Monday 16th of September 2024
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irritating the empire.....

MORE THAN NINETEEN YEARS AGO (30 Apr 2005), WE PUBLISHED THE CARTOON ABOVE... SINCE THEN, ALTERNATIVE MEDIA SOURCES HAVE COME AND GONE (OFTEN CENSORED OR TAKEN TO COURT). MANY OF THE FIGUREHEADS ABOVE HAVE DIED OR MOVED ON... SOME NEWSREADERS HAVE BEEN VILIFIED FOR TELLING THE TRUTH... AS WE HAVE SUBSEQUENTLY EXPOSED, MUCH OF THE OFFICIAL NEWS IS MANAGED BY THE CIA, THE NSA AND OTHER INTEL AGENCIES ON BEHALF OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE...

STRANGELY, NOWADAYS, FOX NEWS SEEMS TO BE CLOSER TO THE TRUTH THAN SAY A WAPO OR A NYT.... 

WE NEED ALT MEDIA:

The Pearls and Irritations platform, with its commitment to fact-driven critique, exemplifies dissent as a profound act of civic engagement. Immanuel Kant, the renowned Enlightenment philosopher, offered a powerful defence of this kind of loyal, evidence-based dissent.

Kant argued that the free public use of reason is essential for societal progress. The mission of Pearls and Irritationsaligns with his conception of “public reason”– bringing the tools of critical thinking and evidence to issues that affect society as a whole. Contributors to the platform uncover facts, dissect policies, and challenge mainstream narratives with well-founded reasoning, embodying Kant’s vision of the role of public debate.

In exposing weaknesses in policies and prevailing narratives, contributors strive to challenge and inform both the public and policymakers. Through reasoned dissent, unjust laws or harmful practices are brought to light, clearing the path for reform. Kant would see this as a key force in moving society closer to justice.

For Kant, free speech was more than a personal right; it was a responsibility. He believed that citizens have a duty to identify injustices and push for change. The contributors to Pearls and Irritations reflect this duty. Their critique of institutions is not born out of cynicism, but from a commitment to improve them.

This practice of “loyal dissent” is clear in how the platform operates. Contributors take on critical issues — government accountability, media transparency, climate policy — motivated by a duty to the common good, rather than self-interest. This echoes Kant’s idea of “enlightened citizenship”, where exercising free speech serves the public, not individual gain.

Kant’s vision of the state hinges on the “social contract” – an implicit agreement between government and citizens. Reasoned dissent is how citizens signal that the terms of this contract need renegotiation. The platform highlights where the contract is fraying, from concerns about government secrecy to the urgency of the climate crisis.

Dissent, even when loyal and well-reasoned, often comes at a cost. Speaking out against powerful institutions or widely accepted beliefs requires courage, just as it did in Kant’s time. The contributors to Pearls and Irritations take these risks, knowing that public disapproval or professional consequences can follow. Yet, they persist, understanding that true progress demands this kind of bravery.

In a time when many “go along to get along”, dissenters on the platform exercise a duty to challenge the status quo for the sake of truth and justice, especially when it is uncomfortable.

Pearls and Irritations exemplifies the Kantian ideals of loyal, evidence-based dissent. Through the use of public reason, the fulfilment of civic duty, and the courage to challenge prevailing ideas, the platform serves as a vital forum for democratic engagement. It reminds us that dissent, when grounded in fact and driven by a commitment to justice, is not disloyalty, but a profound expression of civic responsibility. In an age overwhelmed by ideology, the platform demonstrates the enduring importance of dialogue in a free society.

A proven record

Pearls and Irritations has demonstrated its capacity to foresee complex issues long before they dominate mainstream discussion. On Ukraine, the platform highlighted early on the potential for a prolonged conflict and the challenges of achieving a decisive military victory. As the war drags on without a clear resolution, their emphasis on the complexities of geopolitical dynamics and the limitations of military solutions has proved prescient. Despite continued fighting, negotiations have yet to produce a lasting peace, echoing the platform’s cautious analysis.

Similarly, the platform recognised early the significance of China’s rapid economic and technological rise, often rivalling and even surpassing the US in areas like trade, infrastructure, and research and development. While mainstream sources were slower to acknowledge this seismic shift in the global balance of power, Pearls and Irritations consistently emphasised that US attempts to “contain” or isolate China were likely to fail. This prediction has largely proven true, with China now the top trading partner for much of the world, as many countries prioritise economic ties over political alignment.

By confronting these critical issues with nuanced, evidence-based perspectives, Pearls and Irritations continues to challenge popular narratives while offering vital insights that have stood the test of time.

Can you help Pearls and Irritations?

For the first time, and for a short period, Pearls and Irritations can offer tax deductibility on donations through the Australian Cultural Fund, a fundraising platform for Australian artists. Operated by Creative Australia and established by the Australian Government in 2003, it encourages donations to the arts.

You can make your one-off donation here.

https://johnmenadue.com/pearl-or-irritation-the-kantian-imperative-and-the-case-for-dissent/

 

AS SMALL AND INSIGNIFICANT AS WE ARE, WE HAVE BEEN DISSENTING FOR MORE THAN NINETEEN YEARS....

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

only the truth....

 As the TRUTH IS RAPIDLY BEING SHUT DOWN BY THE AMERICAN EMPIRE, a list of alt news sources to come HERE SOON:...

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START HERE FIRST:

https://yourdemocracy.net/drupal/node/964

 

https://yourdemocracy.net/drupal/node/11276

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

empire panic....

 

DoJ Clampdown on Russian Media: ‘Authoritarian’ Move Proving US Empire Has No Clothes

 

BY Ilya Tsukanov

 

The US Justice Department’s sweeping crackdown on Russian media on Wednesday to the thunderous applause of the legacy media will leave Americans a little less informed, less safe and a lot less free, observers including long-time Sputnik contributors say.

“It looks like the US Department of Justice is producing another election year spectacular. Sixty days before the election we are invited to suspend our disbelief and embrace ‘Russia, Russia, Russia: The Sequel.’ And once again the DOJ is rounding up the usual suspects: Trump, Russia and Democracy,” political commentator and Newsmax columnist Michael Shannon told Sputnik, commenting on the DoJ’s unprecedented crackdown on Russian media Wednesday over alleged “disinformation” and an election-related “malign influence operation.”

 

“I predict the audience for this lame sequel will be the remaining mask wearers, Clot Shot booster advocates, Trump haters, consonant crusaders and government employees. Anyone else with simple common sense will see it for what it is: The DOJ’s attempt to influence the election,” Shannon stressed.

 

The figures being alleged by the Justice Department are also laughable, according to the observer.

 

“Let’s put alleged Russian influence buying in perspective. The indictment says Tenent Media was given $10 million to ‘influence the election.’ I’ve got news for you. $10 million would barely influence a US Senate race. The amount is hardly a drop in the bucket for a presidential race. Donald Trump and Joe Biden combined spent $1.85 BILLION in 2020,” Shannon emphasized.

 

Silencing Speech

“I regret the actions of my government in silencing legitimate journalistic outlets, and look forward to the day when freedom of speech and a free press is not constrained by a dubious ‘Russian exception’ that is violative of Constitutional norms and values,” former US Marine intelligence officer, UN weapons inspector and commentator Scott Ritter wrote in a social media post.

Ritter, who has already suffered a campaign of blatant intimidation by the FBI, including a raid on his family home and the confiscation of his passport, announced the termination of his work for Sputnik and other Russian media after the DoJ and Treasury's new restrictions were announced, fearing he would be further targeted.

 

‘Staggering Hypocrisy’

Former CIA analyst-turned whistleblower and author Larry Johnsonhighlighted the DoJ crackdown’s off the charts “hypocrisy that is staggering in its magnitude and its foulness,” telling Sputnik that the claims of Russian media attempts to “meddle” in the upcoming US presidential election are simply laughable when considering that the US government has allocated “almost $4 billion to interfere or meddle in the political affairs of other countries” in 2024 alone.

Popular independent media personality Jackson Hinkle says Americans looking for alternative perspectives and sources of information will the most to suffer from the DoJ’s move.

“We can topple governments. We can kill sovereign presidents of sovereign countries. But for a media company to be reporting on the facts…about what’s actually going on in the world, and then for the United States to sanction them, it’s absolutely insane,” Hinkle said. “I think millions of Americans want to hear that truth, and that’s why they’re going after companies like Sputnik so hard right now.”

 

Jackson Hinkle blasts US crackdown on Russian media: "millions of Americans want to hear that truth"

“What I find so interesting about all this is that when it comes to any other country, if it's the United Kingdom, if it's Israel, if it's Canada or wherever, foreign influence… https://t.co/DKlqIZD0xx pic.twitter.com/7Gud6tVgbJ

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) September 5, 2024

 

America's Empire Has No Clothes

Retired US Air Force Lt. Col. and ex-DoD analyst-turned whistleblower Karen Kwiatkowski agrees, saying the perception of the US both inside and outside the country has plummeted in recent years, and that Washington and its allies want to silence dissenting voices to try to get Americans to stop “asking uncomfortable questions” about the conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere.

 

 

“Sanctioning information outlets is popular in authoritarian countries, but sanctions in general only attract attention to poor political decision-making and political fear and are easily worked around,” Kwiatkowski emphasized, echoing sentiments expressed by the Russian Foreign Ministry that the DoJ’s move signals a “decline of ‘liberal democracies’, where authorities resort to such primitive methods of influencing their electorate.”

 

Falling Hegemon's Last Gasps?

Independent geopolitics expert Lorenzo Maria Pacini warns that Washington’s shortsighted move against Russian media is “ridiculous” and cannot stand and will inevitably backfire, “because they’re trying to force the other countries of the world to follow a kind of hegemony that is falling.”

Western efforts to enforce hegemony are failing in a new multipolar era — analyst

Lorenzo Maria Pacini, an associate professor of political philosophy and geopolitics and a member of the Multipolarity forum, sounded off on the US sanctions against Russian media companies… https://t.co/DKlqIZD0xx pic.twitter.com/vbdQXS5n1L

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) September 5, 2024

Finally, writer and historian Dr. Gerald Horne told Sputnik that the DoJ decision, when taken together with the recent spate of attacks on independent and alternative media personalities across the West, signals a “hysteria” gripping Western political elites over the emergence of a counterhegemonic bloc of nations willing and able to challenge US power as the nightmares of leading foreign policy architects like Zbigniew Brzezinski of countries like Russia, China and Iran forming a “de facto alliance” become a reality.

 https://sputnikglobe.com/author_tsukanov_ilya/  

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

SEE ALSO: 

the american nightmare for all of us.....

freedom to shut up....

 

Attacks on Sputnik, RT About Shoring up US Institutions While Attacking Freedom of Press

 

BT JOHN MILES

 

The First Amendment to the US Constitution lists a number of rights considered most important by the country’s founding fathers, including freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and freedom of speech and the press.

This week brought further developments in the Biden administration’s ongoing war against alternative media in the United States just days after the Federal Bureau of Investigation promised “more searches” of figures connected to Russian media.

The US Justice Department brought charges against two Russian media executives Wednesday, accusing them of not disclosing their support for a Tennessee-based media company that published edgy viral videos.

Lawmakers in Washington have moved to more aggressively attempt to mold the content and tenor of online discourse after former President Donald Trump’s surprise victory in 2016. Allegations of “misinformation” took center stage during the Covid-19 pandemic; more recently, pro-Israel legislators have urged greater oversight after pro-Palestine views spread on platforms favored by young people such as TikTok.

“I think that we have to situate all of this in context,” said attorney and DD Geopolitics host John Jackman on Sputnik’s Fault Lines program Thursday. “There's a very important election coming up and the lead up to the November elections are really a critical moment for our political class, for both the Democratic and Republican parties, to preserve the legitimacy of the institutions that they rely on.”

“In particular the Democratic Party is concerned that Donald Trump will potentially win the election again,” he continued. “But I think that this is even a bigger and more existential issue than this, actually. Of course, we saw these charges brought under the guise of protecting against Russian disinformation. But I argue that this is really nothing more than a blatant attack on the very vision of freedom of speech and freedom of the press that American people actually once fought and died for.”

Freedom of expression is among the most cherished concepts in the American political consciousness. The First Amendment to the US Constitution lists a number of rights considered most important by the country’s founders, including freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and freedom of speech and the press. Such values constitute a cornerstone of Americans’ self-perception as a democracy, a principle they frequently aim to spread across the globe by threat of force. But the last several years have seen the US government signal an increasing concern over the political discourse in the United States, with Congress increasingly urging large social media platforms to more aggressively police content. Meanwhile anxieties have grown over independent and alternative media outlets like Sputnik and The Grayzone, which has been the target of several attacks by the Washington Post. “The First Amendment Is Out of Control,” read the headline of one editorial in The New York Times this year typical of elite concerts over the matter. “America Has a Free Speech Problem,” read another just two years prior.

“The overarching narrative from the White House, from the US government, has been one to enact a significant chilling effect on Americans who are willing to just speak the truth or willing to go on programs like this to talk about the core issues facing American society,” said Jackman, “really getting to the heart of what's happening in this country.”

“At the core of it, what we're seeing is that there's so many Americans today who are becoming aware that the government is unwilling or incapable of just addressing those fundamental issues and the everyday needs of Americans, “ he continued. “So what they're really looking to do is to stomp out a unified American voice that is pushing for more democracy with the total suppression and exploitation of democratic forces. And these latest charges from the DOJ are doing just that.”

“Many Americans woke up today not sure about how to conduct their speech online. It basically diverts people from being able to push narratives that actually challenge imperialism, that actually challenge the hegemony of the ruling class in this country, and instead shows people that if you're willing to stick your neck out like this, then we just might come after you, too. And that's clearly the message that it sends.”

 

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240906/attacks-on-sputnik-rt-about-shoring-up-us-institutions-while-attacking-freedom-of-press-1120051423.html

 

READ FROM TOP

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

SEE ALSO: 

the american nightmare for all of us.....