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Some More Energy Reality In New York City

By Francis Menton | Manhattan Contrarian | November 28, 2023

New York thinks it is going to be the “leader” in showing the world how to transition away from fossil fuels to “green” energy. Our politicians and bureaucrats have not bothered with things like feasibility studies or demonstration projects showing that this can be done, because after all they are geniuses and it is up to the little people to figure out the details. So the energy transition has been ordered up via statutes filled with mandates and deadlines and penalties, with no attention paid to feasibility or cost. We now all get to sit back and watch as this crashes and burns.

In New York City, the main statute on this subject, enacted in 2019, has the title of Climate Mobilization Act, also known as Local Law (LL) 97. The most significant impending mandates are for reductions in “emissions” from buildings, with the first deadline for residential buildings coming right up in January 2024. Few buildings will fail the 2024 cap, but the mandated emissions limits keep ratcheting down over time. The mandate for 2030 for residential buildings over 25,000 square feet is set such that it cannot be met if the building continues to use gas or oil for heat; so effectively this is a mandate to convert to electric heat by that time.

Daughter Jane — a board member of a co-op in Queens which is over the 25,000 square feet and thus subject to the 2030 mandate — has previously covered this subject at Manhattan Contrarian. Here is her piece from October 2022. The gist was that boards in Queens that had looked into how to convert had been advised of very large costs that were not remotely affordable for their middle-class owners. Jane is currently on maternity leave from Manhattan Contrarian, having just delivered her third baby, so I am taking up this subject while we await her return.

So how big a problem will it be for these buildings to convert to electric heat? Nobody really knows. Remarkably — given that the first deadline, applicable to at least some buildings, is barely over a month away — as far as we can find there doesn’t exist a single example of a large building that has successfully completed a conversion that others can look to to benchmark feasibility and cost. New buildings can be built with all-electric infrastructure without great difficulty. But nobody has any solid idea how much will it cost, and how much disruption will be involved, to retrofit heat pumps into large apartment buildings built in the 1970s, or 60s, or 50s, or even the 1920s.

However, that may be about to change. There is at least one conversion project for a large building that is under way, and near completion, and scheduled to begin operation imminently, in December 2023. You won’t find any reporting about that project in the New York Times or other such media operations that constantly hype the dire need to reduce emissions. However, here is a piece, dated October 28, in a local newspaper called the West Side Rag that covers the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan. The headline is “Heat Pump Project in Frederick Douglass Houses Nears Completion; ‘Powered by Electricity’.”

So, how is it going? The answer is that this effort is an unmitigated disaster. Let’s look into the details.

The conversion in question is taking place at one building in an eighteen-building New York City Housing Authority complex called Frederick Douglass Houses, located in Manhattan along Amsterdam Avenue between West 100th and 104th Streets. NYCHA is effectively exempt from LL97, since it is not subject to the penalties for non-compliance that apply to privately-owned buildings. However, the mandated emissions limits do nominally apply to NYCHA, and for this conversion NYCHA partnered with the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to finance the work.

From the West Side Rag:

A two-year project to convert a public housing building to an electrically powered heat pump system is nearing completion on the Upper West Side. The 58-year-old 20-story tower at 830 Amsterdam Avenue (100th Street), part of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Frederick Douglass Houses development, is being retrofitted to provide heating, cooling, and hot water for residents – and to serve as a possible template for converting more of the 2,410 buildings NYCHA maintains citywide. . . . The project is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and give tenants more control over the temperature in their individual units. . . .

The agencies [NYCHA and NYPA] said the new heat pump system would be the first of its kind at a public housing facility in New York state, and the Amsterdam building would be the first to move away from burning fossil fuels. That makes it “a model for the portfolio,” said Vlada Kenniff, the housing authority’s vice president for energy and sustainability. . . .

So with the first deadline for LL97 compliance barely over a month away, they are just approaching the completion of a heat pump conversion on exactly one of their 2,410 buildings.

Here, from the West Side Rag, are pictures first of the building, and then of the array of large heat pumps that have been installed out in what apparently previously was part of the parking lot:

Then the West Side Rag gives figures for the number of units in the building and the cost of the project. The number of units is 159. And the cost? $28 million.

Holy shit! That’s over $176,000 per unit, just for the heat pump conversion. At a current financing rate of about 7%, that would mean an addition to rent of well over $1000 per month per unit just to finance the purchase and installation of the heat pump system. For comparison, NYCHA here gives the average monthly rent of its apartments as $557 in 2023. So if the tenants were expected to pay the cost of buying and installing this heat pump system, that would mean more than tripling each tenant’s monthly rent. Maybe we shouldn’t worry, because undoubtedly NYCHA’s plan would not be to burden the residents, but rather to get the money from the infinite pile of federal loot available from Washington.

At that same NYCHA link, they give their total number of apartments as 177,569. To provide each of them with heat from one of these heat pumps at $176,000 each would cost a total of over $31 billion.

In other words, converting this building has shown that retrofitting a central heat pump system like this for such buildings is infeasible to the point of being ludicrous. But of course, this is New York, and nobody is allowed to say that. The West Side Rag seeks out a comment from one Paul DiMichele, identified as a spokesman for NYPA:

NYPA spokesman Paul DeMichele explained via email that “the complexities of the project motivated NYPA and NYCHA to think about other scalable solutions to bring heat pump technology to NYCHA residents.”

Ah, the “complexities.” Well, how about another possible approach, such as a heat pump on the roof?:

An earlier effort to install a different kind of heat pump mechanism on the roof of the Fort Independence Houses in the Bronx experienced similar challenges, with program manager Jordan Bonomo quoted in a story about that project on the Grist media platform explaining, “Each apartment had a story. We quickly realized that while we like the technology, we couldn’t possibly scale that across our portfolio.”

And thus, with a month to go to the first (theoretical) deadline under this LL97, we are exactly nowhere in coming up with a way to convert older buildings built with gas or oil heat to electric heat pumps at any remotely affordable cost. Energy reality is rising up once again.

December 4, 2023 Posted by | Malthusian Ideology, Phony Scarcity | , | 1 Comment

The Real Problem With US Foreign Policy…

By Ron Paul | December 4, 2023

Over the weekend Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin explained to the American people what’s really wrong with US foreign policy. Some might find his conclusions surprising.

The US standing in the world is damaged not because we spent 20 years fighting an Afghan government that had nothing to do with the attacks on 9/11. The problem has nothing to do with neocon lies about Iraq’s WMDs that led untold civilian deaths in another failed “democratization” mission. It’s not because over the past nearly two years Washington has taken more than $150 billion from the American people to fight a proxy war with Russia through Ukraine.

It’s not the military-industrial complex or its massive lobbying power that extends throughout Congress, the think tanks, and the media.

Speaking at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California’s Simi Valley, Austin finally explained the real danger to the US global military empire.

It’s us.

According to Secretary Austin, non-interventionists who advocate “an American retreat from responsibility” are the ones destabilizing the world, not endless neocon wars.

Austin said the US must continue to play the role of global military hegemon – policeman of the world – because “the world will only become more dangerous if tyrants and terrorists believe that they can get away with wholesale aggression and mass slaughter.”

How’s that for reason and logic? Austin and the interventionist elites have fact-checked 30 years of foreign policy failures and concluded, “well it would have been far worse if the non-interventionists were in charge.”

This is one of the biggest problems with the neocons. They are incapable of self-reflection. Each time the US government follows their advice into another catastrophe, it’s always someone else’s fault. In this case, as Austin tells us, those at fault for US foreign policy misadventures are the people who say, “don’t do it.”

What would have happened if the people who said “don’t do it” were in charge of President Obama’s decision to prop-up al-Qaeda to overthrow Syria’s secular leader Assad? How about if the “don’t do it” people were in charge when the neocons manufactured a “human rights” justification to destroy Libya? What if the “don’t do it” people were in charge when Obama’s neocons thought it would be a great idea to overthrow Ukraine’s democratically-elected government?

Would tyrants and terrorists have gained power if Washington did NOT get involved? No. Tyrants and terrorists got the upper hand BECAUSE Washington intervened in these crises.

As Austin further explained, part of the problem with the US is democracy itself. “Our competitors don’t have to operate under continuing resolutions,” he complained. What a burden it is for him that the people, through their representatives, are in charge of war spending.

In Congress, “America first” foreign policy sentiment is on the rise among conservatives and that infuriates Austin and his ilk. He wants more billions for wars in Ukraine and Israel and he wants it now!

And our economic problems? That is our fault too. Those who “try to pull up the drawbridge,” Austin said, undermine the security that has led to decades of prosperity. Prosperity? Has he looked at the national debt? Inflation? Destruction of the dollar?

There is a silver lining here. The fact that Austin and the neocons are attacking us non-interventionists means that we are gaining ground. They are worried about us. This is our chance to really raise our voices!

December 4, 2023 Posted by | Militarism | , , , , , | Leave a comment

More Journalists Killed as Israel Resumes Military Operations in Gaza

By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | December 4, 2023

At least three Palestinian journalists have been killed in the Israeli onslaught in Gaza since Tel Aviv broke a truce and resumed military operations on Friday. Human rights groups have described the dozens of dead journalists in the besieged enclave as unprecedented.

Anthony Bellanger, the general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists, told the Associated Press that three or four journalists have been killed in Gaza since Friday. He said, “Unfortunately, we received the bad news this weekend — after the end of this cease-fire — and at least three or four were killed.”

Tel Aviv told Reuters and Agence France Presse that Israel could not ensure the safety of their reporters in Gaza.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports over 50 journalists have been killed in Gaza since Israel began military operations following the October 7 Hamas attack. Three other reporters are missing, and 11 have been injured. Additionally, five Israeli journalists were killed on October 7, and Tel Aviv’s military operations in southern Lebanon killed three reporters.

Israel has also cracked down on journalists in other areas. At least 19 reporters have been arrested.

Bellanger said the killing of journalists in Gaza is unlike what has occurred in other war zones. “In a war, you know, a classical war, I can say that in Syria, in Iraq, in ex-Yugoslavia, we didn’t see this kind of massacre,” he explained.

CPJ says the war in Gaza produced the deadliest month for journalists since the group began keeping count. “The Israel-Gaza war has taken a severe toll on journalists… which has led to the deadliest month for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992,” a statement from the group said.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warned journalism was being eradicated in Gaza. The group said, “Journalism is in the process of being eradicated in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israel’s refusal to heed calls to protect media personnel.”

December 4, 2023 Posted by | Full Spectrum Dominance, War Crimes | , , , | Leave a comment

Henry Kissinger and the Assassination of Gen. Rene Schneider

By Jacob G. Hornberger | FFF | December 4, 2023

The recent death of former National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger provides an opportunity to revisit one of Kissinger’s most infamous acts — the role he played in the 1970 kidnapping and murder of Gen. Rene Schneider, the overall commander of the Chilean Armed Forces. 

Let me emphasize one thing right off the bat: Schneider was an entirely innocent man. Why, he wasn’t even a communist. Instead, he was simply a man of great integrity who believed that he had a responsibility to support and defend the constitution of Chile. That’s what got him killed.

In the 1970 presidential election in Chile, a socialist named Salvador Allende received a plurality of the votes. Since he had not received a majority, the election was thrown into the hands of the Chilean congress.

U.S. President Richard Nixon, along Kissinger, together with CIA officials, decided that U.S. “national security” would be threatened by the election of a socialist president in Chile.

So, Nixon, Kissinger, and the CIA conspired to produce a two-level plan to prevent Allende from assuming the presidency. The first level involved the secret payment of bribes to the members of the Chilean congress, using, of course, U.S. taxpayer money. The second level was more ominous — to persuade the Chilean national-security branch to take charge of the Chilean government. (Chile was a national-security state, just as the U.S. had become.)

However, Gen. Schneider said no. He continued standing steadfastly in support and defense of the Chilean constitution, which did not provide for a national-security coup as a way to “save” the country from a president who, it was claimed, posed a grave threat to Chile’s “national security.”

Nixon, Kissinger, and CIA officials conspired to launch a violent kidnapping of Schneider to remove him as an obstacle to their plot. During the kidnapping attempt, which took place on the streets of Santiago, Schneider fought back. The kidnappers shot him dead.

The Schneider children later sued Kissinger for his role in the conspiracy to kidnap and murder their father. The federal courts threw them out on their ear. The courts held that when it comes to foreign policy, including kidnapping and assassination, the federal courts would never interfere. 

Needless to say, the attitude of the Justice Department was the same. Even though there was clear and convincing evidence of a conspiracy involving felonious actions in Washington, D.C., and Langley, Virginia, the Justice Department never sought any indictments for the conspiracy to kidnap and murder an entirely innocent man. After all, it is important to keep in mind the U.S. felony-murder rule, which holds that if a person is murdered as part of a felonious action, all of the parties to the felonious action are criminally liable for the murder, even if they didn’t participate in it or intend it to happen.

Ironically, the Chilean people were so outraged over Schneider’s murder that the Chilean congress was pressured to elect Allende as president. Thus, the bribery part of the U.S. scheme didm’t work either.  

Three years later, U.S. officials finally succeeded in ousting Allende from power through a violent U.S.-supported coup that left Allende and some 3,000 innocent Chilean people dead. It also left the Chilean citizenry to suffer under a brutal U.S.-supported military dictator, one in which 50,000 innocent Chilean citizens were violently rounded up and subjected to torture and rape at the hands of Pinochet’s goons. Kissinger had a close relationship with Pinochet and, in fact, visited him in Chile soon after the coup and offered him generous U.S. support for his brutal dictatorship.

For a detailed analysis of the Schneider murder, I recommend reading “The CIA and Chile: Anatomy of an Assassination” on the website of the National Security Archive. 

For a good summary of the lawsuit that Schneider’s sons brought against Kissinger — and the deferential attitude of the federal courts toward foreign-policy actions like kidnapping and assassination — see René Schneider et al. v. Henry A. Kissinger et al on the website of the International Crimes Database.

December 4, 2023 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Timeless or most popular, War Crimes | , , , | 1 Comment

Turkish intelligence official warns Israel: Targeting Hamas officials abroad will have ‘serious consequences’

Head of Hamas’ politburo Ismail Haniyeh (Center)
Press TV – December 4, 2023

Turkey has issued a strong warning to Israel, saying the regime would face Ankara’s serious action if it tries to target key figures of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas who are based outside Gaza, including in Turkey.

“Necessary warnings were made to the interlocutors based on the news of Israeli officials’ statements, and it was expressed to Israel that (such an act) would have serious consequences,” a Turkish intelligence official said on Monday, according to Reuters.

The warning came a day after the Israeli broadcaster Kan released a recording from Ronen Bar, who serves as the head of Israel’s so-called internal security service Shin Bet, in which he said that the regime would hunt down Hamas in countries like Lebanon, Turkey and Qatar even if it takes years.

Bar said the Israeli administration had set a goal to target Hamas officials who are based outside Gaza.

Key Hamas leaders, including its top political officials, live outside the besieged Gaza as part of the group’s policy to garner support from other countries for the fight against the Israeli regime.

Head of Hamas’ politburo Ismail Haniyeh has been shuttling between Qatar and Turkey in recent weeks amid Israel’s aggression on Gaza that has left nearly 16,000 people dead.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly condemned Israel for its brutal military campaign against Gaza while warning the regime against political and economic consequences if it continues with the aggression.

The presence of Hamas leaders in Qatar helped the Arab country mediate a seven-day ceasefire in Gaza that ended on Friday.

Israel’s aggression against Gaza began on October 7 after Hamas launched a major military operation into the Israeli-occupied territories near Gaza, killing some 1,400 Israeli settlers and military forces.

December 4, 2023 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , | Leave a comment

NATO chief admits Ukrainian failure

By Lucas Leiroz | December 4, 2023

Increasingly, military leaders are admitting Ukraine’s inability to carry out the fight under its current military circumstances. In a recent statement, the head of the alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, stated that the West needs to be prepared to receive “bad news” from Ukraine, belatedly recognizing the reality that many analysts had already reported before.

Stoltenberg made pessimistic comments, lamenting Ukraine’s poor military progress. According to him, Moscow has a great advantage in the conflict, in addition to accumulating a large number of weapons for the military scenario in the winter. The secretary stated that the Russian defense industry is producing weapons “on war footing”, operating in an accelerated manner in order to achieve the country’s military results.

He also said that the front lines have remained almost unchanged in recent months, but that it is necessary to be prepared for bad news regarding Ukrainian positions. However, for him, support for Ukraine is vital and must be maintained, even if expectations are negative.

“We have to be prepared for bad news. Wars move in phases, but we must stand by Ukraine in good and in bad times alike”, he said.

Another interesting topic commented on by Stoltenberg was the inability of Western countries to produce enough weapons to support Ukraine. He admitted that the West is weakened industrially, unable to meet Ukrainian demands.

He compared the capabilities of Russian and European industrial production and concluded that Moscow is working better in this sector, which explains some difficulties of the Ukrainian military in achieving good results on the battlefield. In addition, the secretary stated that the Russians plan to continue attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure in order to harm the country’s ability to produce weapons and equipment domestically during the winter.

“I think one of the main problems that we must address is the fragmentation of the European defense industry. We are not capable of working so closely together as we should (…) Russia has amassed a large missile stockpile ahead of winter, and we see new attempts to strike Ukraine’s power grid and energy infrastructure”, he added.

In fact, Stoltenberg’s words come at a serious moment, in which the vulnerability of Ukraine can no longer be hidden. The country is suffering many losses since its failed “counteroffensive” attempt. Also, the mainstream media is running out of arguments to disguise the defeat of the Kiev regime, which makes the speeches of Western propagandists become more realistic.

In addition, there is another important factor to understand this process, which is the escalation in Palestine. With Israel suffering from various problems on the battlefield and in need of broad Western support, NATO needs to take the focus of public opinion away from Ukraine and begin to justify a policy of support for the Zionist state. For this reason, it is already becoming commonplace for Western leaders and media to be realistic about the Ukrainian situation. The objective is to explain that this war is impossible to be won, having no longer any need to maintain unrestricted support.

In other words, Western officials and journalists are preparing public opinion for the unavoidable defeat of the neo-Nazi regime and trying to focus on Israel as a new “emergency.” In addition, excuses such as “low industrial production” or “Russian attacks on infrastructure” are inappropriately used to try to justify Ukraine’s situation. But, indeed, the real reason is simply Russian military superiority.

In fact, the West has proven unable to produce weapons fast enough to defend Ukraine. In the same sense, Moscow has launched several heavy artillery and aviation strikes against Ukrainian critical infrastructure. But these are only a few factors that do not fully explain the outcome of the war. Kiev’s failure is mainly due to the factor that the Russians are militarily much superior and have a more efficient military strategy. Even at times when Kiev was receiving large amounts of weapons from NATO on a daily basis the regime’s forces were not able to achieve positive results because the Russians always had a greater military power and a more appropriate strategy. So, Stoltenberg does not explain the real reasons for the defeat by talking only about industrial production.

Finally, it must be emphasized how admitting defeat is also a moral blow against the West. NATO is clearly demoralized due to the frustration in Ukraine. The pro-Kiev propaganda machine has not been able to substantiate any of its narratives, having now to admit that its predictions were wrong. It is very likely that the mainstream media and Western officials will lose their credibility, with public opinion simply ceasing to believe what is said by them.

Lucas Leiroz, journalist, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, geopolitical consultant.

December 4, 2023 Posted by | Militarism | , , , | 1 Comment

Iran, Cuba must form coalition to counter US, West bullying: Ayatollah Khamenei

Press TV – December 4, 2023

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says great political and economic capacities of Iran and Cuba should be used to form a coalition against bullying of the United States and its Western allies.

Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks in a Monday meeting with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who is in Tehran on a historic visit. Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi was also present in the meeting.

Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to remarkable potentialities of Iran and Cuba and said, “These capacities should be used to set up an alliance and a coalition among those countries that share the same position against the US and Western bullying.”

“With its focus on economic cooperation, this coalition can take a common and effective position on important international issues such as the Palestinian issue,” the Leader stated.

The Leader emphasized that the Palestinian issue is not limited to the recent developments in Gaza and its bombardment as the Palestinian people have been exposed to various types of torture, sufferings and massacre over the past 75 years.

However, Gaza is currently faced with such a big catastrophe that cannot be concealed, Ayatollah Khamenei said, adding that the war revealed the realities on the ground to the world public opinion.

The Leader added that Iran and Cuba share a stance on many international developments, particularly the Palestinian issue.

Referring to Tehran-Havana cooperation in international forums, Ayatollah Khamenei stressed the importance of further promoting mutual relations in various fields, including science.

The Leader expressed hope that the two countries would implement bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding now that the administration of Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi, which he described as the “administration of work and activity”, is at the helm.

Ayatollah Khamenei also pointed to his meeting with late Cuban leader Fidel Castro in Tehran 22 years ago, and said Cuba’s revolution and Castro’s personality have always been a fascination for Iranian revolutionaries even before the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution because of the sincerity in his revolutionary positions.

The Leader emphasized that “revolutionary sincerity”, “revolutionary resilience” and “revolutionary solemnity” are the common main features of the Cuban revolution and the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

Cuba urges further cooperation with Iran in various fields

Díaz-Canel, for his part, said Ayatollah Khamenei’s positions and statements correspond to concerns and stance of the Cuban government.

The Cuban president added that in his talks with Iranian authorities in Tehran, both sides focused all their efforts on ways to deepen mutual relations, especially in the economic and commercial spheres.

He emphasized that Iran and Cuba can complement each other in various fields, particularly in dealing with interventionist measures and sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies.

Regarding cooperation on global issues, the two countries should further develop their relations and play an influential role in leading developments such as the Palestinian issue, he said.

The Cuban president denounced the ongoing developments in Gaza as “unacceptable genocide” and said international organizations have turned a blind eye to the killing of tens of thousands of civilians, most of them children and women, in the besieged Strip.

He said those who were constantly complaining about the war between Ukraine and Russia and the killing of civilians are now silent vis-à-vis the massacre of tens of thousands of people in Gaza, which indicates the grave state of the world.

December 4, 2023 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Solidarity and Activism | , , , , | Leave a comment

Brazil not interested in Russia sanctions – ambassador

RT | December 4, 2023

Brazil does not recognize Western sanctions imposed on Russia and is instead looking to increase its business ties with the country, Brasilia’s ambassador to Moscow, Rodrigo de Lima Baena Soares, has said.

In an interview with the RBK news outlet posted on Monday, the diplomat noted that Brazil only recognizes sanctions issued by the UN Security Council, meaning it does not comply with restrictions imposed by some countries on Russia.

Brazil therefore has “normal trade relations” with Moscow and is focused on expanding bilateral commerce, Soares added.

He admitted that sanctions had created “a number of problems” regarding issues of payment, logistics, and insurance, but nonetheless stated that Russia-Brazil bilateral trade had reached record levels.

Given that some countries have stopped trading with Russia, Soares argued it is the ideal time to be “creative to take advantage of the opportunities we have,” suggesting that Russia and Brazil should work to further increase trade turnover.

Moscow has insisted that Western sanctions imposed in response to its military operation in Ukraine have not had the intended effect. Last month, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described the restrictions as “not so painful” for Russia and said they had backfired on those who introduced them.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has suggested that EU companies have lost at least €250 billion (around $265 billion) due to Western sanctions on Moscow, arguing that even these figures were “very conservative estimates.”

December 4, 2023 Posted by | Economics | , , | Leave a comment

Glenn Greenwald explains how threats to ban TikTok are part of the effort to expand US censorship through big tech

By Adam Dick | Ron Paul Institute | December 3, 2023

Five years back, technology companies were hitting their stride with cracking down on alternative voices. That crackdown has continued over the ensuing years. Further, evidence has increasingly been revealed that fills out the story of how United States government agents have behind the scenes been pushing the crackdown.

Given this context, one is wise to be skeptical of politicians and bureaucrats of the US government, along with their media allies, clamoring that TikTok needs to be banned because it is spreading propaganda for the government of China. It sure sounds like a fox guarding the henhouse sort of situation. Is the US taking a break from its censorship fixation to defend Americans from censorship here? Isn’t a more likely explanation for this talk of banning TikTok that making this threat is part of an effort to further bring this social media company into the US propagandizing operation — that the US government is seeking to advance its own interests, not to protect users of the company’s social media platform?

That’s Glenn Greenwald’s take that he expertly presented in the Tuesday episode of his news program System Update. Summing up the situation, Greenwald commented:

The big tech platforms — Facebook and Google, and Twitter before Elon Musk — as we know were subject to constant orders from the government about what to censor, and they did it. And the reason they’re so fixated on Elon Musk and the reason they hate Rumble and any other site that doesn’t obey them is because they can’t stand the notion that Americans can go on a platform and communicate ideas that they can’t stop.

And this is what the threats to ban TikTok are about. It’s about trying to have the American government be able to commandeer those censorship decisions so that critical videos of [Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky] and the war in Ukraine or videos about the [Osama Bin Laden] letter get censored because the US government wants it to and they can easily get Google and Facebook to censor it. It’s a little harder with TikTok. And TikTok has had to agree more and more because they don’t care about political censorship; they care about profit. These are capitalists. They don’t care about giving the US government control over content moderation. They are happy to do it if that’s the condition they have to meet in order to keep access to the very lucrative US market.

Watch Greenwald’s discussion regarding TikTok in the System Update episode here:

In the video, Greenwald further discusses how TikTok has already largely capitulated to US government control over its actions. But, the US government is not yet satisfied.

December 4, 2023 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Full Spectrum Dominance, Timeless or most popular, Video | , | Leave a comment