Cancel Culture

by  Caitlin Johnstone Listen to a reading of this article: ❖ Kremlin-backed media outlets  have been banned  throughout the European Union, both on television and  on apps  and  on apps  and  online platforms . RT has  lost its Sky TV slot  in the UK, where the outlet is also  blocked on YouTube . Australian TV providers SBS and Foxtel  have dropped RT , and the federal government is  putting pressure on social media platforms  to block Russian media in Australia. In the  Czech Republic ,  Slovakia , and  Latvia , speaking in support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine will get you years in prison. Twitter, historically the last of the major online platforms to jump on any new internet censorship escalation, is now actively minimizing the number of people who see Russian media content,  saying  that it is "reducing the content's visibility" and "taking steps to significantly reduce ...

Don’t Underestimate How BadlyThe Powerful Need Control Of Online Speech by  Caitlin Johnstone Seems like almost every day now the mass media are blaring about the need for speech on the internet to be controlled or restricted in some way. Today they're running stories about  Joe Rogan and Covid misinformation ; tomorrow it will be something else. The reasons for the need to control online speech change from day to day, but the demand for that control remains a constant. Some days it's a need to protect the citizenry from online disinformation campaigns by foreign governments. Sometimes it's the need to guarantee election security. Sometimes it's the need to eliminate domestic extremism and conspiracy theories. Sometimes it's Covid misinformation. The problems change, but the solution is always the same: increased regulation of speech by monopolistic online platforms in steadily increasing  coordination with the US government . It's actually pretty co...

It's an especially dumb day for anti-China propaganda. The Biden administration has imposed trade restrictions on 34 Chinese institutions on the unsubstantiated allegation that they are developing " brain control weaponry ", a claim the  mass media  have been  all too happy  to uncritically  pass on  to the public. Between that and the ridiculous reporting on  Russian Havana Syndrome ray guns  it's like they're literally trying to get everyone to wear tinfoil hats. Then there's the Tucker Carlson guest who just  told Carlson's massive audience  that the US military needs to be full of "Type A men who want to sit on a throne of Chinese skulls." It's highly disturbing how much the mass media have been  talking about war with China  like it's a foregone conclusion lately, almost as though they're working to normalize that horrifying idea. There's also  this new article for The Hill , hilariously titled "'Alli...

AFRICAN REVOLUTION A Pan-African Blog that educates, enlighten and revolutionize the way Africans see and think about themselves. A LONE VOICE IN THE CONGO - November 11, 2021 Patrice Hemery Lumumba was born on July 2nd 1925 in Onalua near the town of Katako-Kombe in the Sankuru district of northeastern Sakai in Congo, in what was formerly known as Belgian Congo. he came from the Batetela tribe which was a branch of the Mongo-Nkutshu family.   He served as the first Prime Minister of a newly independent Congo which was trying to get rid of the Belgian economic and political stronghold on Congo's soil . This vast and resource rich Landmass in the heart of Africa was turned against itself as the Belgian and other European interests capitalized on the diverse tribal differences and clashes to continue plundering Congo. Congo was robbed of all its glory. Patrice Lumumba who belonged to a class of educated elites foresaw a danger ahead, he became a Political Activist and Campaigner...

All US Elections Are Fraudulent; Shut Up About Nicaragua by  Caitlin Johnstone Western media are blaring headlines today about a rigged election, not in the United States or any of the other powerful nations allied with it whose elections are consistently fraudulent from top to bottom, but in the small Central American nation of Nicaragua. A Google search brings up only news stories disparaging the Nicaragua election and its results. As flagged on Twitter by  Left I on the News , CNN's coverage of President Daniel Ortega's victory featured a chyron with scare quotes around  both  the words "election" and "wins", and a newscaster flatly stating “Ortega got 75% of the vote, results that we know are illegitimate.” New York Times correspondent Natalie Kitroeff reported that Ortega has been "arresting all credible challengers; shutting down opposition parties; banning large campaign events; closing voting stations en masse" and that "th...

In so many things these days, the US is following China’s lead. Or trying to. Washington has just approved the printing of another $1.2 trillion of magic money to upgrade its national infrastructure, which is Stone Aged by Chinese standards. Despite the usual American hype, the US is unlikely to close the gap significantly, much less catch up. China, now the world’s infrastructure hyperpower, is light years ahead in this particular area. Other areas may follow. A pertinent point from the Chinese commentary below: “The US' sense of urgency comes largely from the comparison with China. Some US political elites arrogantly believe that the US should lead the world in all aspects for fear that China surpasses them in any way. They are lost in their pride and arrogance. It is the general trend in the globalized world that different regions tend to enjoy similar levels of development. Most of the US' problems, including its Cold War-like impulse to contain China, stem from...

For 150 years, Ethiopians have been asking when Prince Alemayehu will come home. The orphan prince, a descendant of Solomon, was taken to England – some say “stolen” – after British soldiers looted his father’s imperial citadel following the Battle of Maqdala in 1868. He died at the age of 18, after an unhappy childhood, and was buried at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle at the request of Queen Victoria.  Discussions have take place with the Victoria & Albert Museum about the return of royal treasures taken by British forces during the battle, the Ethiopian government said it is making efforts to finally bring back the prince’s remains.  The campaign to return Alemayehu began in 2006, when the Ethiopian president wrote to the Queen asking for the remains to be exhumed, but the request was rebuffed. According to the Ethiopian embassy, the Lord Chamberlain replied on behalf of the Queen, saying that “while Her Majesty was in favour of repatriation [...] ident...