Common Dreams:
"As the Palestinian death toll from Israel's 10-week annihilation of the Gaza Strip passed 20,000, warfare experts said this weekend that the retaliatory campaign ranks among the deadliest and most destructive in modern history.
Gaza health officials said Friday that 390 Palestinians were killed and 734 others wounded in the besieged strip over the previous 48 hours, driving the death toll from 77 days of near-relentless Israeli attacks to 20,057, with another 53,320 people injured. More than 6,000 women and over 8,000 children have been killed—approximately 70% of all fatalities. ...
'The scale of Palestinian civilian deaths in such a short period of time appears to be the highest such civilian casualty rate in the 21st century,' Michael Lynk, who served as the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories from 2016 to 2022, told The Washington Post on Saturday."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/bombing-gaza
-->This careful analysis of the horrendous bombing damage didn't make it into the NYT. Most of the US media followed, choosing to ignore just how horrible these war crimes are. How long can our corporatized media hide all this bloodshed from the American people? And when will we demand, at long last, that the US led holocaust end?
=====
Jacobin:
"Across the country, pro-Israel groups and billionaires are trying to stop the antiwar movement pushing for a cease-fire in Gaza by bringing down its elected leaders, including Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. These are fights the Left can win with popular support.
Socialists in elected office are standing up for Palestinian rights and demanding a cease-fire in Gaza. A handful of billionaires, rejecting this progressive and popular agenda, are trying hard to take down these antiwar lawmakers. As well, many conservative and centrist Democratic candidates are launching primary challenges against them, hoping to be the recipients of big campaign cash from the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and similar pro-Israel groups. AIPAC and its allies — like-minded organizations and big donors — told the New York Times that they are going to spend big, probably far more than in previous election cycles, to defeat anyone standing up for Palestine. Many of their targets are members of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) or close allies of the organization. ...
The call for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza is broadly popular, as are the economic justice issues these officeholders champion, so these should be winnable fights if the Left can stay organized. A 61 percent majority of likely US voters believes the United States should support a cease-fire, while only 28 percent oppose such a move — even though only sixty-two members of Congress have publicly called for one so far.
https://jacobin.com/2023/12/pro-israel-billionaires-socialists-dsa-aipac-gaza-cease-fire-israel-war?mc_cid=917d570ade&mc_eid=487355f8cb
-->Zionists are trying to destroy any hope for positive change in our government. Israel stands right with the White Supremacists on this one. Israel is the mirror of the neofascist and racist movements in our own country. But no US media is going to help
the US public see these links. Our media is as bought off as most of our elected representatives.
=====
Open Letter to Colleges and Universities:
"We write as a group of educators to denounce the increasingly repressive climate on our campuses across the US. As educators invested in developing and upholding constructive learning environments, critical engagements with knowledge building, and transformative pedagogical discussions, we refuse to adhere to the censorship, policing, and the circumventing of our academic work and mission as educators.
On December 14, upper-level administrators at Syracuse University surveilled, harassed, and intimidated SU undergrads peacefully gathering for a study-in in support of Palestine. Charging students with bullying and harassment, the administrators threatened students with academic sanctions for carrying signs that included the Arabic word intifada, calling in armed campus police to curtail the assembled students. They claimed that the word intifada, which in Arabic means uprising, 'has been deemed by SU to be threatening' and that it can be 'reasonably interpreted' as a 'call to the genocide of Jewish people.'
We assert that the 'interpretation' of the word intifada as 'a call for the genocide of Jewish people' is baseless and dangerous. Intentionally criminalizing the Arabic language implies that the language itself, and therefore Arabic speakers generally, are inherently violent and genocidal. Furthermore, such 'interpretations' are based on reactionary, political, and often anti-intellectual administrative assumptions about these words and their meanings. We will not cede our expertise to administrators who broadly and selectively interpret terms, ideas, and concepts as they please, in the service of their political and economic gains and military investments. While administrators claim to be acting in the interest of students who feel threatened and endangered by such words, their actions prioritize the interests of a specific political ideology over their commitment to education, learning, and safety."
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeGdLpRTC7ZiixBx7B1-3vgyHCpqJdSomph0Rafy7a83L6mnw/viewform
-->Over 900 academics from all over the country have signed this letter. If you are in this category, please sign. The lack of coverage of this most important issue of censorship in higher education, is just another reflection of how corporatized our academic institutions have become. Sign this letter and join the resistance!
Tuesday, December 26, 2023
Wednesday, December 20, 2023
The New York Times:
"Who’s a ‘Colonizer’? How an Old Word Became a New Weapon ...
Within three months, in November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 181 calling for the establishment of two states. On this basis, in May 1948, the State of Israel came into being. Five Arab states immediately invaded in an attempt to eradicate the newborn intruder, as they saw it; that attempt continues to this day in the form of Hamas."
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/10/world/europe/colonialist-word-gaza-ukraine.html
-->The article is well worth reading, until it gets to the Nakba. That is just left out. 750,000 people ethnically cleansed from their land just didn't make it into the final version of this article. Attacks on Israel by its Arab neighbors did, although it was distorted. But not the Nakba. Zionism is based on leaving important parts of history out. Hamas' recent attack on Israel seemed to come from nowhere. That's because the last 75 years of colonial oppression and savagery are always just left out, at least in our corporate media.
=====
Common Dreams:
"The NYT Is Fanning the Flames of a Fake Outrage. When covering right-wing claims of antisemitism on campus, reporters for an ostensibly liberal paper should be looking at what is actually being said and what is actually happening.
University presidents are under fire from politicians and the media over what is being framed as their waffling over allowing antisemitic speech on their campuses. But it is a concocted outrage that has nothing to do with safeguarding Jewish students, and The New York Times is going along for the ride. ...
The Times (12/6/23) reported the story under the headline, 'College Presidents Under Fire After Dodging Questions About Antisemitism,' with the subhead: 'The leaders of Harvard, MIT, and Penn appeared to evade questions about whether students should be disciplined if they call for the genocide of Jews.' ...
But there are two big problems with the Times‘ framing: The calls for genocide were imaginary, and the presidents’ answers were not evasive, they were accurate reflections of the constitutional protections of free speech and the scope of university policies on harassment and bullying."
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/nyt-fake-outrage-campus-antisemitism
-->Antisemitism is being used on the nation's campuses to deprive students and faculty their free speech rights. No college student has called for the genocide of Jews. The story is being used to draw attention away from the real genocide going on in Gaza.
=====
Common Dreams:
"Progressive U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Thursday sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg demanding answers to questions about the Facebook and Instagram parent company's alleged suppression of pro-Palestinian content during the ongoing Israeli obliteration of Gaza.
'Over 90 human rights and civil society organizations have raised alarm about Meta's reported suppression, filtering, and mistranslation of Palestine-related content over the past two months, calling on the company to provide additional transparency as to content moderation and to address discriminatory algorithmic design,' Warren wrote.
The senator is seeking clarification regarding documented occurrences on Facebook and Instagram of censorship of pro-Palestinian content, labeling the Palestinian flag as 'potentially offensive,' and translating the words 'Palestinian' and 'Alhamdulilah'—Arabic for 'praise be to God'—as 'Palestinian terrorist.'
'Even more concerning, Meta reportedly manipulated its content filters to apply stricter standards to content generated in Palestine compared to the standards in place in the rest of the region and the world,' Warren noted.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/facebook-censorship
-->The nation's media plays down the censorship of Palestinian voices on Facebook and Instagram. With colleges shutting down free speech, and the internet omitting Palestinian voices, maybe the US led genocide in Gaza will disappear.
Thursday, December 14, 2023
Common Dreams:
" 'Moral Insanity: Biden Admin Bypasses Congress to Rush Tank Shells to Israel
'Rushing deadly weapons to the far-right and openly genocidal Israeli government without congressional review robs American voters of their voice in Congress,' said one critic.
Hours after United States Ambassador Robert Wood on Friday acted alone to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, the Biden administration again illustrated its growing isolation in continuing to back Israel's onslaught as it bypassed Congress to send more weapons to the country's extreme right-wing government. ...
Also on Saturday, the global charity Save the Children warned that at least 7,685 children under age five in Gaza are now so malnourished—a result of Israel's total blockade of the enclave that began in October and the delivery of just a small fraction of the aid that is needed that they require 'urgent medical treatment to avoid death.' "
https://www.commondreams.org/news/gaza-2666509472
-->Biden now owns this genocide in Gaza. Instead of voting for a cease fire, and rushing food to thousands of children, he is sending Israel more tank shells. How is this possible in a civilized society? Does the empire think about anything besides military superiority? At at all costs? The NYT avoided parts of this story, like the starvation of children.
=====
Common Dreams:
"UK Union Workers Blockade Plants Arming Israel. 'We stand here ashamed that the weapons used in the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine are partly made on our own doorstep,' one participating doctor said.
More than 1,000 union members with Workers for a Free Palestine blockaded four weapons factories in the United Kingdom Thursday that make components for planes being used by Israel to bomb Gaza. The workers, who include teachers and healthcare and hospitality professionals, said they had shut down plants in Bournemouth, Lancashire, Brighton, and Glasgow. ...
All of the plants targeted by the workers make components for the F-35 fighter jet. Israel has killed 21,731 people in Gaza since October 7, including 8,697 children, according to Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor. The Geneva-based group said the death toll has risen by 40% since a temporary cease-fire ended last week."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/uk-workers-block-factories-gaza
-->The NYT, the most important paper of the empire, was not eager to print stories of workers shutting down weapons makers. Our "newspaper of record," ignored the story.
=====
Common Dreams:
" 'Don't Let Fabricated Outrage 'Distract From Genocidal Violence in Gaza,' Says Naomi Klein. 'Keep sharing reports from Gaza,' said the author and activist. 'Israel is freaking out at the implications, which is why the distraction machine is in overdrive.'
Author and rights advocate Naomi Klein warned late Wednesday that supporters of a permanent cease-fire in Gaza must stay focused on one thing—Israel's mass killing of civilians in the blockaded enclave, a violation of international law—and resist efforts to distract the public from the issue at hand.
'The distraction machine is in overdrive,' said Klein on social media after more than a day of commentary and outrage directed at the presidents of three top universities after they testified before the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee at a hearing titled 'Holding Campus Leaders Accountable and Confronting Antisemitism.' "
https://www.commondreams.org/news/free-speech-hearings
-->Our major media is into this story big time. It is such a good distraction from the issue of the day, the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. The NYT didn't print Naomi Klein's warnings.
" 'Moral Insanity: Biden Admin Bypasses Congress to Rush Tank Shells to Israel
'Rushing deadly weapons to the far-right and openly genocidal Israeli government without congressional review robs American voters of their voice in Congress,' said one critic.
Hours after United States Ambassador Robert Wood on Friday acted alone to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, the Biden administration again illustrated its growing isolation in continuing to back Israel's onslaught as it bypassed Congress to send more weapons to the country's extreme right-wing government. ...
Also on Saturday, the global charity Save the Children warned that at least 7,685 children under age five in Gaza are now so malnourished—a result of Israel's total blockade of the enclave that began in October and the delivery of just a small fraction of the aid that is needed that they require 'urgent medical treatment to avoid death.' "
https://www.commondreams.org/news/gaza-2666509472
-->Biden now owns this genocide in Gaza. Instead of voting for a cease fire, and rushing food to thousands of children, he is sending Israel more tank shells. How is this possible in a civilized society? Does the empire think about anything besides military superiority? At at all costs? The NYT avoided parts of this story, like the starvation of children.
=====
Common Dreams:
"UK Union Workers Blockade Plants Arming Israel. 'We stand here ashamed that the weapons used in the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine are partly made on our own doorstep,' one participating doctor said.
More than 1,000 union members with Workers for a Free Palestine blockaded four weapons factories in the United Kingdom Thursday that make components for planes being used by Israel to bomb Gaza. The workers, who include teachers and healthcare and hospitality professionals, said they had shut down plants in Bournemouth, Lancashire, Brighton, and Glasgow. ...
All of the plants targeted by the workers make components for the F-35 fighter jet. Israel has killed 21,731 people in Gaza since October 7, including 8,697 children, according to Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor. The Geneva-based group said the death toll has risen by 40% since a temporary cease-fire ended last week."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/uk-workers-block-factories-gaza
-->The NYT, the most important paper of the empire, was not eager to print stories of workers shutting down weapons makers. Our "newspaper of record," ignored the story.
=====
Common Dreams:
" 'Don't Let Fabricated Outrage 'Distract From Genocidal Violence in Gaza,' Says Naomi Klein. 'Keep sharing reports from Gaza,' said the author and activist. 'Israel is freaking out at the implications, which is why the distraction machine is in overdrive.'
Author and rights advocate Naomi Klein warned late Wednesday that supporters of a permanent cease-fire in Gaza must stay focused on one thing—Israel's mass killing of civilians in the blockaded enclave, a violation of international law—and resist efforts to distract the public from the issue at hand.
'The distraction machine is in overdrive,' said Klein on social media after more than a day of commentary and outrage directed at the presidents of three top universities after they testified before the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee at a hearing titled 'Holding Campus Leaders Accountable and Confronting Antisemitism.' "
https://www.commondreams.org/news/free-speech-hearings
-->Our major media is into this story big time. It is such a good distraction from the issue of the day, the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. The NYT didn't print Naomi Klein's warnings.
Thursday, December 07, 2023
Telesur English:
"On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan predicted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be tried as a war criminal in a manner similar to that in which former Serbian President Slobodan Milosvic was tried.
'Netanyahu, who is now the ‘Butcher of Gaza’, beyond being a war criminal, will definitely be tried AS the Butcher of Gaza just as Milosevic was judged,' Erdogan said while opening the meeting of the Economic and Trade Cooperation Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul.
Milosevic was arrested in 2001 and accused by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia of being responsible for war crimes and genocide that occurred during the Balkan war in the early 1990s. ... Erdogan also criticized Western countries for giving 'unconditional support to Israel to kill more children' and blamed the United Nations for being an institution incapable of bringing peace or hope to humanity."
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Netanyahu-Will-Be-Tried-as-the-Gaza-Butcher-Erdogan-Predicts-20231204-0008.html
-->How refreshing it is to read the truth about Western countries that are complicit in the slaughter of thousands of Palestinian children. Why can't at least one or two of our supposed leaders say the obvious thing about the war crimes being committed in all our name?
=====
Common Dreams:
"Luis Moreno Ocampo, the International Criminal Court's first chief prosecutor, said Friday that both Hamas and Israel perpetrated genocide—the Palestinian resistance group by murdering around 1,200 Israelis on October 7, and the Israeli government by besieging Gaza.
Appearing on Al Jazeera 's 'UpFront,' Moreno Ocampo said that 'you have Hamas committing war crimes... crimes against humanity, the crime committed in Israel on October 7... and probably genocide, because Hamas has [the] intention to destroy Israelis as a group.'
'Then, Israel's reaction also includes many crimes,' he continued. 'It's complicated to define the war crimes, because each bombing has to be evaluated. But there is something very clear: The siege of Gaza itself... is a form of genocide.'
'Article 2C of the Genocide Convention defines that you don't need to kill people to commit genocide,' the Argentinian jurist added. 'The rules say inflicting conditions to destroy the group, that itself is a genocide. So creating the siege itself is a genocide, and that is very clear.' "
https://www.commondreams.org/news/israeli-genocide
-->Why can't our Western leaders say anything close to what the former chief prosecutor admitted? It's almost like the nation's media is in a pro-Israel trance, and doesn't really know what to do with all those body bags. Could all our Congressional representatives be paid off by the Israel Lobby? Of course they are!
=====
Common Dreams:
"The last thing Americans need is a Bezos-backed investment company further consolidating single-family homes and putting homeownership out of reach for more and more people. Housing should be a right, not a speculative commodity.
Among the three richest people on the planet, mega-billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos received some praise last week for announcing approximately $120 million in donations to a number of groups fighting the scourge of homelessness in the United States.
But hold your applause. Just days after word of the charitable gifts—a minuscule drop in the bucket compared to the estimated $170 billion fortune he possesses—a Bezos-controlled company called Arrived dropped $500 million of new investment in single-family homes with a venture fund that critics warn will make the nation's housing crisis even worse. ... The fund itself—called the Single Family Residential Fund—allows investors to purchase portions of various homes and later trade, hold, or redeem their 'chips' on a rolling basis like players at a casino."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/jeff-bezos-homeless
-->The US media hasn't withheld their applause at all. In glowing words, Forbes praises this investment scheme, without the least bit of skepticism. The mainstream media just can't look beyond the thrill of reporting on billionaires. Of course, they are doing what's best for society!
"On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan predicted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be tried as a war criminal in a manner similar to that in which former Serbian President Slobodan Milosvic was tried.
'Netanyahu, who is now the ‘Butcher of Gaza’, beyond being a war criminal, will definitely be tried AS the Butcher of Gaza just as Milosevic was judged,' Erdogan said while opening the meeting of the Economic and Trade Cooperation Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul.
Milosevic was arrested in 2001 and accused by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia of being responsible for war crimes and genocide that occurred during the Balkan war in the early 1990s. ... Erdogan also criticized Western countries for giving 'unconditional support to Israel to kill more children' and blamed the United Nations for being an institution incapable of bringing peace or hope to humanity."
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Netanyahu-Will-Be-Tried-as-the-Gaza-Butcher-Erdogan-Predicts-20231204-0008.html
-->How refreshing it is to read the truth about Western countries that are complicit in the slaughter of thousands of Palestinian children. Why can't at least one or two of our supposed leaders say the obvious thing about the war crimes being committed in all our name?
=====
Common Dreams:
"Luis Moreno Ocampo, the International Criminal Court's first chief prosecutor, said Friday that both Hamas and Israel perpetrated genocide—the Palestinian resistance group by murdering around 1,200 Israelis on October 7, and the Israeli government by besieging Gaza.
Appearing on Al Jazeera 's 'UpFront,' Moreno Ocampo said that 'you have Hamas committing war crimes... crimes against humanity, the crime committed in Israel on October 7... and probably genocide, because Hamas has [the] intention to destroy Israelis as a group.'
'Then, Israel's reaction also includes many crimes,' he continued. 'It's complicated to define the war crimes, because each bombing has to be evaluated. But there is something very clear: The siege of Gaza itself... is a form of genocide.'
'Article 2C of the Genocide Convention defines that you don't need to kill people to commit genocide,' the Argentinian jurist added. 'The rules say inflicting conditions to destroy the group, that itself is a genocide. So creating the siege itself is a genocide, and that is very clear.' "
https://www.commondreams.org/news/israeli-genocide
-->Why can't our Western leaders say anything close to what the former chief prosecutor admitted? It's almost like the nation's media is in a pro-Israel trance, and doesn't really know what to do with all those body bags. Could all our Congressional representatives be paid off by the Israel Lobby? Of course they are!
=====
Common Dreams:
"The last thing Americans need is a Bezos-backed investment company further consolidating single-family homes and putting homeownership out of reach for more and more people. Housing should be a right, not a speculative commodity.
Among the three richest people on the planet, mega-billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos received some praise last week for announcing approximately $120 million in donations to a number of groups fighting the scourge of homelessness in the United States.
But hold your applause. Just days after word of the charitable gifts—a minuscule drop in the bucket compared to the estimated $170 billion fortune he possesses—a Bezos-controlled company called Arrived dropped $500 million of new investment in single-family homes with a venture fund that critics warn will make the nation's housing crisis even worse. ... The fund itself—called the Single Family Residential Fund—allows investors to purchase portions of various homes and later trade, hold, or redeem their 'chips' on a rolling basis like players at a casino."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/jeff-bezos-homeless
-->The US media hasn't withheld their applause at all. In glowing words, Forbes praises this investment scheme, without the least bit of skepticism. The mainstream media just can't look beyond the thrill of reporting on billionaires. Of course, they are doing what's best for society!
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
The Electronic Intifada:
"An Israeli child completely incinerated at Kibbutz Be’eri was killed by two tank shells shot by Israeli forces at the end of an hours-long gun battle, a survivor of the same carnage told the Israeli state broadcaster Kan earlier this month.
Yasmin Porat, taken captive with at least a dozen other Israeli civilians on 7 October, told Kan Radio that a fellow captive, 12-year-old Liel Hatsroni, survived to the end of the battle and only died when Israeli forces fired two tank shells at the house where they were held hostage by Hamas fighters. ...
A day after Porat’s revelation on live radio that Liel Hatsroni had been torched to death by tank fire, an Israeli official confirmed that she was not nearly the only person incinerated by Israel on 7 October and in the days that immediately followed. ...Meanwhile, Hatsroni’s death is being used by Israeli politicians to incite and justify Israel’s vengeful slaughter of thousands of Palestinian children in Gaza."
https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-child-burned-completely-israeli-tank-fire-kibbutz/41706
-->Few sources beside The Electronic Intifada are fact checking Israel's propaganda and war lies. Do I always trust The Electronic Intifada? No. But sometimes their interviews are authentic, and reading this publication adds a little balance to the pro-Israel reporting I see in much of the US media.
=====
Common Dreams:
"The Nation Publishes Gaza Genocide Article Killed by Harvard Law Review. The Nation this week published a piece about Israel's genocidal war on the Gaza Strip that the Harvard Law Review commissioned from a Palestinian scholar but then refused to run after several days of internal debate, a nearly six-hour meeting, and a board vote.
The essay—'The Ongoing Nakba: Towards a Legal Framework for Palestine,' by Rabea Eghbariah, a human rights attorney and doctoral candidate at Harvard Law School—begins: 'Genocide is a crime. It is a legal framework. It is unfolding in Gaza. And yet, the inertia of legal academia, especially in the United States, has been chilling.' The controversy over Eghbariah's own piece helps prove his point. ...
Eghbariah wrote in an email to an editor: 'This is discrimination. Let's not dance around it—this is also outright censorship. It is dangerous and alarming.' "
https://www.commondreams.org/news/harvard-law-review-gaza-genocide
-->The NYT didn't print this story. I think the story reveals the pro-Israel narrative that gets promoted by both our premier newspaper and our premier university. They have both hurt their reputations in trying to defend the genocide in Gaza.
=====
Aljazeera:
"Leaders of major emerging economies called for an end to Israel’s war on Gaza on Tuesday, and for a cessation of hostilities on both sides to ease the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
In a virtual summit chaired by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the BRICS grouping denounced attacks on civilians in Palestine and Israel, with many leaders calling the forced displacement of Palestinians, within Gaza or outside the territory, 'war crimes.'
'We condemned any kind of individual or mass forcible transfer and deportation of Palestinians from their own land,' a chair’s summary read. The group, which did not issue a joint declaration, also 'reiterated that the forced transfer and deportation of Palestinians, whether inside Gaza or to neighbouring countries, constitute grave breaches of the Geneva conventions and war crimes and violations under International Humanitarian Law.' ”
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/11/21/brics-condemns-israel-war-on-gaza-in-signal-to-the-west
-->The NYT covered this story, but under a questionable title: "At BRICS Summit, Countries Diverge Slightly on Israel and War in Gaza." This story in the NYT emphasizes "divergent positions" and "subtle differences," rather than a universal condemnation of Israel's ethnic cleansing and genocide.
Thursday, November 16, 2023
The Intercept:
"On October 27, several thousand Jews and their allies shut down the main terminal of Grand Central Station during rush hour in New York City, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. Organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, the activists at the peaceful sit-in wore black T-shirts that read 'Not In Our Name.' 'It’s the largest sit-in protest the city has seen in over two decades,' Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman said. About 400 people were arrested, including rabbis.
The Anti-Defamation League has classified the event — and dozens of other protests led by Jewish groups like Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow — as 'anti-Israel,' according to an analysis by The Intercept, and added them to their database documenting rising antisemitism across the U.S.
'We’re seeing a genuine rise in antisemitic attacks and white nationalist, white supremacist, antisemitic hate and violence,' Eva Borgwardt, the national spokesperson for IfNotNow, told me. 'When white nationalism is on the rise, to cheapen the accusation of antisemitism by applying it to Palestinian rights advocates, including Jews, is incredibly irresponsible and dangerous.' ”
https://theintercept.com/2023/11/11/palestine-israel-protests-ceasefire-antisemitic/
-->The US media has done a poor job in reporting on the Anti-Defamation League. Why isn't this right wing Zionist group facing more exposure for cheapening the meaning of antisemitism?
=====
The Chris Hedges Report:
"DOHA, Qatar: I am in the studio of Al Jazeera’s Arabic service watching a live feed from Gaza City. The Al Jazeera reporter in northern Gaza, because of the intense Israeli shelling, was forced to evacuate to southern Gaza. He left his camera behind. He trained it on Al-Shifa hospital, Gaza’s largest medical complex.
It is night. Israeli tanks fire directly towards the hospital compound. Long horizontal red flashes. A deliberate attack on a hospital. A deliberate war crime. A deliberate massacre of the most helpless civilians, including the very sick and infants. Then the feed goes dead.
We sit in front of the monitors. We are silent. We know what this means. No power. No water. No internet. No medical supplies. Every infant in an incubator will die. Every dialysis patient will die. Everyone in the intensive care unit will die. Everyone who needs oxygen will die. Everyone who needs emergency surgery will die. And what will happen to the 50,000 people who, driven from their homes by the relentless bombing, have taken refuge on the hospital grounds? We know the answer to that as well. Many of them, too, will die."
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-horror-the-horror
-->Voices like Chris Hedges will not be televised, or put on the radio either. The brutality of Israel is mind numbing, and our compliant media just won't report on the worst of it.
=====
Common Dreams:
"The American Postal Workers Union on Wednesday became the largest U.S. union to call for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, joining a growing labor movement mobilization against Israel's assault on the Palestinian enclave. Leaders of the APWU, which represents more than 200,000 U.S. Postal Service employees and close to 2,000 mail workers in the private sector, said in a statement that their union is 'shocked and saddened by the tragic and ongoing violence in Israel and Palestine.'
'As a union that stands for equality, social justice, human and labor rights, and international solidarity, we unite with unions and people of goodwill around the world in calls for justice and peace,' the APWU said. ...
'We join the calls for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, and urgently needed massive humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. The cries of humanity demand nothing less,' concludes the union's statement, which was signed by APWU president, Mark Dimondstein. ..."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/postal-workers-gaza-cease-fire
-->Labor Unions are the latest group calling for a cease fire. Where was the NYT for this story?
"On October 27, several thousand Jews and their allies shut down the main terminal of Grand Central Station during rush hour in New York City, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. Organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, the activists at the peaceful sit-in wore black T-shirts that read 'Not In Our Name.' 'It’s the largest sit-in protest the city has seen in over two decades,' Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman said. About 400 people were arrested, including rabbis.
The Anti-Defamation League has classified the event — and dozens of other protests led by Jewish groups like Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow — as 'anti-Israel,' according to an analysis by The Intercept, and added them to their database documenting rising antisemitism across the U.S.
'We’re seeing a genuine rise in antisemitic attacks and white nationalist, white supremacist, antisemitic hate and violence,' Eva Borgwardt, the national spokesperson for IfNotNow, told me. 'When white nationalism is on the rise, to cheapen the accusation of antisemitism by applying it to Palestinian rights advocates, including Jews, is incredibly irresponsible and dangerous.' ”
https://theintercept.com/2023/11/11/palestine-israel-protests-ceasefire-antisemitic/
-->The US media has done a poor job in reporting on the Anti-Defamation League. Why isn't this right wing Zionist group facing more exposure for cheapening the meaning of antisemitism?
=====
The Chris Hedges Report:
"DOHA, Qatar: I am in the studio of Al Jazeera’s Arabic service watching a live feed from Gaza City. The Al Jazeera reporter in northern Gaza, because of the intense Israeli shelling, was forced to evacuate to southern Gaza. He left his camera behind. He trained it on Al-Shifa hospital, Gaza’s largest medical complex.
It is night. Israeli tanks fire directly towards the hospital compound. Long horizontal red flashes. A deliberate attack on a hospital. A deliberate war crime. A deliberate massacre of the most helpless civilians, including the very sick and infants. Then the feed goes dead.
We sit in front of the monitors. We are silent. We know what this means. No power. No water. No internet. No medical supplies. Every infant in an incubator will die. Every dialysis patient will die. Everyone in the intensive care unit will die. Everyone who needs oxygen will die. Everyone who needs emergency surgery will die. And what will happen to the 50,000 people who, driven from their homes by the relentless bombing, have taken refuge on the hospital grounds? We know the answer to that as well. Many of them, too, will die."
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-horror-the-horror
-->Voices like Chris Hedges will not be televised, or put on the radio either. The brutality of Israel is mind numbing, and our compliant media just won't report on the worst of it.
=====
Common Dreams:
"The American Postal Workers Union on Wednesday became the largest U.S. union to call for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, joining a growing labor movement mobilization against Israel's assault on the Palestinian enclave. Leaders of the APWU, which represents more than 200,000 U.S. Postal Service employees and close to 2,000 mail workers in the private sector, said in a statement that their union is 'shocked and saddened by the tragic and ongoing violence in Israel and Palestine.'
'As a union that stands for equality, social justice, human and labor rights, and international solidarity, we unite with unions and people of goodwill around the world in calls for justice and peace,' the APWU said. ...
'We join the calls for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, and urgently needed massive humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. The cries of humanity demand nothing less,' concludes the union's statement, which was signed by APWU president, Mark Dimondstein. ..."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/postal-workers-gaza-cease-fire
-->Labor Unions are the latest group calling for a cease fire. Where was the NYT for this story?
Thursday, November 09, 2023
Common Dreams:
"US and Israel Only 'No' Votes as UN Members Demand End to 61-Year Cuba Embargo. It was the 31st straight year that the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly condemned the crippling U.S. blockade on the socialist nation. ...
By a vote of 187-2 with one abstention, the U.N. General Assembly approved a Cuban draft resolution affirming the 'necessity of ending the economic, commercial, and financial, embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.' The U.S. and Israel cast the only votes against the resolution, while Ukraine abstained.
Speaking at U.N. headquarters in New York, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno RodrÃguez Parrilla called the embargo an 'illegal, cruel, and inhumane policy' and 'an act of economic warfare in times of peace.' "
https://www.commondreams.org/news/us-embargo-on-cuba
-->The US mainstream media tries to hide these UN votes from the general public. Both the US and Israel are pariah states, recognized as such by an overwhelming number of the world's nations. Our propaganda driven media likes to leave such conclusions out of their news coverage.
=====
The Guardian UK:
"Leftwing Democrats in Congress have invoked a landmark law barring assistance to security forces of governments deemed guilty of human rights abuses to challenge the Biden administration’s emergency military aid program for Israel.
Members of the Democratic party’s progressive wing say the $14.3bn package pledged by the White House after the 7 October attack by Hamas that killed more than 1,400 Israelis breaches the Leahy Act because Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza has overwhelmingly harmed civilians. An estimated 9,000 people have been killed in Gaza so far, among them 3,700 children, according to the Gaza health ministry, run by Hamas.
The act, sponsored by the former Democratic senator Patrick Leahy and passed in 1997, prohibits the US defence and state departments from rendering security assistance to foreign governments facing credible accusations of rights abuses. The law was originally designed only to refer to narcotics assistance, but was later expanded, with amendments covering assistance from both state department and Pentagon budgets."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/03/israel-aid-democrats-leahy-act-congress
-->The NYT left this story out, as did most of the US media. Congress is breaking their own law about funding nations that abuse human rights. But why remind Americans of how dysfunctional the US Congress really is?
=====
Middle East Monitor:
"Member of the US House of Representatives Rashida Tlaib has criticised the US’ unconditional financial support of Israel’s policies of apartheid which, she said, contribute to the continuation of the cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
'I grieve the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost yesterday, today and every day,' Tlaib, who is of Palestinian heritage, said in a statement in which she also called for 'dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance.”
'As long as our country provides billions in unconditional funding to support the apartheid government [Israel], this heartbreaking cycle of violence will continue,' she added.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231010-us-congresswoman-tlaib-slams-us-for-funding-israels-policies-of-apartheid/
-->Why can't the NYT print Rashida Tlaib's words when she criticizes US and Israeli war crimes in Gaza. We get stories about a video being made, about the failure to censor her in Congress, and what genocide really means. Her actual speech is so much more compelling. And that's why most of it didn't make it into our paper of record.
"US and Israel Only 'No' Votes as UN Members Demand End to 61-Year Cuba Embargo. It was the 31st straight year that the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly condemned the crippling U.S. blockade on the socialist nation. ...
By a vote of 187-2 with one abstention, the U.N. General Assembly approved a Cuban draft resolution affirming the 'necessity of ending the economic, commercial, and financial, embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.' The U.S. and Israel cast the only votes against the resolution, while Ukraine abstained.
Speaking at U.N. headquarters in New York, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno RodrÃguez Parrilla called the embargo an 'illegal, cruel, and inhumane policy' and 'an act of economic warfare in times of peace.' "
https://www.commondreams.org/news/us-embargo-on-cuba
-->The US mainstream media tries to hide these UN votes from the general public. Both the US and Israel are pariah states, recognized as such by an overwhelming number of the world's nations. Our propaganda driven media likes to leave such conclusions out of their news coverage.
=====
The Guardian UK:
"Leftwing Democrats in Congress have invoked a landmark law barring assistance to security forces of governments deemed guilty of human rights abuses to challenge the Biden administration’s emergency military aid program for Israel.
Members of the Democratic party’s progressive wing say the $14.3bn package pledged by the White House after the 7 October attack by Hamas that killed more than 1,400 Israelis breaches the Leahy Act because Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza has overwhelmingly harmed civilians. An estimated 9,000 people have been killed in Gaza so far, among them 3,700 children, according to the Gaza health ministry, run by Hamas.
The act, sponsored by the former Democratic senator Patrick Leahy and passed in 1997, prohibits the US defence and state departments from rendering security assistance to foreign governments facing credible accusations of rights abuses. The law was originally designed only to refer to narcotics assistance, but was later expanded, with amendments covering assistance from both state department and Pentagon budgets."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/03/israel-aid-democrats-leahy-act-congress
-->The NYT left this story out, as did most of the US media. Congress is breaking their own law about funding nations that abuse human rights. But why remind Americans of how dysfunctional the US Congress really is?
=====
Middle East Monitor:
"Member of the US House of Representatives Rashida Tlaib has criticised the US’ unconditional financial support of Israel’s policies of apartheid which, she said, contribute to the continuation of the cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
'I grieve the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost yesterday, today and every day,' Tlaib, who is of Palestinian heritage, said in a statement in which she also called for 'dismantling the apartheid system that creates the suffocating, dehumanizing conditions that can lead to resistance.”
'As long as our country provides billions in unconditional funding to support the apartheid government [Israel], this heartbreaking cycle of violence will continue,' she added.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231010-us-congresswoman-tlaib-slams-us-for-funding-israels-policies-of-apartheid/
-->Why can't the NYT print Rashida Tlaib's words when she criticizes US and Israeli war crimes in Gaza. We get stories about a video being made, about the failure to censor her in Congress, and what genocide really means. Her actual speech is so much more compelling. And that's why most of it didn't make it into our paper of record.
Wednesday, November 01, 2023
The Intercept:
"On Friday, the U.S. Senate passed a unanimous resolution condemning what it called 'anti-Israel, pro-Hamas student groups' across the country following a day of walkouts. Hundreds of students, led by Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, walked out of classes at Columbia University, Princeton University, New York University, and dozens of other colleges in what they described as a demand for a ceasefire in Gaza and end to U.S. military support to Israel. The Senate resolution condemned student groups for ostensibly supporting Hamas as part of a broader government and corporate pushback on protests over the war.
As the conflict intensifies, disputes are spilling over from campuses and government into many workplaces as well. Recent weeks have seen pressure by government officials against student activist groups, the creation of public blacklists in multiple industries, and a wave of politically motivated firings over people’s publicly stated views on the conflict.
'We are seeing people being fired from their jobs, being investigated by HR over their social media posts or conversations with colleagues, and having job offers rescinded. There is a clear trend that people’s jobs are being targeted right now,' said Dima Khalidi, the founder and director of Palestine Legal, an advocacy organization that seeks to preserve the civil rights of supporters of Palestinian rights in the United States."
https://theintercept.com/2023/10/27/palestine-israel-free-speech-retaliation-senate/
-->The NYT ran a story about how Biden's pro Israel stance is hurting his reelection chances. But few US media outlets have covered the powerful backlash to pro-Palestinian speech. The Israel Lobby is attempting to destroy America's First Amendment rights, first by banning boycotts, and now by outlawing criticism.
=====
Common Dreams:
"With more than 7,300 Palestinians killed so far in Israel's three-week bombardment of Gaza, a series of reports this week have exposed how U.S. weapon-makers and billionaire donors are enabling what legal scholars say could amount to genocide.
After Israel declared war in response to Hamas killing over 1,400 Israelis and taking around 200 hostages, the stocks of major American and European war profiteers soared. A Thursday report from Eyes on the Ties—the news site of LittleSis and Public Accountability Initiative—targets five U.S. firms with a record of providing weaponry to Israel.
The outlet stressed that while announcing a supplemental funding request that includes $14.3 billion for Israel, U.S. President Joe Biden last week invoked 'patriotic American workers' who are 'building the arsenal of democracy and serving the cause of freedom,' But it's the defense company CEOs who rake in tens of millions a year, and Wall Street shareholders, who are the real beneficiaries of warmongering."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/us-weapons-to-israel
-->The US media doesn't really want to talk about the massive profits the US firms are seeing from the butcher of Palestinians. For that story, you have to go to Common Dreams.
"On Friday, the U.S. Senate passed a unanimous resolution condemning what it called 'anti-Israel, pro-Hamas student groups' across the country following a day of walkouts. Hundreds of students, led by Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, walked out of classes at Columbia University, Princeton University, New York University, and dozens of other colleges in what they described as a demand for a ceasefire in Gaza and end to U.S. military support to Israel. The Senate resolution condemned student groups for ostensibly supporting Hamas as part of a broader government and corporate pushback on protests over the war.
As the conflict intensifies, disputes are spilling over from campuses and government into many workplaces as well. Recent weeks have seen pressure by government officials against student activist groups, the creation of public blacklists in multiple industries, and a wave of politically motivated firings over people’s publicly stated views on the conflict.
'We are seeing people being fired from their jobs, being investigated by HR over their social media posts or conversations with colleagues, and having job offers rescinded. There is a clear trend that people’s jobs are being targeted right now,' said Dima Khalidi, the founder and director of Palestine Legal, an advocacy organization that seeks to preserve the civil rights of supporters of Palestinian rights in the United States."
https://theintercept.com/2023/10/27/palestine-israel-free-speech-retaliation-senate/
-->The NYT ran a story about how Biden's pro Israel stance is hurting his reelection chances. But few US media outlets have covered the powerful backlash to pro-Palestinian speech. The Israel Lobby is attempting to destroy America's First Amendment rights, first by banning boycotts, and now by outlawing criticism.
=====
Common Dreams:
"With more than 7,300 Palestinians killed so far in Israel's three-week bombardment of Gaza, a series of reports this week have exposed how U.S. weapon-makers and billionaire donors are enabling what legal scholars say could amount to genocide.
After Israel declared war in response to Hamas killing over 1,400 Israelis and taking around 200 hostages, the stocks of major American and European war profiteers soared. A Thursday report from Eyes on the Ties—the news site of LittleSis and Public Accountability Initiative—targets five U.S. firms with a record of providing weaponry to Israel.
The outlet stressed that while announcing a supplemental funding request that includes $14.3 billion for Israel, U.S. President Joe Biden last week invoked 'patriotic American workers' who are 'building the arsenal of democracy and serving the cause of freedom,' But it's the defense company CEOs who rake in tens of millions a year, and Wall Street shareholders, who are the real beneficiaries of warmongering."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/us-weapons-to-israel
-->The US media doesn't really want to talk about the massive profits the US firms are seeing from the butcher of Palestinians. For that story, you have to go to Common Dreams.
Thursday, October 26, 2023
The Electronic Intifada:
"Yasmin Porat, a survivor of the bloodshed at Kibbutz Be’eri, near the boundary with Gaza, says many Israeli civilians were killed by Israeli forces. An Israeli woman who survived the Hamas assault on settlements near the Gaza boundary on 7 October says Israeli civilians were 'undoubtedly' killed by their own security forces.
It happened when Israeli forces engaged in fierce gun battles with Palestinian fighters in Kibbutz Be’eri and fired indiscriminately at both the fighters and their Israeli prisoners. 'They eliminated everyone, including the hostages,' she told Israeli radio. 'There was very, very heavy crossfire' and even tank shelling.
The woman, 44-year-old mother of three Yasmin Porat, said that prior to that, she and other civilians had been held by the Palestinians for several hours and treated 'humanely.' She had fled the nearby 'Nova' rave. A recording of her interview, from the radio program Haboker Hazeh ... has been circulating on social media. The interview has been translated by The Electronic Intifada.
https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-forces-shot-their-own-civilians-kibbutz-survivor-says/38861
-->First is was Hamas cutting off the heads of babies, which turned out to be completely untrue. Then it was the Hamas slaughter of the Israeli dancers. An Israeli witness has now come forward to say that Hamas was not guilty of this atrocity either. And where is the US media when another wartime lie is being spread world wide? Why it is where you might expect it, in the pocket of our Pentagon war machine.
=====
The Guardian UK
"Widespread attempts to suppress pro-Palestinian views in the US after the Hamas attack on Israel have forced the cancellation of major conferences, prompted demands for the dismissal of workers who express support for Palestinians and led to intimidation campaigns against Arab American voices critical of Israeli policies.
Earlier this week, a leading US Jewish group forced the cancellation of a major Palestinian campaign organisation’s national conference by alleging it was a front for Hamas, which killed more than 1,400 Israelis and abducted about 200 people in its attack from Gaza.
Palestinian American activists say television networks also have censored or cancelled interviews. NPR and the BBC pulled advertising for a widely praised new book about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after a campaign of 'listener complaints'. The Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce has declared a 'victory' after pressuring Hilton hotels into cancelling the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights event in Houston later this month at which the congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was to be the main speaker."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/21/israel-hamas-conflict-palestinian-voices-censored
-->Readers will have to go to the UK to understand the assault on free speech now going on in the US. I blame the apartheid state of Israel for its control over our media, over our colleges, and over our political caste. Israel is a greater threat to our democracy than Hamas ever was.
=====
The Intercept:
"The U.S. government may be complicit under international law in Israel’s unfolding genocide of the Palestinian people, a group of legal scholars warned the Biden administration and the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
Lawyers at the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the dire warning to President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in a 44-page emergency brief on Wednesday, on the heels of Biden’s trip to the Middle East. There, Biden reiterated his administration’s unwavering support for Israel — even as the Israeli government wages an unprecedented bombing campaign on the occupied Gaza Strip in retaliation for a horrific attack by Hamas that killed more than 1,400 Israeli citizens.
'Israel’s mass bombings and denial of food, water, and electricity are calculated to destroy the Palestinian population in Gaza,' Katherine Gallagher, senior attorney with CCR and a legal representative for victims in the pending ICC investigation in Palestine, told The Intercept. 'U.S. officials can be held responsible for their failure to prevent Israel’s unfolding genocide, as well as for their complicity, by encouraging it and materially supporting it.' "
https://theintercept.com/2023/10/19/israel-gaza-biden-genocide-war-crimes/
-->The American Empire doesn't care about international law or war crimes. It makes up its own laws, and decides for the whole world who lives and who dies. Someday, the empire itself may come to an end. And I fervently hope that its leaders face justice for their crimes against humanity.
"Yasmin Porat, a survivor of the bloodshed at Kibbutz Be’eri, near the boundary with Gaza, says many Israeli civilians were killed by Israeli forces. An Israeli woman who survived the Hamas assault on settlements near the Gaza boundary on 7 October says Israeli civilians were 'undoubtedly' killed by their own security forces.
It happened when Israeli forces engaged in fierce gun battles with Palestinian fighters in Kibbutz Be’eri and fired indiscriminately at both the fighters and their Israeli prisoners. 'They eliminated everyone, including the hostages,' she told Israeli radio. 'There was very, very heavy crossfire' and even tank shelling.
The woman, 44-year-old mother of three Yasmin Porat, said that prior to that, she and other civilians had been held by the Palestinians for several hours and treated 'humanely.' She had fled the nearby 'Nova' rave. A recording of her interview, from the radio program Haboker Hazeh ... has been circulating on social media. The interview has been translated by The Electronic Intifada.
https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-forces-shot-their-own-civilians-kibbutz-survivor-says/38861
-->First is was Hamas cutting off the heads of babies, which turned out to be completely untrue. Then it was the Hamas slaughter of the Israeli dancers. An Israeli witness has now come forward to say that Hamas was not guilty of this atrocity either. And where is the US media when another wartime lie is being spread world wide? Why it is where you might expect it, in the pocket of our Pentagon war machine.
=====
The Guardian UK
"Widespread attempts to suppress pro-Palestinian views in the US after the Hamas attack on Israel have forced the cancellation of major conferences, prompted demands for the dismissal of workers who express support for Palestinians and led to intimidation campaigns against Arab American voices critical of Israeli policies.
Earlier this week, a leading US Jewish group forced the cancellation of a major Palestinian campaign organisation’s national conference by alleging it was a front for Hamas, which killed more than 1,400 Israelis and abducted about 200 people in its attack from Gaza.
Palestinian American activists say television networks also have censored or cancelled interviews. NPR and the BBC pulled advertising for a widely praised new book about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after a campaign of 'listener complaints'. The Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce has declared a 'victory' after pressuring Hilton hotels into cancelling the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights event in Houston later this month at which the congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was to be the main speaker."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/21/israel-hamas-conflict-palestinian-voices-censored
-->Readers will have to go to the UK to understand the assault on free speech now going on in the US. I blame the apartheid state of Israel for its control over our media, over our colleges, and over our political caste. Israel is a greater threat to our democracy than Hamas ever was.
=====
The Intercept:
"The U.S. government may be complicit under international law in Israel’s unfolding genocide of the Palestinian people, a group of legal scholars warned the Biden administration and the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
Lawyers at the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the dire warning to President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in a 44-page emergency brief on Wednesday, on the heels of Biden’s trip to the Middle East. There, Biden reiterated his administration’s unwavering support for Israel — even as the Israeli government wages an unprecedented bombing campaign on the occupied Gaza Strip in retaliation for a horrific attack by Hamas that killed more than 1,400 Israeli citizens.
'Israel’s mass bombings and denial of food, water, and electricity are calculated to destroy the Palestinian population in Gaza,' Katherine Gallagher, senior attorney with CCR and a legal representative for victims in the pending ICC investigation in Palestine, told The Intercept. 'U.S. officials can be held responsible for their failure to prevent Israel’s unfolding genocide, as well as for their complicity, by encouraging it and materially supporting it.' "
https://theintercept.com/2023/10/19/israel-gaza-biden-genocide-war-crimes/
-->The American Empire doesn't care about international law or war crimes. It makes up its own laws, and decides for the whole world who lives and who dies. Someday, the empire itself may come to an end. And I fervently hope that its leaders face justice for their crimes against humanity.
Thursday, October 19, 2023
Aljazeera:
"When US President Joe Biden publicly expressed his outrage at Hamas militants who invaded southern Israel and beheaded babies they had killed at Kfar Aza kibbutz last weekend, the public shock was both extensive and understandable. The gruesome news spanned the world’s media in hours.
But subsequent reports revealed that no such beheadings have been verified by any Israeli or international source – probably because they never happened. This was just one dramatic incident of false reports spreading in the public sphere of mass media, to denigrate one’s foes and support one’s allies. Thousands of other false reports like this circulate daily in the media – though not necessarily so savage, or spread by such luminaries as the most powerful man on Earth, at the height of an intense conflict in Palestine and Israel that has polarized global opinion.
So, how should we assess the Biden and babies incident? What does it tell us about the dangers of media-disseminated false news and United States government attitudes to this conflict? ... Media around the world quickly picked up the news report, and the Israeli Prime Minister’s spokesman said that babies and toddlers 'with their heads decapitated' had been found at the site. CNN, among others, reported beheadings and 'ISIS-style executions'. When journalists asked a spokesman for the Israeli military about the story, the reply was, 'We cannot confirm but you can assume it happened.'
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/10/13/watching-the-watchdogs-babies-and-truth-die-together-in-israel-palestine
-->Sad say our media didn't do such a good job, either fact checking before printing this story, or apologizing afterwards about false propaganda. Meanwhile, Israel has killed 500 children in its attack on Gaza. Where are the headlines when the murders are real?
=====
HuffPost:
"Stunning State Department Memo Warns Diplomats: No Gaza 'De-Escalation' Talk. ...
As Israel escalates its attacks on Gaza, the State Department is discouraging diplomats working on Middle East issues from making public statements suggesting the U.S. wants to see less violence, according to internal emails viewed by HuffPost.
In messages circulated on Friday, State Department staff wrote that high-level officials do not want press materials to include three specific phrases: “de-escalation/ceasefire,” “end to violence/bloodshed” and “restoring calm.”
The revelation provides a stunning signal about the Biden administration’s reluctance to push for Israeli restraint as the close U.S. partner expands the offensive. ... The emails were sent hours after Israel told more than 1.1 million residents of northern Gaza that they should leave their homes and shelters ahead of an expected ground invasion of the region. On Thursday, the United Nations said Israel had given Gazans a 24-hour deadline to move to the south of the strip, and warned that it would be 'impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences.' ”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/state-department-internal-emails-gaza-israel_n_65296395e4b0a304ff6ff95d
-->I think Biden, Blinken and the Democratic Party have blood on their hands when it comes to the impending genocide of the Palestinian people. How will anyone vote for that deceitful, bloodthirsty crew of warmongers? Biden will replace President Jackson as the symbol of America's war crimes against indigenous peoples.
=====
FAIR:
"If the commentary that news media outlets offer up is supposed to equip audiences to understand the world, then major US outlets’ coverage of the unfolding horrors in the Middle East are failing spectacularly. The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post combined ran seven editorials on Israel/Palestine between October 7–9: one from the Times, four from the Journal and two from the Post.
These three days of coverage begin the day that Hamas fighters broke out of the besieged Gaza Strip to kill and take captive hundreds of Israeli soldiers and civilians, after which Israel launched yet another massive bombing campaign against the Strip, killing hundreds of Palestinian militants and civilians. At no point do these analyses provide readers with the information necessary to comprehend what is happening and why, and they consistently mislead readers about key facts. ...
The closest the Washington Post came was when its first editorial (10/7/23) alluded to 'the legitimate Palestinian grievances that Hamas is exploiting.' Yet the paper gave no indication of what these are. ... The New York Times editorial (10/9/23), on the other hand, didn’t mention that Israel has done any harm to Palestinians at all. ...
The Journal’s editorials went even further than those the Post and Times offered, not only neglecting to situate Palestinian violence but outright denying that Israel oppresses the Palestinians."
https://fair.org/home/papers-that-ignore-causes-of-violence-cant-help-prevent-it/
-->Our media is in a sorry state when it tries to cover up Israel's war crimes. Let's face it: we don't have a peoples' media. Coverage is always slanted to the powers that be. I've linked to FAIR for this story. Read it if you want to enlighten yourself.
"When US President Joe Biden publicly expressed his outrage at Hamas militants who invaded southern Israel and beheaded babies they had killed at Kfar Aza kibbutz last weekend, the public shock was both extensive and understandable. The gruesome news spanned the world’s media in hours.
But subsequent reports revealed that no such beheadings have been verified by any Israeli or international source – probably because they never happened. This was just one dramatic incident of false reports spreading in the public sphere of mass media, to denigrate one’s foes and support one’s allies. Thousands of other false reports like this circulate daily in the media – though not necessarily so savage, or spread by such luminaries as the most powerful man on Earth, at the height of an intense conflict in Palestine and Israel that has polarized global opinion.
So, how should we assess the Biden and babies incident? What does it tell us about the dangers of media-disseminated false news and United States government attitudes to this conflict? ... Media around the world quickly picked up the news report, and the Israeli Prime Minister’s spokesman said that babies and toddlers 'with their heads decapitated' had been found at the site. CNN, among others, reported beheadings and 'ISIS-style executions'. When journalists asked a spokesman for the Israeli military about the story, the reply was, 'We cannot confirm but you can assume it happened.'
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/10/13/watching-the-watchdogs-babies-and-truth-die-together-in-israel-palestine
-->Sad say our media didn't do such a good job, either fact checking before printing this story, or apologizing afterwards about false propaganda. Meanwhile, Israel has killed 500 children in its attack on Gaza. Where are the headlines when the murders are real?
=====
HuffPost:
"Stunning State Department Memo Warns Diplomats: No Gaza 'De-Escalation' Talk. ...
As Israel escalates its attacks on Gaza, the State Department is discouraging diplomats working on Middle East issues from making public statements suggesting the U.S. wants to see less violence, according to internal emails viewed by HuffPost.
In messages circulated on Friday, State Department staff wrote that high-level officials do not want press materials to include three specific phrases: “de-escalation/ceasefire,” “end to violence/bloodshed” and “restoring calm.”
The revelation provides a stunning signal about the Biden administration’s reluctance to push for Israeli restraint as the close U.S. partner expands the offensive. ... The emails were sent hours after Israel told more than 1.1 million residents of northern Gaza that they should leave their homes and shelters ahead of an expected ground invasion of the region. On Thursday, the United Nations said Israel had given Gazans a 24-hour deadline to move to the south of the strip, and warned that it would be 'impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences.' ”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/state-department-internal-emails-gaza-israel_n_65296395e4b0a304ff6ff95d
-->I think Biden, Blinken and the Democratic Party have blood on their hands when it comes to the impending genocide of the Palestinian people. How will anyone vote for that deceitful, bloodthirsty crew of warmongers? Biden will replace President Jackson as the symbol of America's war crimes against indigenous peoples.
=====
FAIR:
"If the commentary that news media outlets offer up is supposed to equip audiences to understand the world, then major US outlets’ coverage of the unfolding horrors in the Middle East are failing spectacularly. The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post combined ran seven editorials on Israel/Palestine between October 7–9: one from the Times, four from the Journal and two from the Post.
These three days of coverage begin the day that Hamas fighters broke out of the besieged Gaza Strip to kill and take captive hundreds of Israeli soldiers and civilians, after which Israel launched yet another massive bombing campaign against the Strip, killing hundreds of Palestinian militants and civilians. At no point do these analyses provide readers with the information necessary to comprehend what is happening and why, and they consistently mislead readers about key facts. ...
The closest the Washington Post came was when its first editorial (10/7/23) alluded to 'the legitimate Palestinian grievances that Hamas is exploiting.' Yet the paper gave no indication of what these are. ... The New York Times editorial (10/9/23), on the other hand, didn’t mention that Israel has done any harm to Palestinians at all. ...
The Journal’s editorials went even further than those the Post and Times offered, not only neglecting to situate Palestinian violence but outright denying that Israel oppresses the Palestinians."
https://fair.org/home/papers-that-ignore-causes-of-violence-cant-help-prevent-it/
-->Our media is in a sorry state when it tries to cover up Israel's war crimes. Let's face it: we don't have a peoples' media. Coverage is always slanted to the powers that be. I've linked to FAIR for this story. Read it if you want to enlighten yourself.
Wednesday, October 11, 2023
FAIR:
"NPR Falsely Claims Its Reporter Is the Only One to Visit Nicaragua. NPR began its report 'A Rare Look Inside Locked-Down Nicaragua' (9/10/23) with the demonstrably false claim that Nicaragua has 'kept all foreign journalists out for more than a year.' This led into a harrowing story of how its reporter arrived in Nicaragua…and reported without incident. [This a little bit of sarcasm, for the NPR reporter had no trouble at all getting into Nicaragua, and getting out]
In 2023 alone, numerous foreign journalists from press outlets from all parts of the world have reported from Nicaragua. Broadcast outlets based in the United States, China, Russia, Iran and around Latin America have regularly filed reports in both English and Spanish. Independent reporters from the United States, Canada and Britain have reported in outlets such as the Morning Star, Rabble and Black Agenda Report.
Most of the international journalists who have reported from Nicaragua in recent years have not been openly biased against Nicaragua’s Sandinista government, which perhaps disqualifies them as reporters in NPR‘s eyes. ... Steve Sweeney, former international editor of Morning Star, was prevented from reporting on the Nicaraguan presidential election in 2021—not by Managua, but by the United States and Mexico."
https://fair.org/home/npr-falsely-claims-its-reporter-is-the-only-one-to-visit-nicaragua/
-->So this is a blatantly false claim by NPR. FAIR goes on to poke holes in other coverage of Nicaragua, from fake sources to obvious bias. NPR simply makes up stories about Nicaragua that follow Pentagon talking points. That's not journalism; it's propaganda.
=====
Common Dreams:
"Climate defenders admonished several rich nations for falling short of the $10 billion fundraising goal set for Thursday's Green Climate Fund Pledging Summit in Bonn, Germany, with the United States singled out for what one campaigner called its 'glaring and inexcusable' failure to contribute this round, even as the climate emergency worsens.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF)—established in 2010 under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to finance projects in developing nations to help them adapt to the climate emergency—presented an opportunity for wealthier nations to make new and increased pledges ahead of the U.N. Climate Change Conference, or COP28, which begins November 30 in Dubai.
However, Thursday's summit raised just $9.3 billion, falling short of its $10 billion goal and coming nowhere near the $200-$250 billion the UNFCCC estimates is needed every year until 2030. Twenty-five countries promised to donate to the fund, with Denmark, Ireland, and Liechtenstein doubling their previous pledges."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/green-climate-fund
-->Well, the US has all sorts of money to send to its proxy war in Ukraine. And, of course, we rush additional millions to slaughter more civilians in Gaza. But nothing for the Green Climate Fund. Readers of the NYT won't be ashamed, because our newspaper of record didn't print this story.
=====
Common Dreams:
"A report published Wednesday estimates that privately run, government-funded Medicare Advantage plans are overcharging U.S. taxpayers by up to $140 billion per year, a sum that could be used to completely eliminate Medicare Part B premiums or fully fund Medicare's prescription drug program.
Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), an advocacy group that supports transitioning to a single-payer health insurance system, found that Medicare Advantage (MA) over-bills the federal government by at least $88 billion per year, based on 2022 spending.
That lower-end estimate accounts for common MA practices such as upcoding, whereby diagnoses are piled onto a patient's risk assessment to make them appear sicker than they actually are, resulting in a larger payment from the federal government."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/medicare-advantage-overcharging
-->Why wouldn't the NYT cover this story? Wall Street interest are at stake here, and the newspaper almost always favors the very rich, who have billions to gain through financial fraud.
"NPR Falsely Claims Its Reporter Is the Only One to Visit Nicaragua. NPR began its report 'A Rare Look Inside Locked-Down Nicaragua' (9/10/23) with the demonstrably false claim that Nicaragua has 'kept all foreign journalists out for more than a year.' This led into a harrowing story of how its reporter arrived in Nicaragua…and reported without incident. [This a little bit of sarcasm, for the NPR reporter had no trouble at all getting into Nicaragua, and getting out]
In 2023 alone, numerous foreign journalists from press outlets from all parts of the world have reported from Nicaragua. Broadcast outlets based in the United States, China, Russia, Iran and around Latin America have regularly filed reports in both English and Spanish. Independent reporters from the United States, Canada and Britain have reported in outlets such as the Morning Star, Rabble and Black Agenda Report.
Most of the international journalists who have reported from Nicaragua in recent years have not been openly biased against Nicaragua’s Sandinista government, which perhaps disqualifies them as reporters in NPR‘s eyes. ... Steve Sweeney, former international editor of Morning Star, was prevented from reporting on the Nicaraguan presidential election in 2021—not by Managua, but by the United States and Mexico."
https://fair.org/home/npr-falsely-claims-its-reporter-is-the-only-one-to-visit-nicaragua/
-->So this is a blatantly false claim by NPR. FAIR goes on to poke holes in other coverage of Nicaragua, from fake sources to obvious bias. NPR simply makes up stories about Nicaragua that follow Pentagon talking points. That's not journalism; it's propaganda.
=====
Common Dreams:
"Climate defenders admonished several rich nations for falling short of the $10 billion fundraising goal set for Thursday's Green Climate Fund Pledging Summit in Bonn, Germany, with the United States singled out for what one campaigner called its 'glaring and inexcusable' failure to contribute this round, even as the climate emergency worsens.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF)—established in 2010 under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to finance projects in developing nations to help them adapt to the climate emergency—presented an opportunity for wealthier nations to make new and increased pledges ahead of the U.N. Climate Change Conference, or COP28, which begins November 30 in Dubai.
However, Thursday's summit raised just $9.3 billion, falling short of its $10 billion goal and coming nowhere near the $200-$250 billion the UNFCCC estimates is needed every year until 2030. Twenty-five countries promised to donate to the fund, with Denmark, Ireland, and Liechtenstein doubling their previous pledges."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/green-climate-fund
-->Well, the US has all sorts of money to send to its proxy war in Ukraine. And, of course, we rush additional millions to slaughter more civilians in Gaza. But nothing for the Green Climate Fund. Readers of the NYT won't be ashamed, because our newspaper of record didn't print this story.
=====
Common Dreams:
"A report published Wednesday estimates that privately run, government-funded Medicare Advantage plans are overcharging U.S. taxpayers by up to $140 billion per year, a sum that could be used to completely eliminate Medicare Part B premiums or fully fund Medicare's prescription drug program.
Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), an advocacy group that supports transitioning to a single-payer health insurance system, found that Medicare Advantage (MA) over-bills the federal government by at least $88 billion per year, based on 2022 spending.
That lower-end estimate accounts for common MA practices such as upcoding, whereby diagnoses are piled onto a patient's risk assessment to make them appear sicker than they actually are, resulting in a larger payment from the federal government."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/medicare-advantage-overcharging
-->Why wouldn't the NYT cover this story? Wall Street interest are at stake here, and the newspaper almost always favors the very rich, who have billions to gain through financial fraud.
Wednesday, October 04, 2023
Haaretz:
"Pro-Israel Sen. Menendez Corruption Controversy Could Cost Israel Its Key Ally in D.C. Democrat Robert Menendez’s vote on a potential Saudi deal, already crucial given the narrow margins, is all the more significant due to his outsized foreign policy influence among hawkish Democrats and pro-Israel lawmakers from both parties
The developments, which have already led the New Jersey senator to relinquish his chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will have dramatic implications on Israel’s standing in Congress (though Israel is not mentioned in the 39-page indictment).
Menendez is perhaps the Democratic Party’s most stalwart supporter of Israel, enjoying a decades-long relationship with AIPAC and the pro-Israel lobby. This positioning, combined with his chairmanship of the crucial committee, have led him to be among the most influential senators concerning Israel policy.
To that end, pro-Israel megadonors from both political parties like Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, Haim Saban, Mortimer Zuckerman and Seth Klarman donated more than $1.5 million dollars to his 2015 defense fund aimed at combatting unrelated corruption charges."
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2023-09-25/ty-article/.premium/pro-israel-sen-menendez-corruption-controversy-could-cost-israel-its-key-ally-in-d-c/0000018a-cd88-da14-a1eb-dd8a4feb0000
-->The big story here is how very little this Israel connection makes it into our national media. Starting with the NYT, it is almost like Israel is carefully removed from the many stories about Menendez's corruption. That is the immense power of the Israel Lobby to control US reporting, even on a member of the United States Senate.
=====
Common Dreams:
"IMF Austerity Measures Are ‘Undermining Rights’ Around the World. ... That's the conclusion of a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report published Monday that looks at 39 loans approved in 38 countries between the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdowns in March 2020 and March 2023. While, at the start of the pandemic, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva spoke of investing in a recovery that was 'greener, smarter, and fairer,' the majority of the loans reviewed by HRW still included requirements like lower government spending or higher regressive taxes.
'Despite its promises at the beginning of the pandemic to learn from past mistakes, the IMF is pushing policies that have a long track record of exacerbating poverty and inequality and undermining rights,' HRW senior researcher and advocate on economic justice and rights Sarah Saadoun said in a statement.
The loans considered in the HRW report impacted countries home to 1.1 billion people, and 30 of them had at least one requirement that put their rights at risk. Twenty-two of them included limits on public wage bills, 23 included regressive value-added taxes, and 20 decreased or eliminated subsidies for fuel or electricity."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/imf-austerity-undermines-rights
-->IMF misdeeds almost never make their way into The NYT. Few other US media outlets covered this story either. Could it be that neoliberal policies have long distorted the work of the IMF, turning it into a way for first world countries to extract value from developing nations?
=====
Common Dreams:
"Warren Grills Biden Medicare Trustee Pick Over 'Shocking' Ties to Medicare Advantage Firm. Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Thursday grilled President Joe Biden's pick to fill a vacant spot on the boards that oversee Social Security and Medicare's finances, highlighting the nominee's position at a private health insurance company that relies heavily on expensive and fraud-ridden Medicare Advantage plans. ...
'Let's be clear,' the senator added. 'If Mr. Kouzoukas ignores the fraud, he helps Clover. If he focuses on the fraud, he hurts Clover. The conflict of interest here is so big and so pervasive that there is no action that Mr. Kouzoukas can take that doesn't either help or hurt Clover, the company that pays him $100,000 a year to sit on its board and watch out for the company.' ...
'A big factor influencing Medicare solvency today is the growth of Medicare Advantage—a program that allows for-profit insurance companies to sell Medicare coverage that experts say is on target this year to overcharge the government by $75 billion,' said Warren. 'In other words, Medicare Advantage has a lot to do with threatening the solvency of Medicare.' "
https://www.commondreams.org/news/warren-grills-biden-medicare-trustee-pick-over-shocking-ties-to-medicare-advantage-firm
-->No word of this story from our major media. Maybe Warren's accusations hit the Democratic Party where it hurts. While publicly supporting Medicare and Social Security, Biden, much like Obama, is secretly trying to undermine both programs with his appointments to key boards.
"Pro-Israel Sen. Menendez Corruption Controversy Could Cost Israel Its Key Ally in D.C. Democrat Robert Menendez’s vote on a potential Saudi deal, already crucial given the narrow margins, is all the more significant due to his outsized foreign policy influence among hawkish Democrats and pro-Israel lawmakers from both parties
The developments, which have already led the New Jersey senator to relinquish his chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will have dramatic implications on Israel’s standing in Congress (though Israel is not mentioned in the 39-page indictment).
Menendez is perhaps the Democratic Party’s most stalwart supporter of Israel, enjoying a decades-long relationship with AIPAC and the pro-Israel lobby. This positioning, combined with his chairmanship of the crucial committee, have led him to be among the most influential senators concerning Israel policy.
To that end, pro-Israel megadonors from both political parties like Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, Haim Saban, Mortimer Zuckerman and Seth Klarman donated more than $1.5 million dollars to his 2015 defense fund aimed at combatting unrelated corruption charges."
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2023-09-25/ty-article/.premium/pro-israel-sen-menendez-corruption-controversy-could-cost-israel-its-key-ally-in-d-c/0000018a-cd88-da14-a1eb-dd8a4feb0000
-->The big story here is how very little this Israel connection makes it into our national media. Starting with the NYT, it is almost like Israel is carefully removed from the many stories about Menendez's corruption. That is the immense power of the Israel Lobby to control US reporting, even on a member of the United States Senate.
=====
Common Dreams:
"IMF Austerity Measures Are ‘Undermining Rights’ Around the World. ... That's the conclusion of a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report published Monday that looks at 39 loans approved in 38 countries between the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdowns in March 2020 and March 2023. While, at the start of the pandemic, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva spoke of investing in a recovery that was 'greener, smarter, and fairer,' the majority of the loans reviewed by HRW still included requirements like lower government spending or higher regressive taxes.
'Despite its promises at the beginning of the pandemic to learn from past mistakes, the IMF is pushing policies that have a long track record of exacerbating poverty and inequality and undermining rights,' HRW senior researcher and advocate on economic justice and rights Sarah Saadoun said in a statement.
The loans considered in the HRW report impacted countries home to 1.1 billion people, and 30 of them had at least one requirement that put their rights at risk. Twenty-two of them included limits on public wage bills, 23 included regressive value-added taxes, and 20 decreased or eliminated subsidies for fuel or electricity."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/imf-austerity-undermines-rights
-->IMF misdeeds almost never make their way into The NYT. Few other US media outlets covered this story either. Could it be that neoliberal policies have long distorted the work of the IMF, turning it into a way for first world countries to extract value from developing nations?
=====
Common Dreams:
"Warren Grills Biden Medicare Trustee Pick Over 'Shocking' Ties to Medicare Advantage Firm. Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Thursday grilled President Joe Biden's pick to fill a vacant spot on the boards that oversee Social Security and Medicare's finances, highlighting the nominee's position at a private health insurance company that relies heavily on expensive and fraud-ridden Medicare Advantage plans. ...
'Let's be clear,' the senator added. 'If Mr. Kouzoukas ignores the fraud, he helps Clover. If he focuses on the fraud, he hurts Clover. The conflict of interest here is so big and so pervasive that there is no action that Mr. Kouzoukas can take that doesn't either help or hurt Clover, the company that pays him $100,000 a year to sit on its board and watch out for the company.' ...
'A big factor influencing Medicare solvency today is the growth of Medicare Advantage—a program that allows for-profit insurance companies to sell Medicare coverage that experts say is on target this year to overcharge the government by $75 billion,' said Warren. 'In other words, Medicare Advantage has a lot to do with threatening the solvency of Medicare.' "
https://www.commondreams.org/news/warren-grills-biden-medicare-trustee-pick-over-shocking-ties-to-medicare-advantage-firm
-->No word of this story from our major media. Maybe Warren's accusations hit the Democratic Party where it hurts. While publicly supporting Medicare and Social Security, Biden, much like Obama, is secretly trying to undermine both programs with his appointments to key boards.
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
Democracy Now:
"NERMEEN SHAIKH We begin today’s show looking at the war in Ukraine. On Wednesday, a Russian missile hit an outdoor market in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, killing 17 and injuring 32. It was one of the deadliest attacks in Ukraine in months. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the, quote, 'utter inhumanity' of the attack."
https://www.democracynow.org/2023/9/7/hanna_perekhoda_ilya_budraitskis_ukraine_russia
-->Unfortunately, Democracy Now's look at the war in Ukraine, was one of the most distorted I have listened to in recent weeks. Amy refers to her two guests as "activists," but activists for what? Both did nothing more than spout arguments for further US militarism in Ukraine. There was no peace guest, nor anyone even encouraging negotiations. It was like listening to our mainstream media, always cheering on more weapons and billions for a war that could bring down the human race.
There must be great pressure on Democracy Now to toe the line when it comes to this war. Reading between the lines, we can see the intense need of the Pentagon to sell its latest imperialistic gamble. One might wish for our children and grandchildren that our media would take the side of nuclear sanity. But we have to assume that the inner Washington elite has already decided to risk everything on "winning" in Ukraine. We were lucky once, when JFK stood up to the warmongers in his own party. But chances are we won't be so lucky this time around.
I feel sorry for Amy and Nermeen. They must know exactly how this propaganda is forced upon them. But they are merely two people. The nuclear armageddon will engulf us all.
=====
Common Dreams:
"With Funds Opposed by GOP, IRS to Target Ultrawealthy Tax Delinquents. 'This news stands in stark contrast to the approach taken by House Republicans, who want to allow wealthy tax cheats to continue business as usual,' said U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden.
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service on Friday won praise from congressional Democrats and progressive groups for announcing "a sweeping, historic effort to restore fairness in tax compliance by shifting more attention onto high-income earners, partnerships, large corporations, and promoters abusing the nation's tax laws.
The IRS effort is enabled by some of the $80 billion in funding for the agency included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which President Joe Biden signed into law last year. About a quarter of that money is set to be clawed back as part of his recent deal with congressional Republicans to temporarily suspend the nation's debt limit."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/irs-targeting-rich-tax-cheats
-->This is a big win for left. At last the billionaire cheaters will have to pay a little more (or maybe a lot more). It is a step away from government by the very richest. It is puzzling that most of the US media did not cover this story. Perhaps it's because so many rich media owners are in mourning.
=====
The Intercept:
"Last week, Intercept journalists Ryan Grim and Murtaza Hussain published a bombshell investigation into Pakistan’s political crisis. Grim and Hussain were provided a Pakistani intelligence document by an anonymous source, outlining how the U.S. government pressured the Pakistani government to oust former Prime Minister Imran Khan. This week on Deconstructed, Grim and Hussain discuss their reporting, the leaked cable, and the fallout from the political crisis in Pakistan.
In the past year, widespread demonstrations have rocked Pakistan, as supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan continue to rally in his support. Last year, Khan was ousted after a no-confidence vote in the Pakistani parliament. As people have taken to the streets in support of Khan, the military has engaged in widespread repression, leading to what many are calling the most serious political crisis in Pakistani history. Khan and his supporters have said that the U.S. State Department supported and even encouraged his ousting last year.
Khan has been pointing to a secret Pakistani intelligence document as proof of the U.S.’ role in the crisis. No one had access to it, until now. Ryan and I were provided the document by an anonymous source in the Pakistani military, who said that they had no ties to Imran Khan or Khan’s party."
https://theintercept.com/2023/08/18/deconstructed-leaked-pakistan-cable/
-->Few in the US media dared cover this story. It exposes a CIA attempt to overthrow a popular leader in the Third World. So what's the big story; the CIA has been doing that since the end World War II, and in so many countries. Maybe it is just the shame of it all that made the NYT hide this news.
"NERMEEN SHAIKH We begin today’s show looking at the war in Ukraine. On Wednesday, a Russian missile hit an outdoor market in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, killing 17 and injuring 32. It was one of the deadliest attacks in Ukraine in months. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the, quote, 'utter inhumanity' of the attack."
https://www.democracynow.org/2023/9/7/hanna_perekhoda_ilya_budraitskis_ukraine_russia
-->Unfortunately, Democracy Now's look at the war in Ukraine, was one of the most distorted I have listened to in recent weeks. Amy refers to her two guests as "activists," but activists for what? Both did nothing more than spout arguments for further US militarism in Ukraine. There was no peace guest, nor anyone even encouraging negotiations. It was like listening to our mainstream media, always cheering on more weapons and billions for a war that could bring down the human race.
There must be great pressure on Democracy Now to toe the line when it comes to this war. Reading between the lines, we can see the intense need of the Pentagon to sell its latest imperialistic gamble. One might wish for our children and grandchildren that our media would take the side of nuclear sanity. But we have to assume that the inner Washington elite has already decided to risk everything on "winning" in Ukraine. We were lucky once, when JFK stood up to the warmongers in his own party. But chances are we won't be so lucky this time around.
I feel sorry for Amy and Nermeen. They must know exactly how this propaganda is forced upon them. But they are merely two people. The nuclear armageddon will engulf us all.
=====
Common Dreams:
"With Funds Opposed by GOP, IRS to Target Ultrawealthy Tax Delinquents. 'This news stands in stark contrast to the approach taken by House Republicans, who want to allow wealthy tax cheats to continue business as usual,' said U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden.
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service on Friday won praise from congressional Democrats and progressive groups for announcing "a sweeping, historic effort to restore fairness in tax compliance by shifting more attention onto high-income earners, partnerships, large corporations, and promoters abusing the nation's tax laws.
The IRS effort is enabled by some of the $80 billion in funding for the agency included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which President Joe Biden signed into law last year. About a quarter of that money is set to be clawed back as part of his recent deal with congressional Republicans to temporarily suspend the nation's debt limit."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/irs-targeting-rich-tax-cheats
-->This is a big win for left. At last the billionaire cheaters will have to pay a little more (or maybe a lot more). It is a step away from government by the very richest. It is puzzling that most of the US media did not cover this story. Perhaps it's because so many rich media owners are in mourning.
=====
The Intercept:
"Last week, Intercept journalists Ryan Grim and Murtaza Hussain published a bombshell investigation into Pakistan’s political crisis. Grim and Hussain were provided a Pakistani intelligence document by an anonymous source, outlining how the U.S. government pressured the Pakistani government to oust former Prime Minister Imran Khan. This week on Deconstructed, Grim and Hussain discuss their reporting, the leaked cable, and the fallout from the political crisis in Pakistan.
In the past year, widespread demonstrations have rocked Pakistan, as supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan continue to rally in his support. Last year, Khan was ousted after a no-confidence vote in the Pakistani parliament. As people have taken to the streets in support of Khan, the military has engaged in widespread repression, leading to what many are calling the most serious political crisis in Pakistani history. Khan and his supporters have said that the U.S. State Department supported and even encouraged his ousting last year.
Khan has been pointing to a secret Pakistani intelligence document as proof of the U.S.’ role in the crisis. No one had access to it, until now. Ryan and I were provided the document by an anonymous source in the Pakistani military, who said that they had no ties to Imran Khan or Khan’s party."
https://theintercept.com/2023/08/18/deconstructed-leaked-pakistan-cable/
-->Few in the US media dared cover this story. It exposes a CIA attempt to overthrow a popular leader in the Third World. So what's the big story; the CIA has been doing that since the end World War II, and in so many countries. Maybe it is just the shame of it all that made the NYT hide this news.
Common Dreams:
"Manufacturing (and Massaging) Consent at the New York Times. The editors from the 'paper of record' write as if from a parallel universe in which the United States has had nothing to do with provoking and sustaining the conflict in Ukraine. ...
Evidently, any input that might undermine 'support' (which the editors go on to specify should be understood as 'full support against Russia’s unprovoked invasion') is supposed to be excluded. So, what is allowed in this debate, according to the Times editorial board? First and foremost, an admission that Ukraine is lagging on the battlefield, that polls reveal diminishing support for further U.S. investment in a losing fight, and that how to end the war has become a hot topic prompting 'sometimes nasty' discussion. Or, to put it more bluntly than the Times ever would, measures must be taken lest the public grow disenchanted with the dollar drain required to pay for endless bloodshed, particularly given the obvious failure of Ukraine’s much-hyped counter-offensive. ...
In this universe, the U.S. is not a 'decider' but only a kindly upholder of Ukrainian agency, despite having sabotaged a draft peace agreement that might have ended the war in March-April 2022 with a Russian withdrawal in exchange for a pledge of Ukrainian neutrality; despite having either perpetrated or colluded in the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines; despite having pressured an ill-prepared and reluctant Ukraine to begin its disastrous counter-offensive; and despite being the major funder of this conflict, to the profit of our military-industrial overlords."
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/new-york-times-editorial-ukraine-war
-->It is hard to have much respect for the "Gray Lady" anymore. The Ukraine war has revealed just how closely the NYT follows the Pentagon's talking points. The newspaper is little more than a propaganda instrument for the military-industrial complex.
=====
Information Clearing House:
"According to the U.S. government and the ever-obsequious New York Times, the Ukraine war was 'unprovoked,' the Times’ favorite adjective to describe the war. Putin, allegedly mistaking himself for Peter the Great, invaded Ukraine to recreate the Russian Empire. Yet last week, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg committed a Washington gaffe, meaning that he accidentally blurted out the truth.
In testimony to the European Union Parliament, Stoltenberg made clear that it was America’s relentless push to enlarge NATO to Ukraine that was the real cause of the war and why it continues today. Here are Stoltenberg’s revealing words:
'The background was that President Putin declared in the autumn of 2021, and actually sent a draft treaty that they wanted NATO to sign, to promise no more NATO enlargement. That was what he sent us. And was a pre-condition to not invade Ukraine. Of course, we didn’t sign that.' "
https://informationclearinghouse.blog/2023/09/20/nato-chief-admits-nato-expansion-was-key-to-russian-invasion-of-ukraine/
-->How much longer can the administration, and it propaganda arm, The NYT, pretend that Putin provoked this war? Here you have the NATO Secretary-General admitting that the war is all about NATO expansion. Of course, the NYT didn't print this story.
=====
Jacobin:
"Some Democrats Are Trying to Preemptively Outlaw a Billionaire Tax. Sensing its popularity, Obama’s former Supreme Court lawyer and a Louisiana Democrat are using an obscure corporate taxation case to try to make a federal wealth tax illegal before it even exists. ...
Listed on the Katyal-authored amicus brief alongside SAFE is the group’s senior adviser, former Louisiana Democratic senator John Breaux, who also lobbies for ExxonMobil, Norfolk Southern, and Boeing — corporations whose top executives could have a financial interest in the outcome of the case. Breaux also lobbies for billionaire financial magnate and Democratic megadonor James Simons. ...
Breaux, who served in Congress from 1972 to 2005, was a member of the New Democrat Coalition that had backed Bill Clinton’s neoliberal agenda. After leaving Congress, he became a corporate lobbyist — as many corporate Democrats do."
https://jacobin.com/2023/09/wealth-tax-supreme-court-katyal-safe?mc_cid=40bf85b6bd&mc_eid=487355f8cb
-->Are the Democrats in bed with the Billionaires as much as the Republicans are? No, the Republicans are worse. But many powerful Democrats also serve the interests of the filthy rich. The two party, one oligarchy political system.
"Manufacturing (and Massaging) Consent at the New York Times. The editors from the 'paper of record' write as if from a parallel universe in which the United States has had nothing to do with provoking and sustaining the conflict in Ukraine. ...
Evidently, any input that might undermine 'support' (which the editors go on to specify should be understood as 'full support against Russia’s unprovoked invasion') is supposed to be excluded. So, what is allowed in this debate, according to the Times editorial board? First and foremost, an admission that Ukraine is lagging on the battlefield, that polls reveal diminishing support for further U.S. investment in a losing fight, and that how to end the war has become a hot topic prompting 'sometimes nasty' discussion. Or, to put it more bluntly than the Times ever would, measures must be taken lest the public grow disenchanted with the dollar drain required to pay for endless bloodshed, particularly given the obvious failure of Ukraine’s much-hyped counter-offensive. ...
In this universe, the U.S. is not a 'decider' but only a kindly upholder of Ukrainian agency, despite having sabotaged a draft peace agreement that might have ended the war in March-April 2022 with a Russian withdrawal in exchange for a pledge of Ukrainian neutrality; despite having either perpetrated or colluded in the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines; despite having pressured an ill-prepared and reluctant Ukraine to begin its disastrous counter-offensive; and despite being the major funder of this conflict, to the profit of our military-industrial overlords."
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/new-york-times-editorial-ukraine-war
-->It is hard to have much respect for the "Gray Lady" anymore. The Ukraine war has revealed just how closely the NYT follows the Pentagon's talking points. The newspaper is little more than a propaganda instrument for the military-industrial complex.
=====
Information Clearing House:
"According to the U.S. government and the ever-obsequious New York Times, the Ukraine war was 'unprovoked,' the Times’ favorite adjective to describe the war. Putin, allegedly mistaking himself for Peter the Great, invaded Ukraine to recreate the Russian Empire. Yet last week, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg committed a Washington gaffe, meaning that he accidentally blurted out the truth.
In testimony to the European Union Parliament, Stoltenberg made clear that it was America’s relentless push to enlarge NATO to Ukraine that was the real cause of the war and why it continues today. Here are Stoltenberg’s revealing words:
'The background was that President Putin declared in the autumn of 2021, and actually sent a draft treaty that they wanted NATO to sign, to promise no more NATO enlargement. That was what he sent us. And was a pre-condition to not invade Ukraine. Of course, we didn’t sign that.' "
https://informationclearinghouse.blog/2023/09/20/nato-chief-admits-nato-expansion-was-key-to-russian-invasion-of-ukraine/
-->How much longer can the administration, and it propaganda arm, The NYT, pretend that Putin provoked this war? Here you have the NATO Secretary-General admitting that the war is all about NATO expansion. Of course, the NYT didn't print this story.
=====
Jacobin:
"Some Democrats Are Trying to Preemptively Outlaw a Billionaire Tax. Sensing its popularity, Obama’s former Supreme Court lawyer and a Louisiana Democrat are using an obscure corporate taxation case to try to make a federal wealth tax illegal before it even exists. ...
Listed on the Katyal-authored amicus brief alongside SAFE is the group’s senior adviser, former Louisiana Democratic senator John Breaux, who also lobbies for ExxonMobil, Norfolk Southern, and Boeing — corporations whose top executives could have a financial interest in the outcome of the case. Breaux also lobbies for billionaire financial magnate and Democratic megadonor James Simons. ...
Breaux, who served in Congress from 1972 to 2005, was a member of the New Democrat Coalition that had backed Bill Clinton’s neoliberal agenda. After leaving Congress, he became a corporate lobbyist — as many corporate Democrats do."
https://jacobin.com/2023/09/wealth-tax-supreme-court-katyal-safe?mc_cid=40bf85b6bd&mc_eid=487355f8cb
-->Are the Democrats in bed with the Billionaires as much as the Republicans are? No, the Republicans are worse. But many powerful Democrats also serve the interests of the filthy rich. The two party, one oligarchy political system.
Wednesday, September 06, 2023
The New York Times:
"Decades After Dictatorship, Chile Mounts Search for Hundreds Who Vanished. President Gabriel Boric authorized a new national search plan ahead of the 50th anniversary of the coup that toppled the government and led to the disappearance and killing of thousands."
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/30/world/americas/chile-military-coup-disappeared-search.html?searchResultPosition=2
-->Well, it was more than thousands killed. It was more like tens of thousands. But that is a mild omission compared to the rest the the NYT article. What was omitted? Well, the fact that the coup was planned and paid for by the CIA. In fact, Kissinger and Nixon spent millions trying to bankrupt Chile its new president, Salvador Alleinde. Worst than that, the US assassinated a Chilean general who supported the president. And as the murders went on, the US press covered it all up, 17 years of brutal dictatorship.
Now I can see covering up the coup. The US likes to preach democracy, of course, but seldom follows its own propaganda. But 17 years covering up Pinochet's crimes? Even praising the military regime? Does US propaganda have no end?
Apparently not, since an article in our sorry "newspaper of record" can't even mention this US involvement in overthrowing the elected president of Chile, destroying its democratic traditions, and hiding its murders of up to 30,000 civilians. Read the NYT article again, so you can get a sense of how our media covers up US war crimes in the rest of the world. And I hope you escaped Scott Simon on NPR this weekend. His bloviating about Chile was particularly revolting, given the fact that he completely omitted any US involvement in the war crimes.
=====
Common Dreams:
"The Biden administration will, for the first time, send controversial armor-piercing munitions containing depleted uranium to Ukraine, according to Reuters. The munition can be fired from US Abrams tanks, which are expected to arrive in Ukraine in the coming weeks. ...
"Decades After Dictatorship, Chile Mounts Search for Hundreds Who Vanished. President Gabriel Boric authorized a new national search plan ahead of the 50th anniversary of the coup that toppled the government and led to the disappearance and killing of thousands."
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/30/world/americas/chile-military-coup-disappeared-search.html?searchResultPosition=2
-->Well, it was more than thousands killed. It was more like tens of thousands. But that is a mild omission compared to the rest the the NYT article. What was omitted? Well, the fact that the coup was planned and paid for by the CIA. In fact, Kissinger and Nixon spent millions trying to bankrupt Chile its new president, Salvador Alleinde. Worst than that, the US assassinated a Chilean general who supported the president. And as the murders went on, the US press covered it all up, 17 years of brutal dictatorship.
Now I can see covering up the coup. The US likes to preach democracy, of course, but seldom follows its own propaganda. But 17 years covering up Pinochet's crimes? Even praising the military regime? Does US propaganda have no end?
Apparently not, since an article in our sorry "newspaper of record" can't even mention this US involvement in overthrowing the elected president of Chile, destroying its democratic traditions, and hiding its murders of up to 30,000 civilians. Read the NYT article again, so you can get a sense of how our media covers up US war crimes in the rest of the world. And I hope you escaped Scott Simon on NPR this weekend. His bloviating about Chile was particularly revolting, given the fact that he completely omitted any US involvement in the war crimes.
=====
Common Dreams:
"The Biden administration will, for the first time, send controversial armor-piercing munitions containing depleted uranium to Ukraine, according to Reuters. The munition can be fired from US Abrams tanks, which are expected to arrive in Ukraine in the coming weeks. ...
This follows an earlier decision by the Biden administration to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine despite concerns over the dangers such weapons pose to civilians. If the US deploys depleted uranium shells to Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to retaliate with DU rounds—which are linked to birth defects, miscarriages, and cancer...
The use of depleted uranium munitions has been fiercely debated, with opponents like the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons saying there are dangerous health risks from ingesting or inhaling depleted uranium dust, including cancers and birth defects."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/us-to-begin-sending-controversial-depleted-uranium-shells-to-ukraine
-->The NYT covers Ukraine endlessly. But no mention of this dangerous US escalation. The Pentagon calls the shots when it comes to the NYT reporting on our endless wars.
=====
FAIR:
"When wildfires tore across Maui on August 9, devastating the Hawaiian island gem, media covered the disaster extensively. Broadcast news featured dramatic photographs that showed the horrors of the island’s destruction, with online videos shared everywhere from the Weather Channel to Inside Edition. Reporting carried testimonial descriptions like 'war zone' and 'apocalyptic.'...
Most of the corporate press focused on the island’s sensational visual destruction, official responses, body counts and destroyed structures. Meanwhile, news reports largely confused or denied the climate crisis’s contribution to the fire, and ignored the connections between fossil fuel use, increased CO2 levels and planetary heating. ...
More, the Times asserted 'It’s difficult to directly attribute any single hurricane to climate change'—as though there are some weather events that are affected by the climate, and others that are not. This is the discredited language of climate denial and doubt, pushed for decades by Exxon and other mega-fossil fuel corporations. Why include it, when the next sentence acknowledges that bigger storms result from increasing temperatures?"
https://fair.org/home/maui-fire-coverage-ignored-fossil-fuel-responsibility/
-->The nation's media have simply learned to stop worrying and love fossil fuels as well as global warming.
Wednesday, August 30, 2023
The Jacobin:
"Everyone from the virulently antisemitic Republican Rudy Giuliani, to independent Michael Bloomberg and Democrat Bill de Blasio have traveled to Israel during their tenures as mayor. Given New York’s large Jewish population, the incessant work of the Israel lobby to tie together Jewish identity and the Zionist project, and the massive investments of the Zionist lobby in election campaigns and lobbying, taking any position other than salivating support for Israel could be a career-ending move.
In 2022 alone, the Israel lobby spent nearly $44 million nationally in political contributions, the majority of which went to Democratic Party candidates. In fact, according to OpenSecrets, a majority of national pro-Israel money has gone to Democratic Party candidates in every single presidential election or midterm since 1990, the year the site’s tracking begins. Recently, the Israel lobby has invested millions in Democratic congressional primaries to defeat progressives critical of the status quo in Israel, from successfully defeating Ohio’s Nina Turner to nearly defeating Summer Lee in Pennsylvania. ...
The Israel lobby’s influence on New York politics and politicians is like its national influence but on steroids. Brooklyn-based representative Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House minority leader and likely future speaker of the House, once described Jerusalem as 'the sixth borough,' which makes sense when you consider that the number-one donor to his 2022 reelection campaign was the PAC Pro-Israel America."
https://jacobin.com/2023/08/eric-adams-democratic-party-israel-lobby-new-york-idf-nypd/
-->The NYT covered Mayor Adams' trip to Israel in the usual way, shallow homage with a hint of skepticism. Here is a quote that says it all:
"Mr. Adams may have been thousands of miles away from home, but was still very much himself: high energy, highly quotable, spiritual, ideologically to the right of many Democrats in his party, wary of the press, fond of police drone demonstrations and foremost a foodie."
=====
Guardian UK:
"Two more US Department of State documents relating to Augusto Pinochet’s coup d’état in Chile have been declassified, revealing how President Richard Nixon was briefed on the impending military takeover. ...
During his bloody rule, 40,175 people were recorded as victims of executions, torture or political imprisonment, or were 'disappeared'. ...
A US state department press release said on Friday that the declassification of the president’s daily briefings 'demonstrates our enduring commitment to the US-Chile partnership and is consistent with our joint efforts to promote democracy and human rights in our own countries and around the world'.
As neither daily briefing poses any obvious threat to US national security, it is unclear why they were kept classified almost entirely for nearly 50 years."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/26/state-department-declassifies-pinochet-coup-documents-chile
-->It is also unclear why the NYT would just ignore this story. In fact, most of the US media refused to cover this release of information. Could it be that the US was complicit in the coup, and that the empire's newspapers almost always fall into line?
=====
Common Dreams:
"Researchers in Pennsylvania published a series of studies late Tuesday showing that children who live near fracking operations are roughly five to seven times more likely to develop lymphoma than kids whose homes are at least five miles away from drilling sites.
Released by the University of Pittsburgh and the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the studies also found a 'strong link' between fracked gas development and 'severe exacerbations, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations for asthma in people living within 10 miles of one or more wells' producing gas.
While the studies weren't designed to establish a causal connection between fracking and cancer or asthma, they add to the large and growing body of literature indicating that oil and gas operations pose a significant threat to public health."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/fracking-cancer
-->The NYT has always loved expensive energy sources, especially when those companies are backed by Wall Street money. The dangers of nuclear energy or fracking get little or no coverage, no matter how many children get sacrificed. Our major newspaper didn't cover this story.
"Everyone from the virulently antisemitic Republican Rudy Giuliani, to independent Michael Bloomberg and Democrat Bill de Blasio have traveled to Israel during their tenures as mayor. Given New York’s large Jewish population, the incessant work of the Israel lobby to tie together Jewish identity and the Zionist project, and the massive investments of the Zionist lobby in election campaigns and lobbying, taking any position other than salivating support for Israel could be a career-ending move.
In 2022 alone, the Israel lobby spent nearly $44 million nationally in political contributions, the majority of which went to Democratic Party candidates. In fact, according to OpenSecrets, a majority of national pro-Israel money has gone to Democratic Party candidates in every single presidential election or midterm since 1990, the year the site’s tracking begins. Recently, the Israel lobby has invested millions in Democratic congressional primaries to defeat progressives critical of the status quo in Israel, from successfully defeating Ohio’s Nina Turner to nearly defeating Summer Lee in Pennsylvania. ...
The Israel lobby’s influence on New York politics and politicians is like its national influence but on steroids. Brooklyn-based representative Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House minority leader and likely future speaker of the House, once described Jerusalem as 'the sixth borough,' which makes sense when you consider that the number-one donor to his 2022 reelection campaign was the PAC Pro-Israel America."
https://jacobin.com/2023/08/eric-adams-democratic-party-israel-lobby-new-york-idf-nypd/
-->The NYT covered Mayor Adams' trip to Israel in the usual way, shallow homage with a hint of skepticism. Here is a quote that says it all:
"Mr. Adams may have been thousands of miles away from home, but was still very much himself: high energy, highly quotable, spiritual, ideologically to the right of many Democrats in his party, wary of the press, fond of police drone demonstrations and foremost a foodie."
=====
Guardian UK:
"Two more US Department of State documents relating to Augusto Pinochet’s coup d’état in Chile have been declassified, revealing how President Richard Nixon was briefed on the impending military takeover. ...
During his bloody rule, 40,175 people were recorded as victims of executions, torture or political imprisonment, or were 'disappeared'. ...
A US state department press release said on Friday that the declassification of the president’s daily briefings 'demonstrates our enduring commitment to the US-Chile partnership and is consistent with our joint efforts to promote democracy and human rights in our own countries and around the world'.
As neither daily briefing poses any obvious threat to US national security, it is unclear why they were kept classified almost entirely for nearly 50 years."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/26/state-department-declassifies-pinochet-coup-documents-chile
-->It is also unclear why the NYT would just ignore this story. In fact, most of the US media refused to cover this release of information. Could it be that the US was complicit in the coup, and that the empire's newspapers almost always fall into line?
=====
Common Dreams:
"Researchers in Pennsylvania published a series of studies late Tuesday showing that children who live near fracking operations are roughly five to seven times more likely to develop lymphoma than kids whose homes are at least five miles away from drilling sites.
Released by the University of Pittsburgh and the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the studies also found a 'strong link' between fracked gas development and 'severe exacerbations, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations for asthma in people living within 10 miles of one or more wells' producing gas.
While the studies weren't designed to establish a causal connection between fracking and cancer or asthma, they add to the large and growing body of literature indicating that oil and gas operations pose a significant threat to public health."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/fracking-cancer
-->The NYT has always loved expensive energy sources, especially when those companies are backed by Wall Street money. The dangers of nuclear energy or fracking get little or no coverage, no matter how many children get sacrificed. Our major newspaper didn't cover this story.
Wednesday, August 09, 2023
Geopolitical Economy:
"The new president of Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traoré, has vowed to fight imperialism and neocolonialism, invoking his country’s past revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara and quoting Che Guevara. The West African nation has also formed close diplomatic ties with the revolutionary governments in Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran, as well as with NATO’s arch-rival Russia.
In January 2022, a group of nationalist military officers in Burkina Faso toppled the president, Roch Kaboré, a wealthy banker who had fostered close ties with the country’s former colonizer, France, where he was educated.
The military officers declared a government run by what they call the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR), led by a new president, Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba. They pledged to seek true independence from French hegemony, condemning the neocolonial policies and economic, political, and military control that Paris still exercises over Francophone West Africa."
https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/07/30/burkina-faso-ibrahim-traore-sankara-imperialism/
-->To the NYT, all this anti-imperialist militancy is nothing more than "Another Coup As Usual," which is the title of its recent article on the crisis in Niger. Although the NYT admits that "Thousands of American and French troops are stationed in Niger," the newspaper never makes the connection between foreign troops and the will of the people to control their own countries.
=====
Jacobin:
"Barack Obama Is a Climate Hypocrite. In refusing to acknowledge his past climate denial and promotion of oil interests, Obama is relying on liberals forgetting his actual environmental record. Worse, he’s telling other Democratic leaders that lip service can stand in for action. ...
Against this backdrop, former president Barack Obama and his top White House strategist David Axelrod have been publicly lamenting climate inaction and warning of the imperative to fight climate change — pretending that they are powerless bystanders who played no part in creating the escalating crisis.
In fact, the opposite is true: when they were in a position to limit future damage from climate change, they chose not to prioritize climate policy and instead expanded fossil fuel production — all while Obama and Democrats were rewarded with a gusher of campaign cash from the oil and gas industry."
https://jacobin.com/2023/08/barack-obama-david-axelrod-fossil-fuel-industry-climate-change-greenwashing-hypocrisy?mc_cid=0af751e0f1&mc_eid=487355f8cb
-->The NYT doesn't do hypocrisy when it comes to Barack Obama. Our newspaper of record will always value slick words over climate action. And most liberals will take the bait, hook, line and sinker.
=====
Common Dreams:
"Entire House Democratic Leadership Backs Anti-Choice Cuellar in 2024 Run. With well over a year before the 2024 election, and as a pro-choice immigration rights attorney is reportedly weighing a primary run, all four of the top Democratic leaders in the U.S. House on Thursday announced their support for anti-abortion rights Rep. Henry Cuellar in his reelection bid.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Pete Aguilar (Calif.), Minority Whip Rep. Katherine Clark (Mass.), and Assistant Democratic Leader Rep. James Clyburn (S.C.) all announced their endorsements of the right-wing Democrat, who has represented Texas' 28th district since 2005.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Md.) also voiced their support for Cuellar, who in addition to being the only anti-abortion rights Democrat in the House, has an "A" rating from the National Rifle Association indicating his anti-gun control views."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/democratic-leaders-back-cuellar
-->This story certainly shows the disinterest of the Democratic Party leadership in a woman's right to choose. No wonder abortion rights has taken such a beating. Like so many issues, it has been sacrificed to corporate interests. No mention of the sellout in the NYT.
"The new president of Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traoré, has vowed to fight imperialism and neocolonialism, invoking his country’s past revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara and quoting Che Guevara. The West African nation has also formed close diplomatic ties with the revolutionary governments in Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran, as well as with NATO’s arch-rival Russia.
In January 2022, a group of nationalist military officers in Burkina Faso toppled the president, Roch Kaboré, a wealthy banker who had fostered close ties with the country’s former colonizer, France, where he was educated.
The military officers declared a government run by what they call the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR), led by a new president, Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba. They pledged to seek true independence from French hegemony, condemning the neocolonial policies and economic, political, and military control that Paris still exercises over Francophone West Africa."
https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/07/30/burkina-faso-ibrahim-traore-sankara-imperialism/
-->To the NYT, all this anti-imperialist militancy is nothing more than "Another Coup As Usual," which is the title of its recent article on the crisis in Niger. Although the NYT admits that "Thousands of American and French troops are stationed in Niger," the newspaper never makes the connection between foreign troops and the will of the people to control their own countries.
=====
Jacobin:
"Barack Obama Is a Climate Hypocrite. In refusing to acknowledge his past climate denial and promotion of oil interests, Obama is relying on liberals forgetting his actual environmental record. Worse, he’s telling other Democratic leaders that lip service can stand in for action. ...
Against this backdrop, former president Barack Obama and his top White House strategist David Axelrod have been publicly lamenting climate inaction and warning of the imperative to fight climate change — pretending that they are powerless bystanders who played no part in creating the escalating crisis.
In fact, the opposite is true: when they were in a position to limit future damage from climate change, they chose not to prioritize climate policy and instead expanded fossil fuel production — all while Obama and Democrats were rewarded with a gusher of campaign cash from the oil and gas industry."
https://jacobin.com/2023/08/barack-obama-david-axelrod-fossil-fuel-industry-climate-change-greenwashing-hypocrisy?mc_cid=0af751e0f1&mc_eid=487355f8cb
-->The NYT doesn't do hypocrisy when it comes to Barack Obama. Our newspaper of record will always value slick words over climate action. And most liberals will take the bait, hook, line and sinker.
=====
Common Dreams:
"Entire House Democratic Leadership Backs Anti-Choice Cuellar in 2024 Run. With well over a year before the 2024 election, and as a pro-choice immigration rights attorney is reportedly weighing a primary run, all four of the top Democratic leaders in the U.S. House on Thursday announced their support for anti-abortion rights Rep. Henry Cuellar in his reelection bid.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Pete Aguilar (Calif.), Minority Whip Rep. Katherine Clark (Mass.), and Assistant Democratic Leader Rep. James Clyburn (S.C.) all announced their endorsements of the right-wing Democrat, who has represented Texas' 28th district since 2005.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Md.) also voiced their support for Cuellar, who in addition to being the only anti-abortion rights Democrat in the House, has an "A" rating from the National Rifle Association indicating his anti-gun control views."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/democratic-leaders-back-cuellar
-->This story certainly shows the disinterest of the Democratic Party leadership in a woman's right to choose. No wonder abortion rights has taken such a beating. Like so many issues, it has been sacrificed to corporate interests. No mention of the sellout in the NYT.
Wednesday, August 02, 2023
Common Dreams:
" 'My fellow Americans, we are facing a climate emergency. This summer, we have seen record-shattering heat waves sweep across our nation... If we do not act urgently to curb fossil fuel pollution, these deadly heat waves will only grow worse in frequency and severity.'
That was how Fossil Free Media director Jamie Henn suggested U.S. President Joe Biden address the public on Thursday as he announced new measures to address the record-breaking heat that spread across the country from the Southwest to the Midwest and Northeast, placing more than half the U.S. population under heat advisories.
The climate campaigner was among those urging the president to make a clear connection between the extreme heat—which was expected to push temperatures to 105°F in Minneapolis and 107° in New York as Phoenix saw its 27th consecutive day with a heat index of at least 110°—and the climate crisis. Instead, Biden did not utter the words 'fossil fuels,' 'oil,' or 'gas' throughout his remarks, despite the fact that World Weather Attribution reported this week that the extreme heat seen in the U.S. and other countries would have been 'virtually impossible' without the climate crisis and continued fossil fuel extraction."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/biden-extreme-heat
-->So much for our do nothing president. He get the climate crisis, but is simply a corrupt, pro corporate stooge. But why does the NYT never mention these Biden omissions in its extensive coverage of his speech?
=====
The Guardian UK:
"A witness to the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X has come forward to claim that a comment he overheard as police were restraining assassin Thomas Hagan outside the Audubon Ball room proved to him that the New York police department and FBI knew beforehand that there would be an attempt on the civil rights activist’s life.
Mustafa Hassan said he heard an officer ask of Hagan, 'Is he one of us?'
'From my vantage point this was an attempt by police to assist in him getting away,' Hassan said on Tuesday in a statement to reporters, read mere feet away from where Malcolm X was gunned down in New York City’s Audubon Ballroom.
Appearing alongside the civil rights attorney Ben Crump, Hassan asserted that he prevented Hagan from being taken away by reaching out and grabbing the assassin by the collar.
Hassan, formerly known as Richard Melwin Jones, delivered a vivid description of his recollection of the day that the leader of the Organization of Afro-American Unity was assassinated."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/25/malcolm-x-assassination-new-witness-mustafa-hassan
-->OK, this is just hearsay from over 50 years ago. But why didn't the NYT even mention the possibility that Malcolm X was murdered by government assassins, like Fred Hampton would be three years later. In fact, the 1960s saw an overwhelming number of Black leaders being murdered. And then there was COINTELPRO, the secret FBI attack on Black activism that was exposed by the Church Committee. We need a no holds barred investigation of these government murders, not a liberal cover up by our newspaper of record.
=====
Common Dreams:
"Over 40 international and local civil society groups on Wednesday called for accountability for all perpetrators of war crimes during the nearly nine-year civil war and U.S.-backed Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, as well as reconciliation, redress, and reparations for victims of the conflict that's claimed nearly 400,000 lives and upended millions more. ...
HRW and other groups have documented human rights crimes committed by the U.S.-backed Saudi-led coalition and Yemeni government forces, as well as the Houthi rebels they're fighting and the U.S. forces conducting raids and airstrikes in the so-called War on Terror.
According to United Nations humanitarian officials, nearly 400,000 people have died during the Yemeni war, and a Saudi-led blockade has exacerbated starvation and disease in the country of 30 million people—more than 23 million of whom required assistance in 2022."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/yemen-declaration
-->The NYT doesn't do war crimes committed by US allies. Perhaps that is one reason for the fact that most American citizens don't even know how involved the US is in butchering the Yemeni people. The NYT is the empire's most reliable propaganda tool.
" 'My fellow Americans, we are facing a climate emergency. This summer, we have seen record-shattering heat waves sweep across our nation... If we do not act urgently to curb fossil fuel pollution, these deadly heat waves will only grow worse in frequency and severity.'
That was how Fossil Free Media director Jamie Henn suggested U.S. President Joe Biden address the public on Thursday as he announced new measures to address the record-breaking heat that spread across the country from the Southwest to the Midwest and Northeast, placing more than half the U.S. population under heat advisories.
The climate campaigner was among those urging the president to make a clear connection between the extreme heat—which was expected to push temperatures to 105°F in Minneapolis and 107° in New York as Phoenix saw its 27th consecutive day with a heat index of at least 110°—and the climate crisis. Instead, Biden did not utter the words 'fossil fuels,' 'oil,' or 'gas' throughout his remarks, despite the fact that World Weather Attribution reported this week that the extreme heat seen in the U.S. and other countries would have been 'virtually impossible' without the climate crisis and continued fossil fuel extraction."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/biden-extreme-heat
-->So much for our do nothing president. He get the climate crisis, but is simply a corrupt, pro corporate stooge. But why does the NYT never mention these Biden omissions in its extensive coverage of his speech?
=====
The Guardian UK:
"A witness to the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X has come forward to claim that a comment he overheard as police were restraining assassin Thomas Hagan outside the Audubon Ball room proved to him that the New York police department and FBI knew beforehand that there would be an attempt on the civil rights activist’s life.
Mustafa Hassan said he heard an officer ask of Hagan, 'Is he one of us?'
'From my vantage point this was an attempt by police to assist in him getting away,' Hassan said on Tuesday in a statement to reporters, read mere feet away from where Malcolm X was gunned down in New York City’s Audubon Ballroom.
Appearing alongside the civil rights attorney Ben Crump, Hassan asserted that he prevented Hagan from being taken away by reaching out and grabbing the assassin by the collar.
Hassan, formerly known as Richard Melwin Jones, delivered a vivid description of his recollection of the day that the leader of the Organization of Afro-American Unity was assassinated."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/25/malcolm-x-assassination-new-witness-mustafa-hassan
-->OK, this is just hearsay from over 50 years ago. But why didn't the NYT even mention the possibility that Malcolm X was murdered by government assassins, like Fred Hampton would be three years later. In fact, the 1960s saw an overwhelming number of Black leaders being murdered. And then there was COINTELPRO, the secret FBI attack on Black activism that was exposed by the Church Committee. We need a no holds barred investigation of these government murders, not a liberal cover up by our newspaper of record.
=====
Common Dreams:
"Over 40 international and local civil society groups on Wednesday called for accountability for all perpetrators of war crimes during the nearly nine-year civil war and U.S.-backed Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, as well as reconciliation, redress, and reparations for victims of the conflict that's claimed nearly 400,000 lives and upended millions more. ...
HRW and other groups have documented human rights crimes committed by the U.S.-backed Saudi-led coalition and Yemeni government forces, as well as the Houthi rebels they're fighting and the U.S. forces conducting raids and airstrikes in the so-called War on Terror.
According to United Nations humanitarian officials, nearly 400,000 people have died during the Yemeni war, and a Saudi-led blockade has exacerbated starvation and disease in the country of 30 million people—more than 23 million of whom required assistance in 2022."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/yemen-declaration
-->The NYT doesn't do war crimes committed by US allies. Perhaps that is one reason for the fact that most American citizens don't even know how involved the US is in butchering the Yemeni people. The NYT is the empire's most reliable propaganda tool.
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
Guardian UK:
"The state official in charge of Oklahoma’s schools is facing calls for impeachment, after he said teachers should tell students that the Tulsa race massacre was not racially motivated.
In a public forum on Thursday, Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s state superintendent of public instruction, said teachers could cover the 1921 massacre, in which white Tulsans murdered an estimated 300 Black people, but teachers should not 'say that the skin color determined it'.
Walters is a pro-Trump Republican who was elected to oversee Oklahoma education in November. He has consistently indulged in rightwing talking points including 'woke ideology' and has said critical race theory should not be taught in classrooms. Republicans have frequently conflated banning critical race theory with banning any discussion of racial history in classrooms."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/08/oklahoma-republican-tulsa-race-massacre
-->Here we have another shameful example of our country's perpetual racism and of its unwillingness to consider the history of Blacks in America. Is the story just too painful for our own media to report on? Let's see if the NYT gets around to printing this sickening story.
=====
Guardian UK:
"An Oklahoma judge has thrown out a lawsuit seeking reparations for the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, dashing an effort to obtain some measure of legal justice for elderly survivors. The judge, Caroline Wall, on Friday dismissed with prejudice the lawsuit which attempted to force the city and others to make recompense for the destruction of Greenwood, a once-thriving Black district.
The case involved three survivors of the attack, all now over 100 years old and who sued in 2020, in the hope of seeing what their attorney called 'justice in their lifetime'. ... The Tulsa race massacre suit said the actions of the white mob that killed hundreds of Black residents and destroyed what had been the most prosperous Black business district in the US continue to affect the city today.
It contended that Tulsa’s long history of racial division and tension stemmed from the massacre, during which a mob descended on a 35-block area, looting, killing and burning. Thousands were left homeless, living in a hastily constructed camp.
The city and insurance companies never compensated victims and the massacre ultimately resulted in racial and economic disparities that still exist today, the lawsuit argued."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/09/tulsa-race-massacre-judge-rejects-reparations-lawsuit
-->Let's see if our mainstream media can hide this disgraceful story. So far it has. What about the NYT, which so far lets the Guardian report on America's homegrown racism.
=====
Accountable US:
"WASHINGTON, DC – A new analysis from government watchdog Accountable.US found nearly 60% of incumbent U.S. representatives filed extensions in 2023 for their 2022 financial disclosure, the majority of which––54.5%––were Republicans. Accountable.US.’ review of the House Committee on Ethics’ financial disclosure database also found that among the 257 representatives that filed extensions, 80.9% asked for the maximum 90-day extension. ...
Members of Congress were required to file their annual financial disclosure reports by May 15th, 2023 under the Ethics in Government Act and STOCK Act to help identify and regulate possible corrupt conflicts of interest or instances when an 'official uses his position of influence to enhance his personal financial interests.'
Their failure to do so has fueled criticism that the 'toothless' STOCK Act does not go far enough, and elevated concerns about how many members of Congress were able to beat the S&P 500 in 2021 and 2022 amid 'the worst market since 2008.' While at least six bipartisan House bills have been introduced this Congress to restrict stock trading, the MAGA House Majority has not acted on any of the bills even as public pressure continues to mount. A 2022 poll found over 7 in 10 likely voters believed members of Congress should not participate in the stock market while in office."
https://accountable.us/watchdog-nearly-60-of-incumbent-u-s-reps-filed-extensions-on-financial-disclosures-amid-push-for-restricting-congressional-stock-trading/
-->The utter corruption of our Congress does not really make it into the US media. I would call this censorship of how our neoliberal system works. The system works great for the rich and powerful. For you, ignorance is the only way to be happy.
"The state official in charge of Oklahoma’s schools is facing calls for impeachment, after he said teachers should tell students that the Tulsa race massacre was not racially motivated.
In a public forum on Thursday, Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s state superintendent of public instruction, said teachers could cover the 1921 massacre, in which white Tulsans murdered an estimated 300 Black people, but teachers should not 'say that the skin color determined it'.
Walters is a pro-Trump Republican who was elected to oversee Oklahoma education in November. He has consistently indulged in rightwing talking points including 'woke ideology' and has said critical race theory should not be taught in classrooms. Republicans have frequently conflated banning critical race theory with banning any discussion of racial history in classrooms."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/08/oklahoma-republican-tulsa-race-massacre
-->Here we have another shameful example of our country's perpetual racism and of its unwillingness to consider the history of Blacks in America. Is the story just too painful for our own media to report on? Let's see if the NYT gets around to printing this sickening story.
=====
Guardian UK:
"An Oklahoma judge has thrown out a lawsuit seeking reparations for the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, dashing an effort to obtain some measure of legal justice for elderly survivors. The judge, Caroline Wall, on Friday dismissed with prejudice the lawsuit which attempted to force the city and others to make recompense for the destruction of Greenwood, a once-thriving Black district.
The case involved three survivors of the attack, all now over 100 years old and who sued in 2020, in the hope of seeing what their attorney called 'justice in their lifetime'. ... The Tulsa race massacre suit said the actions of the white mob that killed hundreds of Black residents and destroyed what had been the most prosperous Black business district in the US continue to affect the city today.
It contended that Tulsa’s long history of racial division and tension stemmed from the massacre, during which a mob descended on a 35-block area, looting, killing and burning. Thousands were left homeless, living in a hastily constructed camp.
The city and insurance companies never compensated victims and the massacre ultimately resulted in racial and economic disparities that still exist today, the lawsuit argued."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/09/tulsa-race-massacre-judge-rejects-reparations-lawsuit
-->Let's see if our mainstream media can hide this disgraceful story. So far it has. What about the NYT, which so far lets the Guardian report on America's homegrown racism.
=====
Accountable US:
"WASHINGTON, DC – A new analysis from government watchdog Accountable.US found nearly 60% of incumbent U.S. representatives filed extensions in 2023 for their 2022 financial disclosure, the majority of which––54.5%––were Republicans. Accountable.US.’ review of the House Committee on Ethics’ financial disclosure database also found that among the 257 representatives that filed extensions, 80.9% asked for the maximum 90-day extension. ...
Members of Congress were required to file their annual financial disclosure reports by May 15th, 2023 under the Ethics in Government Act and STOCK Act to help identify and regulate possible corrupt conflicts of interest or instances when an 'official uses his position of influence to enhance his personal financial interests.'
Their failure to do so has fueled criticism that the 'toothless' STOCK Act does not go far enough, and elevated concerns about how many members of Congress were able to beat the S&P 500 in 2021 and 2022 amid 'the worst market since 2008.' While at least six bipartisan House bills have been introduced this Congress to restrict stock trading, the MAGA House Majority has not acted on any of the bills even as public pressure continues to mount. A 2022 poll found over 7 in 10 likely voters believed members of Congress should not participate in the stock market while in office."
https://accountable.us/watchdog-nearly-60-of-incumbent-u-s-reps-filed-extensions-on-financial-disclosures-amid-push-for-restricting-congressional-stock-trading/
-->The utter corruption of our Congress does not really make it into the US media. I would call this censorship of how our neoliberal system works. The system works great for the rich and powerful. For you, ignorance is the only way to be happy.
Wednesday, July 05, 2023
FAIR:
"As Venezuela Mends Ties With Latin Neighbors, Western Media Turn Up the Propaganda. Venezuela’s Maduro government has slowly and steadily regained its diplomatic standing in recent years, overcoming US endeavors to turn the country into a pariah state as part of its regime-change efforts.
Nevertheless, Washington remains hell-bent on ousting the democratically elected Venezuelan authorities, and has kept its deadly sanctions program virtually intact. And Western media, which have cheered coup attempts at every step of the way (FAIR.org, 6/13/22, 5/2/22, 6/4/21, 4/15/20, 1/22/20), remain committed to endorsing US policies to the bitter end.
This commitment was on full display recently when President Nicolás Maduro was hosted by Brazilian President Lula da Silva, in a major blow against the campaign to isolate Venezuela. Lula added insult to injury by condemning what he called the 'narrative' of authoritarianism and lack of democracy that had been built around Venezuela to justify sanctions and regime change.' "
https://fair.org/home/as-venezuela-mends-ties-with-latin-neighbors-western-media-turn-up-the-propaganda/
-->FAIR demonstrates how in bed the mainstream media is when it comes to socialist governments in other countries. For Cuba and Venezuela, the NYT is all Cold War propaganda, all of the time.
=====
Common Dreams:
"The Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation 'failed to fulfill their mission' by dismissing or downplaying ominous intelligence in the weeks and days leading up to the deadly January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump, according to a Senate investigation published Tuesday.
The report—entitled Planned in Plain Sight: A Review of the Intelligence Failures in Advance of January 6, 2021—was published by Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security Committee and calls the Capitol attack 'an unprecedented effort to disrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election and our nation's long history of peaceful transitions of power' that 'followed months of repeated and false claims by former President Donald Trump, his lawyers, and certain elected officials, that the presidential election was stolen.'
'What was shocking is that this attack was essentially planned in plain sight in social media. Yet it seemed as if our intelligence agencies completely dropped the ball.' "
https://www.commondreams.org/news/january-6-report-senate
-->Only Fox News seems to have covered this story. Why no NYT coverage? Perhaps this story makes the US look too bad. Our newspaper of record often plays the role of avoiding bad news for the empire. The story itself shows a distinct lack of legitimacy for several governmental agencies.
"As Venezuela Mends Ties With Latin Neighbors, Western Media Turn Up the Propaganda. Venezuela’s Maduro government has slowly and steadily regained its diplomatic standing in recent years, overcoming US endeavors to turn the country into a pariah state as part of its regime-change efforts.
Nevertheless, Washington remains hell-bent on ousting the democratically elected Venezuelan authorities, and has kept its deadly sanctions program virtually intact. And Western media, which have cheered coup attempts at every step of the way (FAIR.org, 6/13/22, 5/2/22, 6/4/21, 4/15/20, 1/22/20), remain committed to endorsing US policies to the bitter end.
This commitment was on full display recently when President Nicolás Maduro was hosted by Brazilian President Lula da Silva, in a major blow against the campaign to isolate Venezuela. Lula added insult to injury by condemning what he called the 'narrative' of authoritarianism and lack of democracy that had been built around Venezuela to justify sanctions and regime change.' "
https://fair.org/home/as-venezuela-mends-ties-with-latin-neighbors-western-media-turn-up-the-propaganda/
-->FAIR demonstrates how in bed the mainstream media is when it comes to socialist governments in other countries. For Cuba and Venezuela, the NYT is all Cold War propaganda, all of the time.
=====
Common Dreams:
"The Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation 'failed to fulfill their mission' by dismissing or downplaying ominous intelligence in the weeks and days leading up to the deadly January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump, according to a Senate investigation published Tuesday.
The report—entitled Planned in Plain Sight: A Review of the Intelligence Failures in Advance of January 6, 2021—was published by Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security Committee and calls the Capitol attack 'an unprecedented effort to disrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election and our nation's long history of peaceful transitions of power' that 'followed months of repeated and false claims by former President Donald Trump, his lawyers, and certain elected officials, that the presidential election was stolen.'
'What was shocking is that this attack was essentially planned in plain sight in social media. Yet it seemed as if our intelligence agencies completely dropped the ball.' "
https://www.commondreams.org/news/january-6-report-senate
-->Only Fox News seems to have covered this story. Why no NYT coverage? Perhaps this story makes the US look too bad. Our newspaper of record often plays the role of avoiding bad news for the empire. The story itself shows a distinct lack of legitimacy for several governmental agencies.
Wednesday, June 28, 2023
Common Dreams:
"Public health groups are suing the US Environmental Protection Agency over the reapproval of two toxic herbicides made with an active ingredient in Agent Orange, a chemical weapon deployed by the US to destroy vegetation in the Vietnam war, and which caused huge health problems among soldiers and Vietnamese residents.
The federal suit alleges the EPA’s science shows the human health risks and harm to endangered species associated with widely spreading the chemical on US cropland, but the agency failed to properly calculate those risks during the reapproval process. The herbicide is also prone to damaging non-GMO crops or vegetation on neighboring fields. ...
The chemical 2,4-D, is used in Enlist One and Enlist Duo, which are applied to fields with corn, soybeans and cotton genetically engineered to resist the herbicides. It is considered a likely carcinogen by the World Health Organization, and, among other human health effects, is linked to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, birth defects and respiratory problems."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/19/epa-herbicides-agent-orange-lawsuit
-->The NYT always gives the big chemical companies the benefit of the doubt, and true to form, the newspaper left this story out.
=====
Common Dreams:
"With the US besieged by a rightwing culture war campaign that aims to strip away rights from LGBTQ+ people and others, blame tends to be focused on Republican politicians and conservative media figures.
But lurking behind efforts to roll back abortion rights, to demonize trans people, and to peel back the protections afforded to gay and queer Americans is a shadowy, well-funded rightwing legal organization, experts say.
Since it was formed in 1994, Alliance Defending Freedom has been at the center of a nationwide effort to limit the rights of women and LGBTQ+ people, all in the name of Christianity. The Southern Poverty Law Center has termed it an 'anti-LGBTQ hate group' that has extended its tentacles into nearly every area of the culture wars."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/19/alliance-defending-freedom-lgbtq-rights-america
-->The NYT quoted the Alliance Defending Freedom group in an article about transgender people, but surprisingly left out any reference to the group's funding or record of engendering hate.
=====
Common Dreams:
"Billionaire-Funded Group Attacking Direct Democracy Across US. The Foundation for Government Accountability, which aims to make ballot initiatives harder to pass, is being bankrolled by Illinois billionaire Richard Uihlein.
When Ohio voters go to the polls in August for a special election to decide on the threshold needed to pass a constitutional referendum, they will be voting on whether to weaken direct democracy in their own state—but the push to do so is coming in large part from a Florida-based right-wing group whose biggest donor is Illinois billionaire Richard Uihlein.
As The Guardian reported Thursday, the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) originally focused its efforts on influencing state policy but in recent months has testified, issued legal memos, and posted on social media about proposals in a number of states to raise the threshold needed to amend state constitutions by referendum."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/billionaire-funding-attack-democracy
-->Why doesn't our mainstream media, including the NYT, report on Billionaires trying to tear down our democratic rights? Is it because the interests of the very rich always come out on top when it comes to reporting the news?
"Public health groups are suing the US Environmental Protection Agency over the reapproval of two toxic herbicides made with an active ingredient in Agent Orange, a chemical weapon deployed by the US to destroy vegetation in the Vietnam war, and which caused huge health problems among soldiers and Vietnamese residents.
The federal suit alleges the EPA’s science shows the human health risks and harm to endangered species associated with widely spreading the chemical on US cropland, but the agency failed to properly calculate those risks during the reapproval process. The herbicide is also prone to damaging non-GMO crops or vegetation on neighboring fields. ...
The chemical 2,4-D, is used in Enlist One and Enlist Duo, which are applied to fields with corn, soybeans and cotton genetically engineered to resist the herbicides. It is considered a likely carcinogen by the World Health Organization, and, among other human health effects, is linked to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, birth defects and respiratory problems."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/19/epa-herbicides-agent-orange-lawsuit
-->The NYT always gives the big chemical companies the benefit of the doubt, and true to form, the newspaper left this story out.
=====
Common Dreams:
"With the US besieged by a rightwing culture war campaign that aims to strip away rights from LGBTQ+ people and others, blame tends to be focused on Republican politicians and conservative media figures.
But lurking behind efforts to roll back abortion rights, to demonize trans people, and to peel back the protections afforded to gay and queer Americans is a shadowy, well-funded rightwing legal organization, experts say.
Since it was formed in 1994, Alliance Defending Freedom has been at the center of a nationwide effort to limit the rights of women and LGBTQ+ people, all in the name of Christianity. The Southern Poverty Law Center has termed it an 'anti-LGBTQ hate group' that has extended its tentacles into nearly every area of the culture wars."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/19/alliance-defending-freedom-lgbtq-rights-america
-->The NYT quoted the Alliance Defending Freedom group in an article about transgender people, but surprisingly left out any reference to the group's funding or record of engendering hate.
=====
Common Dreams:
"Billionaire-Funded Group Attacking Direct Democracy Across US. The Foundation for Government Accountability, which aims to make ballot initiatives harder to pass, is being bankrolled by Illinois billionaire Richard Uihlein.
When Ohio voters go to the polls in August for a special election to decide on the threshold needed to pass a constitutional referendum, they will be voting on whether to weaken direct democracy in their own state—but the push to do so is coming in large part from a Florida-based right-wing group whose biggest donor is Illinois billionaire Richard Uihlein.
As The Guardian reported Thursday, the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) originally focused its efforts on influencing state policy but in recent months has testified, issued legal memos, and posted on social media about proposals in a number of states to raise the threshold needed to amend state constitutions by referendum."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/billionaire-funding-attack-democracy
-->Why doesn't our mainstream media, including the NYT, report on Billionaires trying to tear down our democratic rights? Is it because the interests of the very rich always come out on top when it comes to reporting the news?
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