Morning Comrades,
As we are coming to another end to the week on here just a quick ‘thank you’ to you all for taking the time to read these here musings, sharing them and engaging. There is a little housekeeping before I get into a few subjects and first up is this:
You can now read this newsletter and many others in the new Substack app for iPhone.
With the app, you’ll have a dedicated Inbox for my Substack and any others you subscribe to. New posts will never get lost in your email filters, or stuck in spam. Longer posts will never cut-off by your email app. Comments and rich media will all work seamlessly. Overall, it’s a big upgrade to the reading experience.
The Substack app is currently available for iOS. If you don’t have an Apple device, you can join the Android waitlist here.
Secondly, just a little heads up that BL Merch department is taking an indefinite break and if you can / want to you can keep me out of working flipping burgers by becoming a patreon to this here project below:
Lastly, just a friendly hint that you can listen to this weeks playlist below and if you join our Telegram channel you can check out the playlist also, if you are not using Tidal.
If the humanitarian crisis of any war aren’t enough, and the war in Ukraine is once again reminding us thereof, a story broke late last night that not only sent me down a rabbit hole but further cemented my burning rage at the Imperial powers at play.
Whilst we have all been, understandably so, “concerned” about the nuclear option being once again waved over heads this really rattled my cage. Maybe I was a little too naive to believe that everyone essentially agreed that Biological Warfare was something definitely not on anyone’s wish list and that like the U.S. in 1975 ratified both the 1925 Geneva Protocol and the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)—international treaties outlawing biological warfare- we’d all stick to that. Clearly not. After spending a few hours digging up open source material on the state of BW’s I was corrected that irrespective of an international agreement well, most big countries, especially NATO members but also Russia, China and others do still have, keep working on and occasionally fucking use these despicable inventions.
What did surprise me, again, naivety at play is that US has biological weapon research facilities in Ukraine, something that has always and obviously denied, but here we are. I can only guess as to why that is but it is a damning indictment of the US continuous imperialism and hypocrisy. Initially reported by Russian media that their invading armies had now come to prove that these facilities existed, these news were quickly rebuked by the US and the rest of NATO media as propaganda. Then, on Tuesday, Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland stated before a Senate hearing that “biological research facilities” have been operating in Ukraine, in response to a question from Senator Marco Rubio (Republican of Florida) about the presence of chemical or biological weapons in the country. All this under oath mind you ( not that that means anything in politics other than larger retainers for lawyers but you get the point ).
While she said nothing about US involvement in the labs, Nuland rapidly shifted her testimony during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing to efforts by the State Department to “prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces.” She went on, in a carefully orchestrated exchange with Rubio, to say that if there were a biological or chemical weapons attack inside Ukraine, it would “no doubt” be carried out by Russia.
Ahem, deep breath and so, but what in the flying fuck. One, why do such facilities even exist ( again, naive, Vogel, I know ), why are they in the Ukraine ( or elsewhere quite frankly ) in the first place and and and. I shouldn’t be as shocked as I am about this, I know but I truthfully can’t quite contain my rage here. If “conventional warfare” - I hate that term passionately, wasn’t a crime against humanity in on itself, the threats of a nuclear option and now this truly exposes the insanity our ruling classes have subscribed to and should convince even the most neutral person that the real enemy is in our rear. This needs to change, dramatically and now.
Since the weekend is looming I am going to leave you with a number of resources that have and continue to help me make sense of the world around me.
This piece is called: The Erosion of US Control and the Multipolar Future and even if you are only slightly interested in a most likely future in regards to global realities in our generation, look no further. Starting with a clear and concise historical analysis it soon goes into well-research detailed of what the world will look like post-US-imperial power and explores the emergence of a new cold war imposed by the United States on China and the forms of hybrid war that have been utilised as part of this new strategic scenario. Extremely worth your time to read.
In addition to the above, I highly recommend this much shorter but just as insightful piece by Richard Swift:
Additionally, at least in regards to these topics, read this most excellent piece by Vijay Prashad, entitled: You Are Also a Victim of War like Us - that examines the realities of nuclear war and what can and should be done to once and for all get rid of this monstrosities.
Lastly, and I do appreciate the constant level of excellent work put forth by Second Thought, do watch this. It is an interesting take on how our western media projects on Putin. I found this very interesting.
Also, whilst not on topic, Philosophy Tube released a new show the other day on Vaccines and Freedom. Yes, do, indeed, watch this.
Lastly, I wanted to point you to a book that, even though it came out in 2010, still stands at the pinnacle of thought in regards to this week’s overarching topic of power, language, hegemony - this is one of my absolute cornerstones of understanding all these intricate topics and whilst it may sound a little daunting, it’s not. Sure, it’s not easy, hungover Sunday afternoon reading but you will also not need in-depth knowledge of these philosophical schools to understand what is going on here.
“What is the contemporary legacy of Gramsci's notion of Hegemony? How can universality be reformulated now that its spurious versions have been so thoroughly criticized? In this ground-breaking project, Judith Butler, Ernesto Laclau and Slavoj Zizek engage in a dialogue on central questions of contemporary philosophy and politics.”
That’s it from me for this week. Again, thank you for your time and attention, I will be back on Monday. Until then, I remain yours, without compromise,
V.