Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS
Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours
(Before checking out the YouTube version below, please consider checking us out on DTube first, as we attempt to being pulling away from YouTube and Google in general)
(https://d.tube/#!/v/tlavagabond/to82obgk)
To begin today, I would like to acknowledge the work of a leader in the truth movement, and that is Robert Parry of Consortium News.
Robert was truly a leading figure in the independent media, I myself was largely unfamiliar with his work until relatively recently, but was quick to see his dedication and drive to bring the truth to stories buried in lies. To even his own admission, that effort played a part in his death. As his work was not easy, and certainly takes a toll on one’s well-being. Yet, that is the sacrifice true journalists such as Robert make to open the eyes of the many still lost in the sea of propaganda that surrounds this country.
He will be missed.
Despite the lies many tell themselves at night, this country is falling apart at the seams. From its insurmountable debt and its coinciding collapsing dollar to its crumbling infrastructure and stagnant hold on fossil fuels, this is all due to the outright corporate dominion in the US, and the refusal of the politicians to actually do their job, and represent the people. The vast majority of the decisions made in this country have nothing to do with the people’s will or what is best for the country. Many have begun to see that fact, as much of our very own history is revealed as a lie. And worse yet, those who go too far, and get seen by the general population as the true manipulators they are, rarely ever see true accountability for their crimes against the people.
FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe stepping down effective today
This is a revealing turn of events that are many are associating with the memo, and that may be the case, but as always I advise prudence in this regard, if only because we have yet to even see if this memo even exists. We only know what we have been told by the plutocrats themselves. I have no doubt gross corruption and abuses of power run rampant in the government, but have serious doubts about the validity of this memo.
Yet, I do hope that it is real, and that it does ultimately expose at least some of the criminals in high places. But we should not allow a resignation to be the end of it. If he is resigning, that is, in my eyes, a tacit admission of guilt. So at the very least, the people should demand he be held accountable for the overt corruption that took place at his behest, and under his watch – as well as the many others who have continued to side-step their crimes.
CBS46 Suspends Anchor Ben Swann After He Announces Return of “Reality Check”
Those willing to speak truth to such power and deeply-seated corruption, are a major threat to the power establishment, more so than many realize. Which is why many steps are taken to minimize the reach of their efforts, hinder any progress made, and diminish any revelations as the rantings of a “conspiracy theorist.” Which is exactly what happened to Ben Swann after he tried to call out the actions of some very nefarious players, likely more nefarious than he realized. And he was quickly silenced. This is once again happening as Ben Swann attempts to rejoin the truth movement.
On Friday, Award-winning journalist and news anchor Ben Swann was suspended by CBS Atlanta only hours after announcing the return of his Reality Check segment. Swann had released a new video – his first independent video since January 2017 – announcing his impending return to the independent/alternative news arena.
In my opinion, this is a very good thing. He will hopefully now dedicate himself entirely to his Reality Check project, and once again help to shift the tide of awareness.
Study Shows One State Has Robbed Its Citizens of $42 Million Just to Cover Up Police Crimes
The results have been released in a two-year investigation into police conduct in the state of New Jersey, and it has revealed a system of rampant corruption that has cost taxpayers more than $42 million to cover up the actions of killer cops in the last decade. Nearly 65,000 internal affairs complaints have been filed since 2011, and only 226—which is less than 1 percent—resulted in the officers being charged with a crime.
The officers who resigned often received compensation, even when it was their deadly or corrupt actions that led to their resignation in the first place. The report claimed that taxpayers shelled out more than $700,000 to 68 officers as compensation for their quiet resignations. Often times the officers simply left and were re-hired in different departments.
This just speaks to the rampant corruption, not just in the police force, but in the government that oversees it, as this same trend can be seen in just about every state. It comes down to the elite, their institutions and their enforcers, and the different laws that apply to them, as opposed to the average individual.
Monsanto And Agent Orange
The Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/recently told Reuters that more than 4.8 million people in Vietnam have been exposed to the herbicide and over 3 million of them have been suffering from deadly diseases. Agent Orange was one of many herbicides used by the U.S. military as a weapon during the Vietnam war, and Monsanto was contracted by the government to manufacture it for the Department of Defense.
Monsanto claims it was unaware of the effects it would have on the civilians, yet we know today that’s not true, and still no one is held accountable. The lies surrounding this topic are many, and varied, but all we have to do is look at the current effects of the chemicals being used today, and the lies around them, to see that Monsanto is well aware of the effects of its chemicals, and we have many cases that show they takes steps to hide that fact. I wont show the images, because they are truly horrifying, but as always, with anything I discuss, I will leave a link in the show notes of the video.
The overarching point, is this is not just Monsanto, but more so those behind the scenes who carried this out, as well as many other atrocities, with zero consequences.
Afghanistan: Kabul Deadly Terrorist Attacks. US Embassy Had Foreknowledge
The US embassy issued a warning to its citizens in Afghanistan about a likely armed raid on one of hotels in Kabul. So why did why didn’t it share the intelligence information with Afghanistan’s security agencies? Or, assuming the Afghani authorities had been informed, why did they not act in the face of a predicted armed terror attack?
As usual, all the governments actually responsible for the current state of Afghanistan have issued statements condemning the attack. And the bitter irony is that these terrorist atrocities will be used by the US or NATO to justify “more troops” or a “longer stay” in Afghanistan.
The Islamic State or Taliban or any other belligerent group that shamelessly claim the responsibility for these massacres of civilians are, indeed, not a free rebellious movement as described by the media or Afghan Government officials or NATO, it is merely a name given to de facto insurgent factions made up of unrelenting mercenaries who are brainwashed and trained to keep imperialism’s war machine running.
We reported on one aspect of this yesterday, and the 16 year war that has raged on at the behest of the US and Western powers, despite the lives of the civilians in Afghanistan only getting worse by the day, truly showing the result of US liberation.
The Rising Chinese Dream
Most people still think of China as a “communist,” polluted, poor country that either makes horrible, cheap stuff or assembles expensive products for Western corporations. However, 87% of Chinese say their country is going in the right direction (that number is 43% for America and dropping). China’s GDP is now the 2nd largest in the world. In terms of PPP – Purchasing Power Parity – China’s economy is actually bigger than the U.S. This is because $100 in China will get you lot more than $100 in America.
China is #1 in world trade, #1exporter, #2 importer, #1 manufacturer, and #2 in market capitalization of stock market ($7 trillion).
And while US Infrastructure crumbles, China has become the king of infrastructure. Between 2011 and 2013, China used more cement than America did in the entire 20th century. It now has 12 out of top 25 tallest buildings (US has 4) and 6 out of top 10 longest bridges. China is also now #1 in manufacturing of solar panels (producing 2/3rd of solar panels in the world) as well as total solar power output. In 2017, China added five times as much solar power as the US. China is also #1 in wind energy, installing on the average one new wind turbine every hour. It’s #1 in the production of electric cars, churning out three times as many e-cars as the US in 2017. In Shenzhen, China, all buses are electric, and there are 16,000 of them! There are even hydrogen-powered trams whose only emission is water! Something that has not even been fully admitted as a reality here in the US, ask yourself why that is?
China has shared its profits with Western oligarchs and corporations. These Western elites, driven by short-term thinking and greed, quickly outsourced as many American and European jobs as possible. For the bean counters in the West, a Chinese worker who works for $10/hr is obviously a better choice than an American who demands $40/hr. For an American investment bank which facilitates mergers and acquisitions, it makes no difference if a Chinese company buys an American company or vice versa – it’s only about commission.
And conversely, the US wasted trillions of dollars on wars since 2000 and made plenty of enemies. While the US bombed Libya, China is lending $45 billion of its own money and expertise to build a new capital for Egypt, Libya’s neighbor. While buying natural resources from Africa, China has also spent a lot of money building Africa’s infrastructure. A recent McKinsey report shows that there are over 10,000 Chinese companies in Africa, creating millions of good jobs for Africans. Compare that to the US, which builds military bases all over Africa.
One could argue that many of these steps are only disguised as innovation, when in fact hidden behind them are much larger more sinister agendas, and that may well be true, but China’s wildly authoritarian approach is absolutely not something I am advocating for. China’s prosperity is not the real story here in my mind. The real story is the intentional waylaying of the US and the American people for corporate interests.
This eclipse of power has been allowed in large part due to the corporate control over America, and the spineless and greedy politicians who have allowed it to continue, and their clear lack of concern for what is best for the county, its people and its future. They instead focus on what is best for their respective company’s bottom-line, i.e. maintaining the now archaic dependency on fossil fuels, or manipulating the decision-making process so things such as infrastructure, technology, and even medicine remain stagnant, so not to disrupt their overwhelming control and continued profit on the back of this nation’s slow demise.
They may not have fully realized the true consequence of this wildly selfish, self-serving stagnation of the American people, but they are, by and large, very aware that their actions are holding back what this country once saw as it’s guiding force, innovation – and its accompanying prosperity.
Please take the information discussed in the video above and research for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. As anyone telling you what the truth is, or claiming they have the answer, is likely leading you astray, for one reason or another. Stay Vigilant.
Bitcoin Donations Are Appreciated:
thelastamericanvagabond.com/bitcoin-donation
(17behMvnhmEF5kR7bZ9wkvSAB1vLowCcaW)
