Z Magazine Nov:
“According to the UN and other groups, 40,000 Yazidi had been stranded on Mount Sinjar, awaiting imminent ‘genocide.’ … When US Special Forces arrived at the top of Mount Sinjar, they realized that the Yazidis had either been rescued by Kurdish militias or were already living there.
They found less than 5,000 Yazidis, half of them refugees. The mountain is revered in local legend as the final resting place of Noah’s ark. It was also the final resting place for the Yazidi genocide story. …
That same media has also cleverly devalued and branded conflicts, and acts of genocide, in ways consistent with US foreign policy agendas. While the Yazidis were purportedly standed on Mount Sinjar, Israel was carrying out a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Over 2,150 were killed, mostly civilians, hundreds of them children…”
—>Our media hyped the Yazidi genocide, and then suddenly the Pentagon generated lies disappeared, just like Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction. Why isn’t this a headline story in the NYT? Another lie to sell endless US military intervention in the Middle East, while covering up Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians.
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Common Dreams:
“Green groups on Wednesday sued the Environmental Protection Agency over its recent approval of Dow AgroSciences' herbicide Enlist Duo, which farmers and scientists warn threatens human and environmental health.
‘The toxic treadmill has to stop,’ said Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides. ‘EPA and USDA cannot continue to ignore the history, science, and public opinion surrounding these dangerous chemicals so that a failed and unnecessary system of chemically-dependent agriculture can continue to destroy our health and environment.’ …
Enlist Duo's key ingredient, known as 2,4-D, was also used in Agent Orange, the toxic defoliant used as a weapon by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. Studies find 2,4-D interferes with hormonal and reproductive function and is linked to cancer, liver disease, Parkinson's disease, and other health problems. Scientists warn that 2,4-D builds up in the environment and spreads from one field to another, posing a risk to animals as well as people.”
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—>The NYT cited a short Associated Press story about the EPA approval, and gave one sentence to critics of 2,4-D. No mention of its use in Agent Orange. To the NYT, it has been a “popular herbicide used since the 1940s.” Popular with Vietnam vets who came home poisoned by it? Popular with Vietnamese civilians who have given birth to generations of deformed children?
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Common Dreams:
“Detroit's ‘unprecedented’ shutoff of water utilities to city homes condemns residents to ‘lives without dignity,’ violates human rights on a large scale, and disproportionately impacts African-Americans, United Nations investigators declared Monday following a two-day inquiry.
‘Denial of access to sufficient quantity of water threatens the rights to adequate housing, life, health, adequate food, integrity of the family,’ wrote UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing Leilani Farha and UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque, in a joint statement. ‘It exacerbates inequalities, stigmatizes people and renders the most vulnerable even more helpless. Lack of access to water and hygiene is also a real threat to public health as certain diseases could widely spread.’
The officials visited the city following appeals in June from organizations concerned with the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department's (DWSD) escalation of water shut-offs to accounts that have fallen behind on their bills, amounting to up to 3,000 disconnections a week. …”
—>The NYT could care less about water as a human right, unless it is being used to justify some new US invasion of the Middle East. It didn’t print this story.
