Wednesday, August 28, 2019

FAIR:
"The battle for the Democratic presidential nomination is dominating the news cycle, and two of the three clear frontrunners in polls, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, draw their support from the resurgent left of the party. ... Across corporate media, the choice is being portrayed as between progressive idealism and a more credible pragmatism—not left vs. right, but left vs. realistic. ...

In the face of increasing public rejection of their definition of 'pragmatism,' corporate media have moved from skepticism to outright hostility. Washington Post columnist David Von Drehle savaged Warren, claiming it is embarrassingly 'self-evident' that her 'idealistic' plans are way 'out of the mainstream.' ...
Similarly, a New York Times headline asserted that 'Ahead of Debates, Pennsylvania Democrats Want Candidates to Stress Pragmatism.' "

-->Oh how the NYT loves "pragmatic" sellouts to the corporate establishment. One wonders if our mainstream media would prefer a fascist like Trump to a true reformer. 

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Common Dreams:
"A new ad by former Vice President Joe Biden released Tuesday that uses his personal story of familial loss as an attack line against Medicare for All is being panned by critics as a cynical ploy that obfuscates the similar kind of pain that millions of people could endure under a Biden plan that would leave them un- or under-insured.

Characterizing the commercial—in which Biden recounts losing his first wife and daughter in a 1972 car accident and his son Beau to brain cancer in 2015—as 'so manipulative' towards potential voters, writer Natalie Shure said on Twitter that the former vice president was using his life story to swipe at the Medicare for All proposal supported by his top Democratic primary rivals. ...

Journalist Chris Person was even harsher on Biden. 'This is easily the cruelest, dirtiest, and most manipulative thing Joe Biden has done so far,' said Person, 'dangling his son's cancer against the fight for Medicare For All.' "

-->The NYT take on this story is entitled "Why This Joe Biden Health Care Ad Stands Out." Our newspaper of record found the ad to be "an extraordinarily emotional appeal ... [that] reminds voters of the good will and empathy many have for the former vice president." No hint of criticism towards The NYT's corporate backed candidate of choice.

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Israel Palestine News:
"Survivors of the lethal 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty have been attacked, threatened, and bullied. Yet, they continue to speak out, and their fellow American veterans support them, one of the most decorated crews in US Naval history.

In 2017 the members of the American Legion passed a resolution calling for a full investigation of the Israeli attack. Despite this resolution, American Legion leaders continue to censor the Liberty, prohibiting them from having a booth at the national convention.

From a resolution supporting the Liberty survivors: 'At around 2 PM, local time, on June 8, 1967, while operating in international waters, properly marked as to her identity and nationality, and in calm, clear weather in the eastern Mediterranean, the USS Liberty (AGTR-5) was the target of an unprovoked aerial and naval attack by Israeli forces, lasting over an hour, that killed 34 members of the Liberty’s crew and wounded 173.' "

-->The mainstream media has never touched this story since the very first day when it was published in the NYT. That's a 50 year media blackout on the death of 34 US sailors. 

Thursday, August 22, 2019

The Guardian:
"Federal law enforcement officials have all the tools necessary to address far-right violence proactively ...They have simply chosen as a matter of policy not to prioritize these cases. ...

There are currently 52 federal terrorism laws available to address entirely domestic acts of political violence. Congress has also passed five federal hate crimes statutes specifically designed to punish the types of violence white supremacists and other far-right militants often commit against vulnerable communities. ...

More troubling, recent reporting that revealed the active participation of police officers in white supremacist groups and racist social media activity by a small but significant number of police officers and border patrol officials makes clear that overt and organized racism continues to fester within agencies sworn to protect the public safety as well."

-->US law enforcement part of the white supremacy problem? The NYT thinks such stories are simply unfit to print. Our newspaper of record would rather have white supremacists on the street than to call into question our security state.

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Common Dreams:
"Kamala Harris, Who Just Clarified Her Rejection of Real Medicare for All, to Snub Climate Forum in Favor of Big Donors. [She now says she will attend the Climate Forum]

In the space of 24 hours, Sen. Kamala Harris, a California Democrat running for the party's 2020 presidential nomination, made clear that when forced to choose between the interests of the donor class or progressives, she'd choose the former. 

On Sunday night, as Bloomberg reported, Harris attended a big money fundraiser in the Hamptons, telling the superrich attendees 'I believe in capitalism' and that she wasn't 'comfortable' with a comprehensive Medicare for All plan.' "

-->Kamala is the favorite of the NYT, simply because the newspaper also supports the big money fundraisers in the Hamptons. Don't expect anything from the NYT but negative stories about Sanders or Warren.

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Common Dreams:
"Sanders Says If Israel Wants to Ban Members of Congress, It Should Not Receive Billions in US Military Aid. 'The idea that a member of the United States Congress cannot visit a nation which, by the way, we support to the tune of billions and billions of dollars is clearly an outrage.' ...

'One thing that is completely undeniable about Bernie Sanders is the enormous political courage he consistently wields on behalf of others,' tweeted Ocasio-Cortez. 'He's not just standing up for two members—he's standing for the integrity of the entire U.S. Congress.' ...

[Sanders also wrote] 'anti-Semitism is not some abstract idea to me. It is very personal. It destroyed a good part of my family. I absolutely reject Trump's disgusting efforts to exploit fear of anti-Semitism to attack my colleagues.' "

-->Bernie has integrity, the one thing lacking in the political reporting of the NYT. It didn't cover this story.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Pitchfork:
"Agribusiness corporation Monsanto is the subject of a new report in The Guardian, based on court documents that were made public as part of the company’s ongoing legal battles related to their Roundup weed killer. According to the documents reviewed by The Guardian, Monsanto operated an 'intelligence fusion center' to monitor and gather data on journalists and other individuals critical of the company. One of those individuals was Neil Young, whose 2015 album The Monsanto Years lambasted the corporation. ...

At one point in [a revealed] memo, it’s stated that Monsanto’s 'fusion center' is also 'monitoring discussions' about the 30th Farm Aid concert. 'We have reached out to the legal team and are keeping them informed on Neil’s activities in case any legal action is appropriate,' it reads."

-->Making a play for the most evil company on the planet, Monsanto is now monitoring performers who question their right to spread cancer for profit. Why can't the NYT cover a story like this? In bed with the agrochemical giants?

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Mondoweiss:
"The charges against financier Jeffrey Epstein for sex trafficking are of course one of the biggest stories in the country these days, and Israel and its friends have been an ongoing theme in the case.

Epstein, a 66-year-old former hedge fund manager, supported many Jewish causes and Zionist organizations, and was on the board of the Wexner Foundation, which is devoted to Israel. He had friendships with many Israel supporters, from Alan Dershowitz to Howard Rubenstein to Ehud Barak to Larry Summers. And there is speculation that Epstein, a mysterious international figure, had links to Israeli intelligence.

Dershowitz, Epstein’s former lawyer, says Israel is a factor in the case. Two days ago Dersh published an op-ed for Newsmax aimed at preempting the New Yorker’s anticipated expose of his role in the case (one of Epstein’s victims says that she was compelled to have sex with Dershowitz."

-->The NYT is all over the Epstein story. All over it except for the Israeli connection that is. Even the background of Epstein's co sex trafficker, Ghislaine Maxwell, is erased, including creditable reports that her father was deeply involved with the Israeli Mossad. Was Epstein funded by the Mossad? Did he videotape high level leaders having sex with 15 year olds to blackmail them for the Zionist cause? Don't look to our newspaper of record for reporting on any of these ties. 

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Common Dreams:
"The United Nations' high commissioner for human rights on Thursday condemned the Trump administration's embargo against Venezuela and warned the far-reaching sanctions could deny food, medicine, and other necessities to millions of people.

'I am deeply worried about the potentially severe impact on the human rights of the people of Venezuela of the new set of unilateral sanctions imposed by the U.S. this week,'  U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said in a statement.

'I fear that they will have far-reaching implications on the rights to health and to food in particular,' Bachelet said, noting the sanctions will likely 'exacerbate the crisis for millions of ordinary Venezuelans.' "

-->The US media is in the Pentagon's pocket with Venezuela. Potential targets of US militarism never get a break, as our compliant media from NPR to the NYT beat the drums of war.

Wednesday, August 07, 2019

Common Dreams:
"Recently unearthed recordings of former President Ronald Reagan calling Africans 'monkeys' made the point that Trump is Reagan's ideological heir harder to deny.

The October 1971 comments, which were revealed Tuesday by historian Tim Naftali in an article for The Atlantic, concerned Reagan's anger that the United Nations voted to recognize the People's Republic of China. 

'Last night, I tell you, to watch that thing on television as I did,' said Reagan to then-President Richard Nixon. 'To see those, those monkeys from those African countries—damn them, they're still uncomfortable wearing shoes!' "

-->The NYT did not cover this story, although a Reuters article did make it to the NYT website. Why didn't our newspaper of record print it? Because it shows two recent presidents who were deeply racist. The NYT just doesn't want that image for our country, however true it is.

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Common Dreams:
"When some of the world's top scientists conclude an international summit in Geneva next week, they are expected to call for a major shift to vegetarian diets around the world in order to keep the warming of the globe under 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Simply focusing on reducing or eliminating carbon emissions from fossil fuel industries, factories, and vehicles will not be enough to avoid catastrophic climate change, according to a leaked draft of the report out of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) summit. ...

'The consumption of healthy and sustainable diets, such as those based on coarse grains, pulses and vegetables, and nuts and seeds … presents major opportunities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions,' the draft reads, according to The Guardian."

-->The NYT, like most US media, is not really focused on global warming as the climate collapses around us. It didn't print this story.

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FAIR:
"The Reagan administration in 1982 coerced National Public Radio (NPR) to cover more favorably the US terrorist war then being waged against Nicaragua. ... NPR promptly buckled under pressure, reassigning reporters viewed as 'too easy on the Sandinistas,' and hiring conservative pundit Linda Chavez to provide 'balance.'

Today, NPR needs no state coercion to toe Washington’s regime change line on Venezuela. NPR published an exclusive interview on May 30 with Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó, in which the self-proclaimed 'interim president' was described as 'a fugitive in his own country' confronting 'authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro.' ...

When it comes to covering Venezuela’s elected Maduro government, it appears that NPR’s favorite adjective is 'authoritarian.' The public news network has referred to President Nicolás Maduro and his administration as 'authoritarian' and/or a 'regime' no less than 26 times since December, with no explanation why the Venezuelan government merits an editorialized moniker that ideologically justifies US intervention."

-->The same is true for the NYT's coverage of Maduro's election victory. The electoral fraud accusation made by NPR are straight from the empire's playbook. Weapons of mass destruction anyone?