Bulletin N° 784

                                                                                                                                                                                         

 

 

Subject : ‘Passive Emotions': a sterile wasteland, indifferent to ‘Adequate Ideas’ and hostile to ‘Intuitive Understanding’.

 

 

5 February 2018

Grenoble, France

 

 

Dear Colleagues and Friends of CEIMSA,

 

As we have seen in previous discussions, the epistemology of Baruch Spinoza employes Euclidian geometry to establish intuitive knowledge unimpeded by “passive emotions", which is to say reactive emotions received from outside one’s body. With geometrical certitude, then, Spinoza “understands” that the angles of any triangle – no matter its size or shape – always equal two right angles. Similarly, from the knowledge that everything is part of Nature – that body and mind are simply two ways of looking at the same thing -  he is able to deduce many properties of the human mind, not the least of which is both the re-active and pro-active roles played by the emotions in our thought processes.

 

The following story illustrates a common neo-conservative distortion and serves as a warning that reactive emotions can be igored only at great peril. It runs something like this: A young man was invited to an annual barbecue cook-out in a private garden. He had met some members of the group earlier; then had nothing more to do with them. It was a beautiful spring weekend, and he decided to accept the invitation to be their guest of honor. When he arrived they greeted him cordially, and he saw many smiling faces that he recognized. Suddenly he recalled why he had lost interest in these people, he thought that the bond was quickly becoming a bind, that they were too jelously exclusive, their clanishness was too possessive. He later was told that they were a tribe of cannibals. Suddendly awakened by this recollection, he went up to the person who invited him to the picnic and told him that he had to leave immediately. The young man turned to his father and explained to him that he liked this boy and didn’t think they should eat him. "Well, what did he expect?", answered the father. The young guest of honor thought of running away, but the father turned to him and said in a most kindly tone: “Anyway, I think I will like him too, perhaps with some gravy . . . ."

 

The passionate apostels of the marketplace cloak their particular interests in universal terms, attempting to conceal the harmful effects such policies have on society by evoking emotions such as greed, arrogance, deceit, resentment, fear, hatred, disgust, dispair, etc, etc. . . .

 

 

Pain is exclusively a "passive emotion" which Spinoza tells us originates, like the other reactive emotions, from outside the body, and if ignored it serves to block any understanding of “adequate ideas” and impedes us from overcoming our mental and physical passivity, thereby leading to mental confusion instead of adequate or intuitive understanding. In everyday life, we see how ontological distortions appear frequently from contemporary neo-liberal ideology, when a particular event (as in the story above, when the guest accepted an invitation to a picnic) is not understood in its full context (i.e. the true intentions of the tribe of cannibals who extended the invitation), and the passive mind mistakes appearance for essence. Such errors are sometimes fatal.

 

In a world of more and more ‘bean counters’ and ‘number crunchers’ - where fragmented thought prevails - the human capacity for observation and critical thinking, and ultimately for “intuitive knowledge,” seems to be receding to the size of a speck of dust on the horizon. For many people, just getting by from day to day is a painful ordeal, an almost insurmountable challenge; it is a common temptation to simply stop thinking at all, to allow our reactive emotions to deal with problems as they arise, without any attempt at understanding, under the guise of adaptability and individual “freedom of choice.” Just blend in and submit uncritically to the common will (which is usually orchastrated by some corporate interest); this is enough to guarantee happiness! Is it not . . . ?

 

A revisit to the life and times of Baruch Spinoza might provide some insight into our existence and essence today, when ‘imagination’ and ‘passive emotions’ function to subvert the thought process and the formulation of ‘adequate ideas’ by an active ‘intellect’, thereby rendering any experience of ‘intuitive knowledge’ unattainable.

 

The Apostle of Reason

Spinoza (1632-1677)

by Tariq Ali

(1994)

 

 

In Parts IV &V of The Ethics, we find Spinoza discussing the nature of bondage to emotions and, also, the power of the intellect to liberate ordinary people from this servitude, so they may learn to prefer the life of a wise person to that of an ignorant person.

 

He begins Part IV, which is entitled “Of Human Bondage, or the Strength of the Emotions,” by stating the purpose of this meditation:

 

For a man at the mercy of his emotions is not his own master but is subject to fortune, in whose power he so lies

that he is often compelled , although he sees the better course, to pursue the worse. In this Part I have set myself

the task of demonstrating why this is so, and also what is good and what is bad in emotions.(p.153)

 

In a spectacular series of Propositions and Proofs and Corollaries, Spinoza elaborates on the first Axiom in this Part:

 

There is in Nature no individual thing that is not surpassed in strength and power by something other thing.

Whatsoever thing there is, there is another more powerful by which the said thing can be destroyed.(p.156)

 

Proposition 2: We are passive in so far as we are a part of Nature which cannot be conceived independently of other parts.(157)

 

Proof: We are said to be passive when something arises in us of which we are only the partial cause, something that cannot be deduced solely from the laws of our own nature. So we are passive in so far as we are a part of Nature which cannot be conceived independently of other parts.(157)

 

Proposition 3: The force whereby a man persists in existing is limited, and infinitely surpassed by the power of external causes.(157)

 

Proposition 4: It is impossible for a man not to be part of Nature and not to undergo changes other than those which can be understood solely through his own nature and of which he is the adequate cause.(157)

 

Corollary: Hence it follows that man is necessarily always subject to passive emotions, and that he follows the common order of Nature, and obeys it, and accommodates himself to it as far as the nature of things demands.(158)

 

Proposition 5: The force and increase of any passive emotion and its persistence in existing is defined not by the power whereby we ourselves endeavor to persist in existing, but by the power of external causes compared with our own power.(158)

 

Proposition 6: The force of any passive emotion can surpass the rest of man’s activities or power so that the emotion stays firmly fixed in him.(159)

 

Proposition 7: An emotion cannot be checked or destroyed except by a contrary emotion which is stronger than the emotion which is to be checked.(159)

 

Proof: An emotion, in so far as it is related to the mind, is an idea whereby the mind affirms a greater or less force of existence of its body than was previously the case. So when the mind is assailed by an emotion, the body at the same time is affected by an affection whereby its power of acting is increased or diminished. Furthermore, this affection of the body receives from its own cause its force of persisting in its own being, and therefore this force cannot be checked or destroyed except by a corporeal cause which affects the body with an affection contrary to the other and stronger than it. So the mind will be affected by the idea of an affection stronger than and contrary to the earlier one; that is, the mind will be affected by an emotion stronger than and contrary to the previous one, an emotion which will exclude or destroy the existence of the previous one. So an emotion cannot be either destroyed or checked except by a contrary and stronger emotion.(159)

 

Proposition 8: Knowledge of good and evil is nothing other than the emotion of pleasure and pain in so far as we are conscious of it.(160)

 

Proposition 15: Desire that arises from the true knowledge of good and evil can be extinguished or checked by many desires that arise from the emotions by which we are assailed.(163)

 

Proposition 19: Every man, from the laws of his own nature, necessarily seeks or avoids what he judges to be good or evil.(166)

 

Proposition 32: In so far as men are subject to passive emotions, to that extent they cannot be said to agree in nature.(171)

 

Proposition 34:  In so far as men are assailed by emotions that are passive, they can be contrary to one another.(171)

 

Proposition 35: In so far as men live under the guidance of reason, to that extent only do they always necessarily agree in nature.(172)

 

Later, in the same discussion, Spinoza writes,

 

He who from emotion alone endeavors that others should love what he himself loves and live according to his

way of thinking acts only by impulse, and therefore incurs dislike, especially from those who have different

preferences and who therefore also strive and endeavor by that same impulse that others should live according

to their way of thinking. Again, since the highest good sought by men under the sway of emotions is often such

that only one man can possess it, the result is that men who love it are at odds with themselves; and, while they

rejoice to sing the praise of the object of their live, they are afraid of being believed. But he who endeavors to

guide others by reason acts not from impulse but from kindly concern, and is entirely consistent with himself.(p.175)

 

Proposition 63: He who is guided by fear, and does good so as to avoid evil, is not guided by reason.(190)

 

Proof: All emotions that are related to the mind in so far as it is active, that is, emotions that are related to reason, are emotions of pleasure and desire only. Therefore he who is guided by fear and does good through fear of evil is not guided by reason.(191)

 

Proposition 64: Knowledge of evil is inadequate knowledge.(191)

 

Proof: Knowledge of evil is pain itself in so far as we are conscious of it. Now pain is a transition to a state of less perfection, which therefore cannot be understood through man’s essence itself and so is a passive emotion which depends on inadequate ideas. Consequently knowledge of it – that is, knowledge of evil – is inadequate knowledge.*(191)

[*Here, Spinoza refers to Proposition 3, in Part III of the same book: “The active states of mind arise only from adequate ideas; its passive states depend solely on inadequate ideas.”(from p.108)]

 

And finally, in the Appendix of Part IV, Spinoza writes: Desires that follow from our nature in such a way that they can be understood through it alone are those that are related to the mind in so far as the mind is conceived as consisting of adequate ideas. The other desires are related to the mind only in so far as it conceives things inadequately; and their force and increase must be defined not by human power but by the power of things external to us. So the former are rightly called active emotions, the latter passive emotions. For the former always indicate our power, the latter our weakness and fragmentary knowledge.(197)

 

 

In the fifth and final Part of The Ethics, Spinoza discusses “the degree and nature of [reason’s] command over emotions in checking and controlling them.” He begins with a critical exposition of Cartesian dualism, then proceeds to develop further his monistic epistemology to explain the power of the intellect and human freedom.

 

Proposition 2: If we remove the agitation of the mind, or emotion, from the thought of its external cause, and join it to other thoughts, then love or hatred towards the external cause, and also vacillations that arise from these emotions, will be destroyed.(p.205)

 

Proof: That which constitutes the form of love or hatred is pleasure or pain accompanied by the idea of an external cause. So when the latter is removed, the form of love or hatred is removed with it; and thus these emotions, and those that arise from them, are destroyed.(206)

 

Proposition 3: A passive emotion ceases to be a passive emotion as soon as we form a clear and distinct idea of it.(206)

 

Proof: A passive emotion is a confused idea. So if we form a clear and distinct idea of the emotion, this idea is distinguishable only in concept from the emotion in so far as the latter is related only to mind; and so the emotion will cease to be passive.(206)

 

Proposition 7: Emotions which arise or originate from reason are, if we take account of time, more powerful than those that are related to particular things which we regard as absent.(208)

 

Proposition 10: As long as we are not assailed by emotions that are contrary to our nature, we have the poàwer to arrange and associate affections of the body according to the order of the intellect.(208)

 

Proof: Emotions that are contrary to our nature, that is, which are bad, are bad to the extent that they hinder the mind from understanding. Therefore as long as we are not assailed by emotions contrary to our nature, the power of the mind whereby it endeavors to understand things is not hindered, and thus it has the ability to form clear and distinct ideas, deducing them from one another. Consequently in this case we have the ability to arrange and associate affections of the body according to the order of the intellect.(209)

 

Spinoza goes on in this section to discuss the three kinds of knowledge: Distorted Knowledge which originates from confused or fragmentary ideas which originate with contingency or chance happenings; Adequate Knowledge founded on clear and distinct ideas of cause and effect; and Intuitive Knowledge, which is based on the recognition of essence and substance in the larger context of a Natural System.

 

According to the monism of Spinoza, when a candle, brought into existence by a candle-maker, is thrown into a fire the substance is destroyed, but the essence (the melted wax) remains forever.

 

 

In the 21 items below we will encounter various descriptions and interpretations of current events - their substance and the essence thereof - all of which bring into focus the burning question: What lays in store for us in the future - both immediate and long-term - and what pro-active role will we be able to conceptualize to influence these coming events?

   

 

Sincerely,

Francis Feeley

 

Professor emeritus of American Studies

University Grenoble-Alpes

Director of Research

University of Paris-Nanterre

Center for the Advanced Study of American Institutions and Social Movements

The University of California-San Diego

http://www.ceimsa.org/

 

 

a.

https://iak.salsalabs.org/02012018/4ca663ed-8552-4b14-9445-12d302f0e2ab.png

 

https://iak.salsalabs.org/02012018/252cae53-ddd4-46ba-994f-9593ea1fe9d5.png

Essential news about Palestine, Israel, and related topics • IsraelPalestineNews.org

https://iak.salsalabs.org/02012018/index.html?wvpId=9623ec16-0340-11e6-ab9d-12c35146c141

 

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b.

Blowback: How ISIS Was Created by the U.S.

Invasion of Iraq

https://static.theintercept.com/amp/isis-iraq-war-islamic-state-blowback.html

&

https://theintercept.com/staff/mehdi-hasan/

Contact the author:

https://cdn01.theintercept.com/wp-uploads/sites/1/2017/02/mehdi-hasan-1488221651-440x440.jpg

Mehdi Hasan@mehdirhasan

===========

c.

Saber-Rattling, Nuclear Threat – Or an Even More Devastating War?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/NUKE-DESERT.JPG

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48709.htm
by Peter Koenig

 

The World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos has come and gone, and nothing has really changed. The wonderful people of the world struck again – blowing hot air to the four corners of the world. When in reality the poor get poorer, the rich get richer, wars and conflicts are on the rise – and humanity, at least in the western world, is ever more exposed to propaganda lies and mind manipulations, of which then WEF is just one tiny, miserable example.

For instance, was anybody still listening to the bombastic nonsense coming out of Trump’s and Macron’s throat? – It is a soft version of “Fire and Fury” — to confirm to the World of the Noble who is in charge, and to assure the elite that nothing, but nothing will change in the balance of power. That’s the neoliberal Davos Club of always. And they, this elite of beautiful people, would certainly not want a ‘hard core’ nuclear war to destroy their properties and luxury yachts, castles and comfort zone.

So, rest assured, sable-rattling about nuclear Armageddon is just a smoke screen, a deviation maneuver to hide a much worse atrocity. An atrocity, or rather a set of atrocities by which the WEF crowd will most likely never be touched. Trump, for the moment, is the best salesman and mouthpiece the Deep State could muster for their ploy. He is pompous, pretentiously egocentric, and an absurd bully. His America First and Make America Great again, repeated over and over – sounds so silly, but said often enough, it takes hold and becomes the truth in people’s minds.

 

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d.

Truth or Treason? Dirty Secrets

of the Korean War

https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/01/26/truth-or-treason-dirty-secrets-of-the-korean-war/

by George Burchett

 

===========

 

e.

The War on Dissent

https://uziiw38pmyg1ai60732c4011-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/dropzone/2018/01/1044628_550890788302598_1394338691_n.jpg

https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/01/26/the-war-on-dissent/

by CJ Hopkins

 

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f.

Demystifying US and Israeli Power

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/aipac-us-israeli-flags.JPG

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48705.htm

by Susan Cain and Mark Mason

 

If paying attention to the mass media, one would think that politicians have power, that the President of the USA has power, or even that AIPAC has power — They don’t. He doesn’t. AIPAC doesn’t. Few people understand American imperial power because it’s difficult to comprehend the unprecedented concentration of vast wealth in the hands of a few dozen individuals, and the ramifications for the rest of the world. Never before have so few people possessed so much wealth, and thus so much power over everything, including the US government, Israel, AIPAC, and — everything within the imperial American sphere of corporate influence. The Earth is under the control of a few hundred corporations, and a few thousand capitalists. The apparent power of AIPAC to influence US policy is based upon the intense media presence AIPAC does have while real power remains present but pushed into the media background. In this paper, we examine the power relationship between the USA and Israel. We present evidence supporting the claim that state power is subordinate to corporate power, and corporate power is driven by the rewards of expanding profits through manipulating state policies. US transnational corporations, particularly those assigned to the military-industrial complex (MIC: arms manufacturers and others engaged in military and police-state support) join banks and other corporations at the top of USA political power. We remind ourselves that in the USA and Israel, money is political power, not religion or the people.

 

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g.

Putin's Man In Crimea: We've 'Returned To Russia Forever'

https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/01/27/581114772/putins-man-in-crimea-we-ve-returned-to-russia-forever

 

===========

 

h.

Will U.S. Fight Turkey?

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/us-troops-syria-turkey.JPG

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48691.htm

American Soldiers Will Not Leave City About to Be Attacked, Says Top General
by Tom O'Connor

 

The U.S. military intends to remain in the northern Syrian city of Manbij despite an incoming offensive backed by Turkey, which, along with Ankara's rebel allies, has launched an assault on nearby Kurdish forces sponsored by the Pentagon. With the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) mostly defeated in the east, the focus of Syria's nearly seven-year war has shifted west, particularly to the northwestern district of Afrin, where Turkey and the insurgent Free Syrian Army have begun attacking a Kurdish militia known as the People's Protection Units (YPG). The YPG was the primary faction behind the Syrian Democratic Forces that led U.S. efforts to destroy ISIS on the ground, but it also was considered a terrorist organization by Turkey because of its alleged links to a Kurdish nationalist insurgency at home. As the complex politics of northern Syria's battlefield erupted into bloodshed between two U.S. allies, Central Command Commander General Joseph Vogel told CNN Monday that withdrawing his troops from nearby Manbij was "not something we are looking into," even as Turkey threatened to advance into the Kurd-controlled city. The U.S. has so far stood aside as the Pentagon-backed Syrian Democratic Forces attempted to defend the northwestern district of Afrin from Turkey, a member of the U.S.-led NATO alliance, and the formerly CIA-backed Free Syrian Army that has regularly targeted U.S. forces in the area. In November, the Pentagon revealed it had deployed more than 1,700 U.S. personnel to support the Syrian Democratic Forces battling ISIS in Syria.

 

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i.

Interview with Sumiteru Taniguchi

Kill Me, Kill Me. 'Fruit of War' Photo of Nagasaki Victim

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/photo-nuke-victims.JPG

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48695.htm

 

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j.

Washington Reaches New Heights of Insanity with the “Kremlin Report”

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/confuse-with-facts.JPG

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48696.htm

by Paul Craig Roberts

 

In an act of insane escalation of provocations against Russia, Washington has produced a list of 210 top Russian government officials and important business executives who are “gangsters,” “members of Putin’s gang,” “threats,” “people deserving to be sanctioned,” or however the Western presstitutes care to explain the list. The absurd list includes the Prime Minister of Russia, the Foreign Minister, the Defense Minister, and executives of Gazprom, Rosneft, and Bank Rossiya. In other words, the suggestion is that the entirety of Russian political and business leadership is corrupt.

The Russians do not seem to understand the purpose of the list. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the government sees the list as an attempt to interfere in the Russian presidential election. There is no doubt that Washington would like to reduce Putin’s public support so that Washington can use the Western-funded NGOs operating in Russia to present American stooges as Russia’s true voices. However, it is unlikely that the Russian people are stupid enough to fall for such a trick. Washington’s list has three purposes:

 

1)    To undercut Russian diplomacy by presenting the top echelons of Russia as gangsters.

2) To present Russia as a military threat as per the ridiculous announcement by British defense minister Gavin Williamson on January 26 that Russia intends to rip British “infrastructure apart, actually cause thousands and thousands and thousands of deaths,” and create “total chaos within the country.”

3) To shift American and European attention away from the coming release of the House Intelligence Committee’s report that proves Russiagate is a conspiracy between the FBI, the Obama Department of Justice and the Democratic National Committee against President Trump. Washington’s Russian list will give the presstitutes something else to talk about instead of the act of treason committed against the President of the United States. Expect to hear nothing from the presstitutes except that the House Intelligence Committee report is only a political effort to shield Trump from accountability.

 

There is likely a fourth reason for the list. Israel wants Washington’s pressure on Russia, because Russia has so far prevented Israel’s use of the US military to create the same chaos in Syria and Iran as has been created in Iraq and Libya. Israel wants Syria and Iran destabilized because they support Hezbollah, which prevents Israel from occupying the water resources of southern Lebanon. The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which requires the list, passed the House and Senate by a vote of 517-5. Normally, such unanimous foreign policy votes are associated with demands from the Israel Lobby.

 

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k.

From: Jim O'Brien
Sent: Tuesday, 30 January, 2018
Subject: Notes 1/29/18: Links to recent articles of interest

https://www.historiansforpeace.org/

 

 

Links to Recent Articles of Interest

 

“The War That Never Ends (for the U.S. Military High Command)"

By Danny Sjursen, TomDispatch.com, posted January 28

The reference is to the Vietnam War. The author is an active-duty military strategist and a former history instructor at West Point.

 

“Who Is a Hero?”

By Lawrence Wittner, History News Network, posted January 28

The author is a professor of history emeritus at SUN T Albany.

 

“Exceptional Victims”

By Christian Appy, Boston Review, posted January 26

On resistance to the Vietnam War. The author teaches history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and has written several books on the Vietnam War.

 

"Trump's National Defense Strategy Has the Pentagon Popping Champagne"

By Andrew J. Bacevich, The American Conservative, posted January 24

The author is a professor emeritus of history and international relations at Boston University.

 

“South Korea Slips Off the U.S. Leash”

By Dave Lindorff, CounterPunch.org, posted January 23, 2018

Includes historical background to the current crisis

 

“Bacevich and Mearsheimer on Year One of the Trump Administration”

Interview with Andrew J. Bacevich and John Mearsheimer by Derek Davison, Foreign Policy in Focus, posted January 22

 

"Democrats Are Repudiating FDR's Policy of Detente with Russia"

By Stephen F. Cohen, The Nation, posted January 17

The author is a professor emeritus of Russian history and politics at Princeton University and New York University.

 

"The World According to Trump: Or How to Build a Wall and Lose an Empire"

By Alfred McCoy, TomDispatch.com, posted January 16

The author teaches history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

 

“Hawaii False Alarm Hints at the Thin Line Between Mishap and Nuclear War”

By Max Fisher, New York Times, posted January 14

This article draws lessons from the aftermath of the downing of the Korean Airlines flight in 1983.

 

“Donald Trump’s Vile Words Should Remind Us That America Owes Everything to Haitians”

By Jon Schwartz, The Intercept, posted January 12

On the relation of the Haitian Revolution to the Louisiana Purchase


_________

Thanks for Rusti Eisenberg and an anonymous reader for suggesting articles included in the above list. Suggestions can be sent to jimobrien48@gmail.com.

 

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l.

Will Congress Face Down the Deep State?

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/shadow-gov-1.JPG

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48700.htm

The House Intelligence Committee’s vote on Monday to release a memorandum describing alleged malfeasance at the DOJ and the FBI could test constitutional principles.

by Ray McGoverns

 

With the House Intelligence Committee vote yesterday to release its four-page memorandum reportedly based on documentary evidence of possible crimes by top Justice Department and FBI leaders, the die is cast. Russia-gate and FBI-gate are now joined at the hip. The coming weeks will show whether the U.S. intelligence establishment (the FBI/CIA/NSA, AKA the “Deep State”) will be able to prevent its leaders from being held to account. Past precedent suggests that the cabal that conjured up Russia-gate will not have to pick up a “go-to-jail” card. This, despite the widespread guilt suggested by the abrupt way that several senior-echelon DOJ and FBI rats have already jumped ship. Not to mention the manner in which FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, was unceremoniously pushed overboard yesterday, after Director Christopher Wray was given a look at the extra-legal capers described in the House Intelligence Committee memorandum. Granted, at first glance Deep State’s efforts to undercut candidate Donald Trump at first seem so risky and audacious as to be unbelievable. By now, though, Americans should be able to wrap their heads around, one, the dire threat that outsider Trump was seen to be posing to the Deep State and to the ease with which it held sway under President Barack Obama; and, two, expected immunity from prosecution if Deep State crimes were eventually discovered after the election, since “everybody knew” Hillary Clinton was going to win. Oops . . .!.

 

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m.

Responding to Bernie’s Promotion of the New Cold War

https://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Bernie-300x166.png

https://consortiumnews.com/2018/02/01/responding-to-bernies-promotion-of-the-new-cold-war/

Bernie Sanders’ promotion of unproven allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

by Caitlin Johnstone

 

In an otherwise fine video response to Tuesday night’s vapid, flag-waving State of the Union address, Bernie Sanders once again promoted the neocon think tank-generated and unproven claim that Russia interfered in America’s 2016 elections via “cyberwarfare,” and repeated the completely baseless insinuation that they colluded with Trump to do so. Bernie Sanders’ video response to Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. “How can he not talk about the reality that Russia, through cyberwarfare, interfered in our election in 2016, is interfering in democratic elections all over the world, and according to his own CIA director will likely interfere in the 2018 midterm elections that we will be holding?” asked the Vermont Senator. “How do you not talk about that unless you have a very special relationship with Mr. Putin?”

This is not an exception to the rule for Sanders, but one more addition to an  ready consistent and deliberate pattern. In February of last year Sanders delivered a widely viewed video message to his massive online audience solely geared at promoting the Russiagate narrative. At the end of March, he did it again.

 

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n.

How the “Junk Values” of Neoliberalism

Drive Depression and Anxiety in the U.S.

https://www.democracynow.org/2018/2/1/johann_hari_on_how_the_junk

Interview with Johann Hari

 

===========

 

o.

The Hacking of the American Mind:

Pleasure vs. Happiness

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/hacking-the-mind.JPG

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48699.htm

The Science Behind the Corporate Takeover of Our Bodies and Brains

Dr. Robert Lustig

 

I’d been trying to figure out what might be peculiar about American culture that was driving the opioid, obesity and depression crises. Then a longtime subscriber sent me a video with Dr. Robert Lustig, who’s totally on the case. He’s cracked the neurochemical-cultural and economic codes of the country where “Happiness” is legally enshrined as a foremost right in the founding document. Lustig is a professor of endocrinology at UCSF, where he specializes in neuroendocrinology and childhood obesity. He’s the author of The Hacking of the American Mind, in which he reveals a massive conflation that exists in American ideology (and in the American consumerist ideals that have propagated throughout the planet) between pleasure and happiness, which Lustig explains are completely different:

“Pleasure is short-lived, happiness is long-lived; pleasure is visceral, happiness is ethereal; pleasure is taking, happiness is giving; pleasure can be achieved with substances; happiness cannot be achieved with substances; pleasure is experienced alone; happiness is experienced in social groups. The extremes of pleasure all lead to addiction, whether they be substances or behaviors, yet there’s no such thing as being addicted to too much happiness.

“Finally and most importantly: pleasure is dopamine and happiness is serotonin.

                                                                                                                                                                  

“These are two neurochemicals that the brain makes and uses to communicate between one brain cell and another. It turns out dopamine excites the next neuron and when they’re excited too much, too frequently, they tend to die, so the neuron has a defense mechanism against that. What it does is it reduces the number of receptors that are available to be stimulated, in an attempt to try to mitigate the damage…that process is called down-regulation and a lot of different chemicals in the body do that. You get a hit, you get a rush. The receptors [get down-regulated].

 

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p.

“Mr. Boston”: Meet the Man Who

Secretly Helped Daniel Ellsberg Leak Pentagon Papers to the Press

Guest gar alperovitz

https://www.democracynow.org/2018/2/2/mr_boston_meet_the_man_who

&

The Pentagon Papers

(audo)

Part I

https://www.democracynow.org/shows/1996/6/13?autostart_audio=true

Part II

https://www.democracynow.org/1996/6/13/pentagon_papers

 

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q.

Mass Surveillance and the Memory Hole

https://consortiumnews.com/2018/01/31/mass-surveillance-and-the-memory-hole/

The NSA’s recent destruction of evidence in contravention of a court order follows a long-established pattern of intelligence abuses, as Ted Snider explains.

by Ted Snider

 

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r.

“They Repress Us Because We’re Poor”: Immigrant Rights Activist Speaks from Sanctuary in Colorado

Seg sandra lopez

https://www.democracynow.org/2018/2/2/they_repress_us_because_were_poor

 

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s.

Free Speech Victory: Federal Court Strikes Down a Law

that Punishes Supporters of Israel Boycott

 

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/boycott-israel-2.JPG

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48704.htm

by Glenn Greenwald

 

A federal judge on Thursday ruled that a Kansas law designed to punish people who boycott Israel is an unconstitutional denial of free speech. The ruling is a significant victory for free speech rights because the global campaign to criminalize, or otherwise legally outlaw, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement has been spreading rapidly in numerous political and academic centers in the U.S. This judicial decision definitively declares those efforts — when they manifest in the U.S. — to be a direct infringement of basic First Amendment rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

The invalidated law, enacted last year by the Kansas legislature, requires all state contractors — as a prerequisite to receiving any paid work from the state — “to certify that they are not engaged in a boycott of Israel.” The month before the law was implemented, Esther Koontz, a Mennonite who works as a curriculum teacher for the Kansas public school system, decided that she would boycott goods made in Israel, motivated in part by a film she had seen detailing the abuse of Palestinians by the occupying Israeli government, and in part by a resolution enacted by the national Mennonite Church. The resolution acknowledged “the cry for justice of Palestinians, especially those living under oppressive military occupation for fifty years”; vowed to “oppose military occupation and seek a just peace in Israel and Palestine”; and urged “individuals and congregations to avoid the purchase of products associated with acts of violence or policies of military occupation, including items produced in [Israeli] settlements.”

 

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t.

From: Moshé Machover
Sent: Saturday, 3 February, 2018

Subject: Fwd: 2018 - 5 - 3 février : Notes de lecture et textes

 http://entreleslignesentrelesmots.wordpress.com/

 

 

Francis,

This blog might interests your readers.

mm

 

______

From: entreleslignesentrelesmots <entreleslignesentrelesmots@orange.fr>

Subject: 2018 - 5 - 3 février : Notes de lecture et textes

 

Bonjour,

Parmi les nouveaux textes et notes de lecture mis sur le blog : 

Les textes les plus lus en janvier 2018 :

Le féminisme ne se résume pas à l’égalité des sexes

Quel culot ! Pourquoi la gifle d’Ahed Tamimi rend les Israéliens furieux

Nommer la violence, reconnaître ses victimes, briser le silence

Tribune pour une « liberté d’importuner » : « A chaque fois qu’il y a une révolution féministe, on crie « danger » »

La légalisation a fait de l’Allemagne le bordel de l’Europe. Et nous devrions avoir honte !

Naître de sexe féminin impose aux femmes un coût que nous sommes seules à pouvoir comprendre

Ce n’était qu’un début…

Le porno est un enjeu de gauche 

Prostitution légalisée en Australie : l’envers du décor

« La femme qui fuit »

Discours d’Oprah Winfrey aux Golden Globes Awards

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Des hommes appuient #Etmaintenant :
https://entreleslignesentrelesmots.wordpress.com/2018/01/28/des-hommes-appuient-etmaintenant/ 

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sur : Adric - Voix de femmes : Lutter contre le mariage forcé
Soutenir le libre choix amoureux et l'autonomie des jeunes :
https://entreleslignesentrelesmots.wordpress.com/2018/01/30/violence-intrinseque-du-mariage-force-et-violences-induites-dont-les-viols/ 

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sur : Zalmen Gradowski : Ecrits I et II – Témoignage d’un Sonderkommando d’Auschwitz :
https://entreleslignesentrelesmots.wordpress.com/2018/01/29/le-diable-lenfer-les-proies-et-la-lune/ 

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Michel Husson : Bernard Friot ou la stratégie de l’incantation
À propos de : Vaincre Macron de Bernard Friot, Paris, La Dispute, 2017 :
https://entreleslignesentrelesmots.wordpress.com/2018/01/31/bernard-friot-ou-la-strategie-de-lincantation/ 

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sur : Fred Turner : Le cercle démocratique :
https://entreleslignesentrelesmots.wordpress.com/2018/02/02/rencontre-de-cultures-aux-origines-de-la-contre-culture-aux-etats-unis-dans-les-sixties/ 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
sur : Amir Gutfreund : La légende de Bruno et d’Adèle
Andrew Pepper : Les derniers jours de Newgate
Anila Wilms : Les assassins de la route du Nord
https://entreleslignesentrelesmots.wordpress.com/2018/01/28/le-coin-du-polar-janvier-2018/ 

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 Textes

Nicolas Béniès : Les monnaies virtuelles font la une. Bitcoin, une monnaie ? :
https://entreleslignesentrelesmots.wordpress.com/2018/01/30/les-monnaies-virtuelles-font-la-une-bitcoin-une-monnaie/ 

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Jeni Harvey : Inoffensif et pailleté : qu’est-ce-que le féminisme contemporain a à offrir aux jeunes filles aujourd’hui ?
https://entreleslignesentrelesmots.wordpress.com/2018/01/31/inoffensif-et-paillete-quest-ce-que-le-feminisme-contemporain-a-a-offrir-aux-jeunes-filles-aujourdhui/ 

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Jean-Pierre Azéma jugé pour diffamation suite à son rapport public sur le sort des malades mentaux sous le régime de Vichy : 
https://entreleslignesentrelesmots.wordpress.com/2018/02/01/jean-pierre-azema-juge-pour-diffamation-suite-a-son-rapport-public-sur-le-sort-des-malades-mentaux-sous-le-regime-de-vichy/ 

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Martine Storti : « Vous venez d’insulter une femme, votre bite va se désintégrer dans les trois jours »
https://entreleslignesentrelesmots.wordpress.com/2018/01/29/vous-venez-dinsulter-une-femme-votre-bite-va-se-desintegrer-dans-les-trois-jours/  

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Déclaration de peuples autochtones vivant au chili à l’occasion de la visite du pape au Chili :
Nous n’avons que faire de vos croix et de vos bibles :
https://entreleslignesentrelesmots.wordpress.com/2018/01/29/nous-navons-que-faire-de-vos-croix-et-de-vos-bibles/ 

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Geneviève Fraisse : Sur l’incompatibilité supposée entre l’amour et le féminisme :  
https://entreleslignesentrelesmots.wordpress.com/2018/02/01/sur-lincompatibilite-supposee-entre-lamour-et-le-feminisme/ 

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Solidarité maghrébine avec les mouvements sociaux tunisiens : 
https://entreleslignesentrelesmots.wordpress.com/2018/01/30/solidarite-maghrebine-avec-les-mouvements-sociaux-tunisiens/

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Élise Gravel : Le consentement expliqué aux enfants (et aussi aux grands) :
https://entreleslignesentrelesmots.wordpress.com/2018/02/03/le-consentement-explique-aux-enfants-et-aussi-aux-grands/

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On ne doit pas traîner dans la boue les manifestations pacifiques en Iran : déclaration de militant.es iranien.nes : 
https://entreleslignesentrelesmots.wordpress.com/2018/02/02/on-ne-doit-pas-trainer-dans-la-boue-les-manifestations-pacifiques-en-iran-declaration-de-militant-es-iranien-nes/ 

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Joël Martine : L'exploitation du travail domestique et son articulation avec l'exploitation salariale dans le capitalisme - Ou le féminisme matérialiste revisité, 2 :
https://entreleslignesentrelesmots.wordpress.com/2018/02/02/lexploitation-du-travail-domestique-et-son-articulation-avec-lexploitation-salariale-dans-le-capitalisme-ou-le-feminisme-materialiste-revisite-2/ 

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30 janvier 1933 : le désastre :
https://entreleslignesentrelesmots.wordpress.com/2018/01/31/30-janvier-1933-le-desastre/ 

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Affaire Tariq Ramadan : « Nous choisissons d’inverser la charge de la preuve et de croire la parole des femmes »:
https://entreleslignesentrelesmots.wordpress.com/2017/11/12/affaire-tariq-ramadan-nous-choisissons-dinverser-la-charge-de-la-preuve-et-de-croire-la-parole-des-femmes/

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Et pour les amatrices et amateurs, une rubrique jazz (jazz) plus régulièrement alimentée (chroniques de disques récents et plus anciens), sans oublier le rayon "polar" (polaret une fois par semaine le "street art"(street-art)... 

N'hésitez pas à reproduire les textes, en indiquant leur source et à faire suivre ce courriel à vos ami-e-s

cordialement 
Didier (didier.epsztajn@laposte.net)
Blog : http://entreleslignesentrelesmots.wordpress.com/
Afin de recevoir les textes automatiquement dès leur mise en ligne (et non sur une lettre d’information hebdomadaire), je vous invite à vous abonner sur le blog 

 

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u.

Early Facebook and Google employees form coalition

to fight what they built

Roger McNamee

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/04/early-facebook-and-google-employees-form-coalition-to-fight-what-they-built.html

Nellie Bowles