The Guardian:
"Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, together with Everytown for Gun Safety, launched a campaign on Friday which it says will 'empower voters to find out where candidates stand on gun safety'.
'Throw them out' will target members of Congress who are 'beholden to the gun lobby', Moms Demand Action said. They’ve set up five steps people can follow to pressure lawmakers, including how to get politicians on the record as committing to stricter gun control and a tool to encourage friends to vote.
The campaign uses a Washington Post interactive to help people track donations by the National Rifle Association. It means voters can understand which of their representatives have received money from the lobbying organization. Moms Demand Action is aiming to elect politicians who will fight for gun safety and 'throw out' those who oppose stricter gun laws.
-->The NYT ran a story about emotional support, how parents of murdered children seek peace through connection with other grieving parents. Another story points to activism as a way for survivors to cope. But does either story discuss the new activism that is sweeping the country, identifying who gets the money from the NRA? "Throw them out" wasn't mentioned; too close to real political activism that our newspaper of record often keeps from its readers.
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The Guardian:
"As dignitaries and civil society gather in The Hague this week to mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Court stands poised to demonstrate its maturity as it weighs a request to investigate members of the US Central Intelligence Agency and the US armed forces for torture and other serious crimes committed in Afghanistan or in Eastern Europe in the so-called 'war on terror.'
A criminal investigation of US torture – and other serious crimes in Afghanistan – is long overdue.
In November, the ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, lodged a request to open a formal investigation following a decade-long preliminary investigation into possible international crimes committed in Afghanistan since it became a member of the court in May 2003, as well as to related crimes in other member states since July 2002."
-->The ICC about to investigate the US for war crimes? A big story, but not covered by the NYT or much of the US media. Sure, the NYT carried an AP - Asia Pacific story on its website. But that is often the way the newspaper buries news critical of the US empire.
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Common Dreams:
"Two and half weeks after President Donald Trump rejected the idea of peace talks with Taliban, the militant group published an open letter to the American people urging them to pressure their government to end the occupation of Afghanistan, now in its 17th year, and engage in peace talks.
The letter, published on the group's website, denounces the Bush administration's justification for launching the invasion, as well as the Trump administration, which 'again ordered the perpetuation of the same illegitimate occupation and war against the Afghan people.'
'No matter what title or justification is presented by your undiscerning authorities for the war in Afghanistan, the reality is that tens of thousands of helpless Afghans including women and children were martyred by your forces, hundreds of thousands were injured and thousands more were incarcerated in Guantanamo, Bagram, and various other secret jails and treated in such a humiliating way that has not only brought shame upon humanity but is also a violation of all claims of American culture and civilization,' the letter states.
-->Ouch! such bitter truths about our invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. The NYT times keeps such divisive condemnations out of the public eye by not printing this letter to the American people. The US empire thrives on endless wars, and our media plays its part by hiding peace initiatives like this.
