Jacobin:
"The Proud Boys’ Conviction Is Big News. Their Role as FBI Informants, Not So Much.
Almost none of the reports about Thursday’s conviction of four Proud Boys members mentioned the fact that the far-right group was riddled with FBI informants. But this kind of law enforcement collusion with the far right is a profound threat to democracy.
The news that four members of the far-right organization the Proud Boys were just convicted for seditious conspiracy, including their former leader Enrique Tarrio, has made the rounds this week. But if you only tuned in to the proceedings a few days ago to read about the verdict, there’s something you almost certainly haven’t heard: that both Tarrio and as many as eight other Proud Boys were secretly FBI informants, in part helping law enforcement to target Black Lives Matter protesters and other left-wing activists.
That’s because, after a non-exhaustive survey of reports covering the verdict, I discovered that only two news outlets, the Associated Press (AP) and the Washington Post, mentioned that government informants were present within the Proud Boys’ ranks, even though this fact was among the most shocking revelations that came out in the course of the trial."
https://jacobin.com/2023/05/proud-boys-conviction-far-right-fbi-law-enforcement-informants?mc_cid=8364e240d3&mc_eid=487355f8cb
-->The FBI is usually given a pass by our media, no matter what they do. This is just one example. Arrest of Chairman Yeshitela, and the African People's Socialist Party is another. The group has been accused of "spreading Russian Propaganda." Why isn't that newsworthy?
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Common Dreams:
"Texas GOP's Top Anti-Groomer Crusader Resigns Over Sexual Misconduct With Teenage Aide. The lawmaker was facing an expulsion hearing after an internal investigation found he had furnished a 19-year-old staffer with alcohol and later tried to intimidate her into silence about what transpired and their relationship.
Republican State Rep. Bryan Slaton of Texas resigned his seat Monday in order to avoid a public expulsion hearing after an investigation determined one of the party's loudest voices promoting the baseless threat of "groomers" in the LGBTQ+ community had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 19-year-old member of his staff that included furnishing her with alcohol. ...
The Tribune detailed how the committee's investigative report also 'alleged that after Slaton and the woman had unprotected sex in the early hours of April 1, Slaton drove her home, and she later went to a drugstore to purchase Plan B medication to prevent a pregnancy. Slaton, a staunch abortion opponent, later tried to intimidate the woman and her friends into not speaking about the incident, the report said.' "
https://www.commondreams.org/news/texas-gop-bryan-slaton-resigns
-->Each month, Fantasy Land Media will publish The George Orwell Doublespeak Award. Rep Slaton will be in the running this month for sure. In the meantime, why didn't the NYT publish this story?
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Common Dreams:
"A newly published assessment from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warns that three of the most commonly used neonicotinoid insecticides threaten the continued existence of more than 200 endangered plant and animal species.
'The EPA's analysis shows we've got a five-alarm fire on our hands, and there's now no question that neonicotinoids play an outsized role in our heartbreaking extinction crisis,' Lori Ann Burd, environmental health director at the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), said Friday in a statement.
"The Proud Boys’ Conviction Is Big News. Their Role as FBI Informants, Not So Much.
Almost none of the reports about Thursday’s conviction of four Proud Boys members mentioned the fact that the far-right group was riddled with FBI informants. But this kind of law enforcement collusion with the far right is a profound threat to democracy.
The news that four members of the far-right organization the Proud Boys were just convicted for seditious conspiracy, including their former leader Enrique Tarrio, has made the rounds this week. But if you only tuned in to the proceedings a few days ago to read about the verdict, there’s something you almost certainly haven’t heard: that both Tarrio and as many as eight other Proud Boys were secretly FBI informants, in part helping law enforcement to target Black Lives Matter protesters and other left-wing activists.
That’s because, after a non-exhaustive survey of reports covering the verdict, I discovered that only two news outlets, the Associated Press (AP) and the Washington Post, mentioned that government informants were present within the Proud Boys’ ranks, even though this fact was among the most shocking revelations that came out in the course of the trial."
https://jacobin.com/2023/05/proud-boys-conviction-far-right-fbi-law-enforcement-informants?mc_cid=8364e240d3&mc_eid=487355f8cb
-->The FBI is usually given a pass by our media, no matter what they do. This is just one example. Arrest of Chairman Yeshitela, and the African People's Socialist Party is another. The group has been accused of "spreading Russian Propaganda." Why isn't that newsworthy?
=====
Common Dreams:
"Texas GOP's Top Anti-Groomer Crusader Resigns Over Sexual Misconduct With Teenage Aide. The lawmaker was facing an expulsion hearing after an internal investigation found he had furnished a 19-year-old staffer with alcohol and later tried to intimidate her into silence about what transpired and their relationship.
Republican State Rep. Bryan Slaton of Texas resigned his seat Monday in order to avoid a public expulsion hearing after an investigation determined one of the party's loudest voices promoting the baseless threat of "groomers" in the LGBTQ+ community had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 19-year-old member of his staff that included furnishing her with alcohol. ...
The Tribune detailed how the committee's investigative report also 'alleged that after Slaton and the woman had unprotected sex in the early hours of April 1, Slaton drove her home, and she later went to a drugstore to purchase Plan B medication to prevent a pregnancy. Slaton, a staunch abortion opponent, later tried to intimidate the woman and her friends into not speaking about the incident, the report said.' "
https://www.commondreams.org/news/texas-gop-bryan-slaton-resigns
-->Each month, Fantasy Land Media will publish The George Orwell Doublespeak Award. Rep Slaton will be in the running this month for sure. In the meantime, why didn't the NYT publish this story?
=====
Common Dreams:
"A newly published assessment from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warns that three of the most commonly used neonicotinoid insecticides threaten the continued existence of more than 200 endangered plant and animal species.
'The EPA's analysis shows we've got a five-alarm fire on our hands, and there's now no question that neonicotinoids play an outsized role in our heartbreaking extinction crisis,' Lori Ann Burd, environmental health director at the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), said Friday in a statement.
'The EPA has to use the authority it has to take fast action to ban these pesticides,' said Burd, 'so future generations don't live in a world without bees and butterflies and the plants that depend on them.' "
https://www.commondreams.org/news/us-epa-neonicotinoids-extinction-crisis
-->The NYT never covers stories about insecticides. I wonder if they have a board member who is also on Monsanto's board of directors. Not that the story got much play in the rest of our media. Bloomberg's story sides with the chemical companies, with an article entitled: "EU Sugar Crop at Risk After Ruling Against Pesticide Exemptions."
