong Kong be next?

Whether or not we think Beijing’s suspicion has grounds, when it suspects, it naturally takes a more defensive, conservative attitude towards the election of Hong Kong’s CE.


Conclusion drawn from the above discussion:

Unrestricted universal suffrage including the free choice of candidates is attainable only if a genuine mutual trust between Beijing and all people in Hong Kong is built up. Now what will democrats do to help build this? At any rate, given the loophole in our election system, there is no way a candidate should run without professing allegiance for Hong Kong, and by extension, China.

Personally, I would like to see that the voting system be more open – if Beijing can become less worried and more confident. First, I would like to see the number on the committee to expand by two or even three folds; Second, I would like to see a wider representation of various “sectors” by the committee; Third, I hope to see a less stringent requirement for any candidate to acquire before he/she can actually stand for election --- less stringent than the current specified 50% of the Committee. But I will insist that anyone who wishes to be leader of a part of China must pledge allegiance to both Hong Kong and the country --- and I reserve the right of the people to replace any government for valid reasons.

For that to happen, the pan democrats must reconsider their strategy: Instead of deliberately putting down both the local and Central Government (often very unfairly) to argue (actually establish the myth) that only a democratically government can govern Hong Kong, they should think about how to build up mutual trust. With that, I will not object if any one of them runs and become our next CE. I just do not see how one without the trust of the central government can help Hong Kong.

Now, a few comments about the current situation for the Children of Hong Kong:

It is a tragedy to alienate your friends , particularly long time associates, just because of difference of opinions in this single matter. You should share what you know, and respect his or her choice even if they do not agree. Though this in some way may affect your evaluation of his/her abilities. We need to stand together now, not fight because things are actually much more complicated than what an average person can comprehend;

Both sides (HK govt & Demonstrators) have learned quickly from the early clashes. The government withdrew the riot control units and is adopting a very soft-handed way of dealing with the demonstrators, using TV explanations as well as pleas to the so-called “leaders” of the Occupy Central movement to deliver their previous claims or promise: that the movement will be non-violent, demonstrators will not resist arrest and that if matters get out of and, they will dissolve the crowd. (Truth is: control of the crowd is no longer in the hands of these scholars living the ivory tower—but in the hands of the radical, young students. The “old folks” are making hardline announcements just to “stay with” the crowd, pretending that they are still leading the movement. Actually, the real leaders are the young student leaders trained and supported by a foreign power)

Demonstrators try to show their civil side now (after the initial violent thrashing at police lines which brought tear gas and criticism from some HK people). They now allow passage of some ambulance and fire service vehicles. Actually, most who participated believed in what Tai (the law teacher of HKU) claimed : to perform a civil, i.e., non violent, disobedience. But mass movements are often dominated by passion, particularly among the young. It remains to be seen how long and how dominating civil acts of students could continue as probably some who had seen the unexpected, ugly and violent scenes may have already left;

The Government is obviously playing a “Wait and Wear” game --- waiting to see if a critical mass of the demonstrators can see that they are going nowhere or get fed up with stepped up violence the foreign trained student leaders are advocating, and to see if their TV persuasion, explanation and pleas work; wearing means let the sun, rain and mere physical fatigue to wear out the energy and determination of those on the streets;

The radical student leaders’demands are impossible and unreasonable --- may be after all, they do not really want a peaceful solution of the matter. They demand Leung to meet them at a time they specify, with preconditions Leung is powerless to implement etc., and to step down as the “deadline” they set is now over. Leung cannot possible accept terms he as a local official cannot take up to override those of the Central Government. Stepping down in this time of chaos would lead to what? Beijing will not bend --- as usual it does not, particularly if it suspects foreign governments are behind. Also, bending means not only a loss of face (or legitimacy), authority towards other local governments (most anti-corruption work is directed at local officials). Also, submission could mean endless more demands. Finally, Beijing suspects this is a crucial step of HK going “independent” – as many in the legal profession and foreigners try to interpret “high degree of autonomy” to mean. If it bends, there will be a widespread riots inside China protesting this and the nation will lose face.

Whether they (or the brains behind them) may change their mind remains to be seen. If peacefully solved, however, this group will continue to aggressively cause problems because that would keep them in the lime light. Without that, their value (to themselves as well as their patrons) will be finished.

Friday October 3 will be an important time: People will return to work after two days of public holidays. What would the street “heroes”do? The Government had just explained detailed with a map on the TV how their present “occupied areas” affect traffic. You can assume that they are persuading demonstrators to occupy elsewhere so as to cause less inconvenience to the public. However, it MAY be hinting to them how they can cause even more severe traffic. Somehow I feel that government seems to want it to continue for some time --- no proof, just a gut feeling.

Since the movement, the Hang Seng Index lost several hundred points, meaning 50 billion HKD is already lost. The Mainland has canceled many tours to HK --- the National Day “Golden Week” for tourism is lost, affecting approximately 250,000 people working in tourism and related business. Short term impact: there may be a temporary fall on property prices, particularly the high ended units. As China now eases its property purchase policies, why not buy big, comfortable houses up north with better air and less pollution – including noise (political) pollution?

Worst Case Scenario: History shows that many, in fact, most mass movement with clear-cut, noble goals were often hijacked by opportunists who seek their own goals. While the “Old” leaders such as Tai (HKU) has already lost real leadership of the movement, it remains to be seen if the 17-year old Wong Chi-feng can control the whole scene. “Spontaneous” outburst of occupation actions in various areas may reflect that actually, no single group is actually controlling the “wild cat” type movement. If that happens, be prepared for a long term disturbance. Then the Central Government will need to consider whether to use force and risk being criticized as in 1989 Tiananmen Square incident; or allow HK to “sink” as Thailand or Ukraine. It may also consider “clipping the wings” of the local economy. If the Mainland government is persuaded to adopt a policy providing less favoritism or privilege to HK (which it has been doing all these years), our young people may need to spend more time making a living than roaming the streets telling their Central Government as well as the older people who have built up HK in their younger years what to do. Children of Hong Kong, what choices are you leaving for Beijing?