vlog – CounterVortex https://countervortex.org Resisting Humanity's Downward Spiral Sun, 24 Dec 2023 18:41:30 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.5 https://countervortex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/newsflash_logo-1-300x300.png vlog – CounterVortex https://countervortex.org 32 32 CounterVortex launches weekly vlog https://countervortex.org/blog/countervortex-launches-weekly-vlog/ https://countervortex.org/blog/countervortex-launches-weekly-vlog/#comments Sun, 24 Dec 2023 18:37:39 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=23195 CounterVortex now has a weekly vlog, with our roundup of under-reported news and views from around the world, from an unapologetically radical dissident-left perspective—brought to you by your chief reporter, ranter and blogger Bill Weinberg. Subscribe to our new YouTube channel, and please share on socia media. If you wish to receive our weekly headlines and digest by email, you can subscribe to that via Substack.]]> The CounterVortex now has a weekly vlog, with our roundup of under-reported news and views from around the world, from an unapologetically radical dissident-left perspective—brought to you by your chief reporter, ranter and blogger Bill Weinberg. Subscribe to our new YouTube channel, and please share on social media. If you wish to receive our weekly headlines and digest by email, you can subscribe to that via Substack.

To keep this work going, please make a small (or medium-sized, or large) donation to our year-end fund drive. We aspire to reach just $500 by year’s end (a small fraction of our annual operating costs), and we’re already on our way. Thanks to five readers—in New York City; Los Angeles; Milan, Italy; and Gloucestershire, UK—a total of $180 has already come in. So $320 to go! If you appreciate what we offer each week, please do your part.

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/countervortex-launches-weekly-vlog/feed/ 6 Bill Weinberg slams ‘tankie’ pseudo-left on YouTube https://countervortex.org/blog/bill-weinberg-slams-tankie-pseudo-left-on-youtube/ https://countervortex.org/blog/bill-weinberg-slams-tankie-pseudo-left-on-youtube/#comments Fri, 01 Jul 2022 19:01:03 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=21938 Geof Bard, CounterVortexproducer Bill Weinberg dissects the sinister "tankie" phenomenon on the contemporary Western "left," which paradoxically supports Russian imperialism in the name of a misguided "anti-imperialism." This absurd double standard is enabled by the so-called "Chomsky Rule," which holds that we are only permitted to protest the crimes of US imperialism—and thereby renders the crimes of rival imperialisms invisible to the activist-left milieu. The pseudo-left betrayal of Ukraine to imperialist aggression actually undermines our moral authority to oppose the crimes of the US and its client states in places like Gaza and Yemen.]]> In a series of brief interviews with vlogger and activist songster Geof Bard, CounterVortex producer Bill Weinberg dissects the sinister “tankie” phenomenon on the contemporary Western “left,” which paradoxically supports Russian imperialism in the name of a misguided “anti-imperialism.” This absurd double standard is enabled by the so-called “Chomsky Rule,” which holds that we are only permitted to protest the crimes of US imperialism—and thereby renders the crimes of rival imperialisms invisible to the activist-left milieu. The pseudo-left betrayal of Ukraine to imperialist aggression actually undermines our moral authority to oppose the crimes of the US and its client states in places like Gaza and Yemen.

See our last rants against Chomskyism and Red-Brown Politics (left-fascist convergence)

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/bill-weinberg-slams-tankie-pseudo-left-on-youtube/feed/ 3 Targeted disinformation neutralizes US left https://countervortex.org/blog/targeted-disinformation-neutralizes-us-left/ https://countervortex.org/blog/targeted-disinformation-neutralizes-us-left/#respond Sun, 25 Oct 2020 21:08:19 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=19957 about Russian interference in the US elections is now translating into denialism about how dangerous the Trump presidency is. In 2016, we saw Russian-promoted "left" sites and writers post memes and articles that trashed Hillary Clinton, equated Clinton and Trump, or even portrayed Clinton as the worse choice. They dominated "Leftbook" social media and helped depress the progressive vote—a decisive factor in Trump's win. We are seeing a replay now. Biden and Harris are denounced far more than Trump on some "left" sites, while Trump's incipient fascism is downplayed. This influence has also been felt in the appalling lack of protest against Trump. Through his round-ups of undocumented immigrants, his abandonment of climate and arms control treaties, the impeachment, progressives failed to fill the streets—until the Black Lives Matter uprising, bringing a new and different leadership to the fore. In a presentation for Women's March Minnesota, longtime activist Terry Burke examines how the US left is in danger of being manipulated and neutralized by a sophisticated online propaganda campaign, facilitated by the Kremlin and its media arms and corporate enablers like Facebook. (Image: TerryBurke)]]>

Progressives in the United States show little awareness of the disinformation specially targeting them. Denialism about Russian interference in the US elections, and the horrific realities of Russia’s client state in Syria, is now translating into denialism about how dangerous the Trump presidency is. Syria solidarity activists have long been aware of the flood of pro-Assad disinformation on social media. Research from the University of Washington corroborated what activists have observed—it documented four times as many disinformation tweets about the Syrian White Helmets volunteer first-responder group in 2017 compared to factual tweets. In 2016, we saw the same pro-Assad sites and writers post memes and articles that trashed Hillary Clinton, equated Clinton and Trump, or even portrayed Clinton as the worse choice. They dominated “Leftbook” social media and helped depress the progressive vote. Ten million fewer Democrats voted in 2016 than 2012—a decisive factor in Trump’s win. We are seeing a replay now. Biden and Harris are denounced far more than Trump on some “left” sites, while Trump’s incipient fascism is downplayed.

This influence has also been felt in the appalling lack of protest against Trump. Through his round-ups of undocumented immigrants, his abandonment of climate and arms control treaties, the impeachment, progressives failed to fill the streets—until the Black Lives Matter uprising, bringing a new and different leadership to the fore.

In a presentation for Women’s March Minnesota, longtime activist Terry Burke of the Committee in Solidarity with the People of Syria (CISPOS) examines how the US left is in danger of being manipulated and neutralized by a sophisticated online propaganda campaign, facilitated by the Kremlin and its media arms and corporate enablers like Facebook.

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/targeted-disinformation-neutralizes-us-left/feed/ 0 Fifth Estate Live with Bill Weinberg https://countervortex.org/blog/fifth-estate-live-with-bill-weinberg/ https://countervortex.org/blog/fifth-estate-live-with-bill-weinberg/#comments Wed, 15 Jul 2020 01:34:32 +0000 https://countervortex.org/?post_type=blog&p=19650 David Rovics interviews CounterVortex editor Bill Weinberg for Fifth Estate Live. The two discuss Weinberg's upcoming story for the anarchist journal Fifth Estate on the "two faces of fascism" the US confronts at this moment—a Trumpian dictatorship or a post-pandemic "new normality" of complete surveillance and social control. But the moment is also pregnant with possibility, witnessing the mainstreaming of anarchist ideas such as abolishing the police. Initiatives such as cannabis legalization as a first step toward this aim are gaining ground nationally. Looking back, they draw lessons for the current revolutionary moment from the Tompkins Square Park uprising on Manhattan's Lower East Side in the 1980s, and the rebellion of the Zapatistas in Mexico in the 1990s—who continue to hold liberated territory in the southern state of Chiapas even today. Watch the video archive on YouTube or listen to the audio version on SoundCloud.]]> Portland-based musician and vlogger David Rovics interviews CounterVortex editor Bill Weinberg for Fifth Estate Live. The two discuss Weinberg’s upcoming story for the anarchist journal Fifth Estate on the “two faces of fascism” the US confronts at this moment—a Trumpian dictatorship or a post-pandemic “new normality” of complete surveillance and social control. But the moment is also pregnant with possibility, witnessing the mainstreaming of anarchist ideas such as abolishing the police. Initiatives such as cannabis legalization as a first step toward this aim are gaining ground nationally. Looking back, they draw lessons for the current revolutionary moment from the Tompkins Square Park uprising on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in the 1980s, and the rebellion of the Zapatistas in Mexico in the 1990s—who continue to hold liberated territory in the southern state of Chiapas even today. Watch the video archive on YouTube or listen to the audio version on SoundCloud.

Erratum: The book Three Faces of Fascism is by Ernst Nolte (not “Eric”)

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/fifth-estate-live-with-bill-weinberg/feed/ 1 ‘Factually Incorrect’ with Bill Weinberg: episode 2 https://countervortex.org/blog/factually-incorrect-with-bill-weinberg-episode-2/ https://countervortex.org/blog/factually-incorrect-with-bill-weinberg-episode-2/#respond Wed, 04 Jan 2017 07:49:47 +0000 http://cvwp.countervortex.org/?p=14861 Bill Weinberg calls out Ben Swann of the ironically named "Reality Check" vlog for spewing lies and propaganda on behalf of the genocidal dictatorship of Bashar Assad.]]> Bill Weinberg continues his crusade against the post-truth plague, this time calling out Ben Swann of the ironically named “Reality Check” vlog for spewing lies and propaganda on behalf of the genocidal dictatorship of Bashar Assad.

Relevant links:

National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces

Doctors Without Borders

Amnesty International

Physicians for Human Rights

Support the White Helmets

Syrian Nonviolence Movement

Adopt a Revolution

Syrian Democratic Revolution

Thanks to Rhay Lo for production.

See the last episode of the CounterVortex vlog.

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/factually-incorrect-with-bill-weinberg-episode-2/feed/ 0 ‘Factually Incorrect’ with Bill Weinberg: episode 1 https://countervortex.org/blog/factually-incorrect-with-bill-weinberg-episode-1/ https://countervortex.org/blog/factually-incorrect-with-bill-weinberg-episode-1/#respond Fri, 23 Dec 2016 08:37:41 +0000 http://cvwp.countervortex.org/?p=14846 Bill Weinberg fights the post-truth plague by taking down fiction-spewing bloviators whether of the left or right—starting with Jimmy Dore of "Aggressive Progressive" vlog.]]> Bill Weinberg fights the post-truth plague by taking down fiction-spewing bloviators whether of the left or right—starting with Jimmy Dore of  “Aggressive Progressive” vlog.

Further annotation on Dore’s claim that “we’re still in fucking Afghanistan, Iraq…” US troops in Afghanistan have officially been in a non-combatant role since the “withdrawal” of 2014. US troop strength in Afghanistan now stands at some 9,000, according to the Congressional Research Service report “Department of Defense Contractor and Troop Levels in Iraq and Afghanistan: 2007-2016” (PDF). The number stood at 60,000 when Obama took office in 2009, and initially rose to some 90,000 the following year before dropping again. US troop strength in Iraq now stands at some 5,000. The figure stood at some 150,000 when Obama took office. The congressional report shows this number dropping to zero in 2012, although it is generally ackowledged that some 100 military advisors remained. The report indicates that some 1,000 private contract personnel also remain. US troops “officially” returned to Iraq with the campaign against ISIS in 2014.

Thanks to Rhay Lo for production.

See the last episode of the CounterVortex vlog.
(Formerly the Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade)

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/factually-incorrect-with-bill-weinberg-episode-1/feed/ 0 Bill Weinberg: Donald Trump is a fascist https://countervortex.org/blog/bill-weinberg-donald-trump-is-a-fascist/ https://countervortex.org/blog/bill-weinberg-donald-trump-is-a-fascist/#comments Sat, 19 Nov 2016 05:38:08 +0000 http://cvwp.countervortex.org/?p=14785 Bill Weinberg makes the case that Donald Trump is an actual fascist, and repeats his call for urgent pressure on the electors to refuse to seat him as president.

]]> Bill Weinberg makes the case that Donald Trump is a fascist, going down the checklist of essential ingredients: ugly ultra-nationalism that seeks to correct perceived humiliation, xenophobia and demonization of the Other, exaltation of the great leader, fetishization of violence, contempt for democracy, enthusiasm for military aggression, populism tinged with anti-Semitism, and rank anti-intellectualism. Weinberg repeats his call for urgent pressure on the electors to refuse to seat Donald Trump as president. The petition calling for the electors to respect the popular vote and seat Clinton has now won nearly 4.5 million signatures.

Thanks to Rhay Lo for production.

See the last episode of the Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade…

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/bill-weinberg-donald-trump-is-a-fascist/feed/ 3 Electoral Nullification: Constitutional mechanism https://countervortex.org/blog/electoral-nullification-a-constitutional-mechanism/ https://countervortex.org/blog/electoral-nullification-a-constitutional-mechanism/#respond Tue, 15 Nov 2016 02:38:03 +0000 http://cvwp.countervortex.org/?p=14781 Bill Weinberg continues his call for urgent pressure on the electors to refuse to seat Donald Trump as president—arguing that this contingency is exactly the reason the Electoral College exists. The framers put the Electoral College in the Constitution precisely to serve as a break on the assumption of power by a dangerous demagogue. If there has ever been a time for it to serve that function, it is now. The Electoral College needs to do what it was designed to do, just one time before we abolish it. The petition calling for the electors to respect the popular vote and seat Hillary Clinton has now won over 4 million signatures.

Thanks to Rhay Lo for production.

See the last episode of the Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade…

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/electoral-nullification-a-constitutional-mechanism/feed/ 0 Bill Weinberg: the case for Electoral Nullification https://countervortex.org/blog/bill-weinberg-the-case-for-electoral-nullification/ https://countervortex.org/blog/bill-weinberg-the-case-for-electoral-nullification/#respond Mon, 14 Nov 2016 07:05:20 +0000 http://cvwp.countervortex.org/?p=14779 Bill Weinberg, speaking at a mass demonstration in front of New York's Trump Tower, calls for urgent pressure on the Electoral College to refuse to seat Donald Trump.

]]> Bill Weinberg, interviewed by vlogger Dorothy Bishop at the mass demonstration in front of New York's Trump Tower Nov. 12, calls for urgent pressure on the Electoral College to refuse to seat Donald Trump. Despite its slim odds for success, the campaign will deny Trump's legitimacy as president from day one, he argues—much as the Republicans denied Obama's legitimacy, but on valid anti-fascist grounds rather than spurious racist grounds. This will better position us to build a pro-democratic civil resistance movement.

See also Bill's own vlog, the Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade…

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/bill-weinberg-the-case-for-electoral-nullification/feed/ 0 Bill Weinberg: against pro-war ‘anti-war’ jive https://countervortex.org/blog/bill-weinberg-against-pro-war-anti-war-jive/ https://countervortex.org/blog/bill-weinberg-against-pro-war-anti-war-jive/#comments Wed, 26 Oct 2016 02:03:23 +0000 http://cvwp.countervortex.org/?p=14743 Bill Weinberg rants against the bogus “anti-war” position that holds that Donald Trump, who would “bomb the shit out” of Syria, is the less dangerous candidate than Hillary Clinton—and especially Jill Stein‘s call for the US to actually join with Russia in the destruction of Syria. Calling this an “anti-war” position is another one to file under “Orwell would shit.”

ERRATUM: The Ghouta chemical attack was on Aug. 21, 2013, not Aug. 12. Bill Weinberg was reading his shirt upside-down.

See the last episode of the Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade…

Thanks to Rhay Lo for production.

]]> https://countervortex.org/blog/bill-weinberg-against-pro-war-anti-war-jive/feed/ 1