tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-343096522024-03-13T20:53:50.057-04:00Fantasyland MediaEach week, we cover the stories that are just left out of the<br>US propaganda machine. News that the people in charge, the <br>corporations and your government, want kept from the public eye.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger775125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-86957927189962034952024-03-13T20:53:00.001-04:002024-03-13T20:53:13.065-04:00<p>Reuters:<br />"The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said some employees released into Gaza from Israeli detention reported having been pressured by Israeli authorities into falsely stating that the agency has Hamas links and that staff took part in the Oct. 7 attacks. ...<br /><br />The document said several UNRWA Palestinian staffers had been detained by the Israeli army, and added that the ill-treatment and abuse they said they had experienced included severe physical beatings, waterboarding, and threats of harm to family members.<br /><br />'Agency staff members have been subject to threats and coercion by the Israeli authorities while in detention, and pressured to make false statements against the Agency, including that the Agency has affiliations with Hamas and that UNRWA staff members took part in the 7 October 2023 atrocities,' the report says."<br /><a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/unrwa-report-says-israel-coerced-some-agency-employees-falsely-admit-hamas-links-2024-03-08/">https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/unrwa-report-says-israel-coerced-some-agency-employees-falsely-admit-hamas-links-2024-03-08/</a><br /><br />-->Could it be that UNRWA staff did not participate in the Hamas attack, and that they were tortured into making those statements? Can the world believe anything that Israel has said? Believing is easier if one only reads the NYT. Our newspaper of record didn't cover this story.<br /><br />=====<br /><br />The Intercept:<br />"Two of the three victims specifically singled out by the New York Times in a marquee exposé published in December, which alleged that Hamas had deliberately weaponized sexual violence during the October 7 attacks, were not in fact victims of sexual assault, according to the spokesperson for the Kibbutz Be’eri, which the Times identified as the location of the attack.<br /><br />The rejection of the Times reporting in the kibbutz by Be’eri spokesperson Michal Paikin further undermines the credibility of the paper’s controversial December article 'Screams Without Words: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct. 7.'<br /><br />The Times article described three alleged victims of sexual assault for whom it reported specific biographical information. One, known as the “woman in the black dress,” was Gal Abdush. Some of her family members have contested the claims made by the Times. The other two alleged victims were unnamed teenage sisters from Kibbutz Be’eri whose precise ages were listed in the New York Times, making it possible to identify them. ...<br /><br />When asked about the claims made by the New York Times, Paikin independently raised their name. 'You’re talking about the Sharabi girls?” she said. “No, they just — they were shot. I’m saying ‘just,’ but they were shot and were not subjected to sexual abuse.' ”<br /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/03/04/nyt-october-7-sexual-violence-kibbutz-beeri/">https://theintercept.com/2024/03/04/nyt-october-7-sexual-violence-kibbutz-beeri/</a><br /><br />-->More lies from our nation's premier newspaper. The NYT is still Israel's mouthpiece in the US.<br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"Flanked by photos of hungry children and destroyed buildings, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders said in a speech Wednesday that the Biden administration must stop merely asking the Israeli government to halt its indiscriminate bombing of Gaza and begin using real leverage to bring about an end to the war and ensure the free flow of aid to the territory's starving population. <br />'The U.S. government should make it clear that failure to open up access immediately and feed starving people will result in the Netanyahu government not getting another penny of U.S. taxpayer military aid,' said Sanders (I-Vt.), who noted that 'right now we have the incredible situation where a U.S. ally is using U.S. weapons and equipment to block the delivery of U.S. humanitarian aid. And if that's not crazy,' the senator added, 'I don't know what is.' ...<br /><br />Sanders argued that ending the war and addressing the humanitarian emergency would require the Biden administration and Congress to 'use the incredible leverage we have over the Israeli government to secure a fundamental change in their disastrous policies. ... Of course we have the leverage,' Sanders said. 'We are funding the war.' " <br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/sanders-gaza-leverage">https://www.commondreams.org/news/sanders-gaza-leverage</a><br /><br />-->Of course, the NYT is uninterested in printing Senator Sanders' speech. And the major news outlets followed suit. Pressuring Israel is just off the table for our mainstream media, our Congress and President Biden. This genocide in Gaza is stamped with "Made in America."<br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-56483278280459349122024-03-06T23:15:00.000-05:002024-03-06T23:15:06.579-05:00Democracy Now:<br />"New York Times Exposé Lacks Evidence to Claim Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence Oct. 7. ...[In] early December, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government really began an intense propaganda campaign to convince the world that Hamas had engaged in a systematic campaign of rape aimed at Jewish women and girls. And then they launched this fake criticism of feminist organizations, saying that they had all systematically failed to stand up and denounce this systematic rape regime that had been intentionally implemented by Hamas in the October 7th attacks. And on the day that Netanyahu made his most prominent statement about this, President Biden was at a fundraising event in Boston, and he issued — he made a statement at his speech that echoed what Netanyahu said, and said the world, you know, can’t turn away and ignore this. ...<br /><br />So, The New York Times, they can’t find anyone who works in the rape crisis centers, at the hospitals, among therapists, that are coming forward and saying, 'Yeah, we saw this,' or 'We have documentation of this,' so they go to people who already were known to have promoted false information, and then they start relying on their testimony to paint this tapestry, this notion that there was a systematic rape regime. And in the New York Times article, they do not ever disclose that their key witnesses have serious credibility problems. So, this is, at a minimum, we are looking at a New York Times piece that failed to inform its readers about severe credibility issues among some of its premier 'witnesses,' quote-unquote, that it put forward in this story. ...<br /><br />My question is: Where are the corrections in The New York Times piece? The New York Times has grave, grave mischaracterizations, sins of omission, reliance on people who have no forensic or criminology credentials to be asserting that there was a systematic rape campaign put in place here." <br />[Jeremy Scahill from The Intercept] <br /><a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2024/3/1/nyt_anat_schwartz">https://www.democracynow.org/2024/3/1/nyt_anat_schwartz<br /></a><br />-->This story is so similar to what the NYT did right before the US invasion of Iraq. The newspaper brought in unreliable and obviously biased reporters to say what the Pentagon wanted to hear. When push comes to shove, The NYT is always the empire's mouthpiece. And I say, lets bring back Judith Miller and some of her yellow cake uranium!<br /><br />=====<br /><br />The Guardian UK:<br />"The US and UK have been accused by university researchers of obstructing a United Nations inquiry into the 1961 plane crash that killed the UN secretary general Dag Hammarskjöld. A conference in London heard an update from the UN assistant secretary general for legal affairs, Stephen Mathias, on progress in the inquiry, which is seeking archive documentation from member states.<br /><br />The participants said the US and UK had been dragging their feet in handing over potentially vital information. Hammarskjöld, a Swede, died on 18 September 1961 on the way to negotiate a ceasefire between UN peacekeepers in the Congo and separatists from the breakaway Congolese region of Katanga. ...<br /><br />Susan Williams, a researcher whose 2011 book Who Killed Hammarskjöld contributed to the reopening of the UN inquiry, said the US and UK were 'global outliers. ...The most recent general assembly resolution to renew the investigation was co-sponsored by 142 UN member states out of 193 – but not by the US and the UK,' Williams said."<br /><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/01/uk-us-obstructing-inquiry-death-united-nations-dag-hammarskjold">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/01/uk-us-obstructing-inquiry-death-united-nations-dag-hammarskjold</a><br /><br />-->Could it be that the US and UK were involved in killing a UN secretary general? But the NYT didn't cover this story. Again the empire's mouthpiece.<br /><br />=====<br /><br />Counterpunch:<br />"A little while back, I challenged a group of graduate students to find one article in the New York Times written in the last five years that had anything favorable to say about Russia. Their extensive research turned up one article published in 2021 that described the beneficial effects of global warming on cold countries. The piece was entitled, 'How Russia Cashes In On Climate Change.' Other than that, the newspaper’s sizeable cadre of Russia specialists reported virtually nothing about Europe’s most populous nation other than stories picturing Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation as scheming plotters, corrupt and incompetent rulers, meddlers in other nations’ elections, brutal oppressors of their own people, and aggressive expansionists threatening everyone else’s independence and freedom.<br /><br />One does not have to be an admirer of Mr. Putin or his right-wing regime to consider this coverage so unbalanced and Russophobic as to amount to a form of warmongering. ...<br /><br />At times like this, one can only hope that a few sane leaders supported by a public tired of inflammatory rhetoric and needless killing will call a halt to jingoist assumptions of our own side’s essential innocence and the other side’s essential aggressivity. That these assumptions generate billions of dollars in profits for military-industrial corporations does not make them easy to extirpate. Even so, we can demand that journalists who ought to know better stop peddling these lies and exaggerations – and a growing number of clear-eyed citizens will say, 'Amen!' ”<br /><a href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/02/29/more-anti-russian-hysteria-from-the-new-york-times/">https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/02/29/more-anti-russian-hysteria-from-the-new-york-times/</a><br /><br />-->Well, we would like to see an end to the warmongering of the NYT. The same is true of other "enemies of the state" like Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Iran. We the people want news, not propaganda. <br /><br /><br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-80509040696855371482024-02-28T09:26:00.002-05:002024-02-28T09:26:31.251-05:00The Intercept:<br />"Long before 9/11, Zionist groups like the Anti-Defamation League lobbied for counter terror legislation that singled out Palestinians, a new report reveals.<br />Last October, as protests against Israel’s war on Gaza swept U.S. campuses, two prominent pro-Israel groups wrote to nearly 200 university and college administrators urging them to investigate their students for possibly violating federal law by promoting pro-Hamas, anti-Israel messaging.<br /><br />The Anti-Defamation League, or ADL, and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law suggested that members of Students for Justice in Palestine, the largest Palestine solidarity campus organization in the country, may have been violating a law that prohibits people from providing 'material support' — a broad category that includes money as well as services or other assistance — to U.S.-designated terror groups. 'We certainly cannot sit idly by as a student organization provides vocal and potentially material support to Hamas, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization,' the ADL and the Brandeis Center wrote.<br /><br />There is no evidence SJP has ever provided material support to Hamas, and the letter prompted widespread condemnation. The American Civil Liberties Union called on leaders in higher education to 'reject baseless calls to investigate or punish student groups for exercising their free speech rights.' "<br /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/02/21/adl-palestine-terrorism-legislation/">https://theintercept.com/2024/02/21/adl-palestine-terrorism-legislation/</a><br /><br />-->Maybe the NYT will be covering this story, but it hasn't yet. Will our newspaper of record expose the Anti-Defamation League as a danger to free speech, as it most certainly is? <br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"The New York Civil Liberties Union revealed Friday that it warned Columbia University of plans to take legal action if two suspended student groups opposed to Israel's genocidal war on the Gaza Strip aren't reinstated by March 1. <br /><br />Amid a crackdown on criticism of Israel at educational institutions nationwide, Columbia leadership in November bypassed existing procedures for campus organizations and unilaterally suspended the university's chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) for an 'unauthorized' protest of the war. <br /><br />'Universities should be havens for robust debate, discussion, and learning—not sites of censorship where administrators, donors, and politicians squash political discourse they don't approve of,' NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman said in a statement. 'These student groups were peacefully speaking out on a critical global conflict, only to have Columbia University ignore their own long-standing, existing rules and abruptly suspend the organizations,' she continued. 'That's retaliatory, it's targeted, and it flies in the face of the free speech principles that institutes of higher learning should be defending. Students protesting at private colleges still have the right to fair, equal treatment—and we are ready to fight that battle in court.' " <br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/columbia-university-suspends-student-groups">https://www.commondreams.org/news/columbia-university-suspends-student-groups</a><br /><br />-->Is Columbia University illegally restricting freedom of speech on campus? But why isn't this story being covered in the NYT? You have the Civil Liberties Union preparing to sue a major university. Isn't that newsworthy?<br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"Lawsuit Accuses German Leaders of Complicity in Gaza Genocide. 'This lawsuit sends a clear message to German officials: You cannot continue to remain accomplices of such crime without consequences.' ... <br /><br />The criminal complaint, filed Thursday with federal prosecutors in Karlsruhe in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, accuses Scholz, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, and Economy Minister Robert Habeck of 'complicity in the genocide in Gaza' by approving the export of approximately $350 million worth of military aid to Israel. <br /><br />The suit also lists the German government's diplomatic support for Israel and its suspension of payments to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East—even as Israeli forces have killed and maimed over 100,000 Palestinians, forcibly displaced around 90% of the besieged strip's 2.3 million people, obliterated the territory's infrastructure, and pushed hundreds of thousands of Gazans to the brink of starvation."<br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/gaza-genocide-2667351559">https://www.commondreams.org/news/gaza-genocide-2667351559</a><br /><br />-->This story is so important because it details the responsibility of states in enabling the genocide in Gaza. Well, the Republic of Germany certainly is responsible, with $350 million worth of military aid sold to Israel. Maybe the story is a bit too inclusive; will the people of the world start thinking along these lines about the United States, the real enabler of this slaughter of the Palestinians? So far, however, no coverage by the NYT.<br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-27780534547534154762024-02-21T22:51:00.004-05:002024-02-21T22:51:36.249-05:00<p>The NYT:<br />"A Tunnel Offers Clues to How Hamas Uses Gaza’s Hospitals."<br /><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/02/12/world/middleeast/gaza-tunnel-israel-hamas.html">https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/02/12/world/middleeast/gaza-tunnel-israel-hamas.html</a><br /><br />-->That's the NYT headline. It would seem that Hamas was using tunnels under hospitals, and the article is about just how they did it. What evidence is there you might ask? "Classified Israeli intelligence documents, obtained and reviewed by The Times, indicate that the tunnel is at least 700 feet long." Later, the NYT is not so sure: "The Israeli military, however, has struggled to prove that Hamas maintained a command-and-control center under the facility. Critics of the Israeli military say the evidence does not support its early claims."<br /><br />The article goes on to present more supposed evidence. "the Israeli military showed a video on Nov. 5 of what it said was the entrance to 'a tunnel that was being used for terror infrastructures' on the hospital’s grounds. But the video appears to show something else: a water storage area built in 2016, when the hospital was constructed, according to engineering plans and images from the hospital’s construction reviewed by The Times."<br /><br />So what evidence do we really have in this story, besides Israeli secret documents, some of them reviewed by the NYT and American officials? Is an army committing genocide really to be trusted? Instead of "A tunnel offers clues," the article's title should read "Israeli intelligence claims tunnels under hospitals were used by Hamas." This is a good example of news being twisted to support Israel. The title on the front page is misleading, but one has to read the whole article to recognize the scam. <br /><br />=====<br /><br />Counterpunch:<br />"[Lets] examine how donor nations responded to a sister UN organization, the Peacekeeping force, when staff faced accusations of misconduct. In 2021, the UN Secretary-General concluded that it was credible that 450 members of the Peacekeeping force in Gabon were guilty of child rape and sexual exploitation. Unlike UNRWA, however, the US and other donors did not suspend funding to the UN agency when reports of sexual abuse emerged, more importantly, they continued the funding even after the allegations were verified. ...<br /><br />Yet, immediately after Israel raised, yet to be verified, allegations against a very few of UNRWA staff, Canada and other donors preempted any investigation and froze funding to an organization that currently provides vital humanitarian assistance to a population enduring siege and relentless bombing. ...<br /><br />[The] incongruent response to the two UN Agencies reveals that Western virtue is gaged by the identity of the victim and victimizer. In response to the more than 2000 allegations of sexual abuse, the accusers were from Africa and Haiti. In the second case, the unverified allegations against the 12 individuals came from Israel. The disparity in the two UN cases is a stark illustration of the evident Western bias, and how it’s driven by the victims/victimizers’ racial characteristics rather than a commitment to genuine fairness."<br /><a href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/02/14/defunding-unrwa-the-last-phase-of-israeli-genocide/">https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/02/14/defunding-unrwa-the-last-phase-of-israeli-genocide/</a><br /><br />-->What Western media would dare expose the racist response of much of the white, Christian world? Children are dying of starvation in Gaza. But they are only Muslim; so let's not worry about them.<br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"Israel Defense Forces officers brought Israeli civilians into detention centers and allowed them to watch and film Palestinian prisoners being tortured, according to survivor testimonies published this week by the Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor. <br /><br />Prisoners held at detention centers in Zikim on the northern border of the Gaza Strip and at a site in southern Israel affiliated with Naqab Prison 'told Euro-Med Monitor that the Israeli soldiers had purposefully presented them before Israeli civilians, falsely claiming that they were fighters affiliated with Palestinian armed factions and that they had taken part in the October 7 attack on Israeli towns,' the group said. <br /><br />The former detainees said groups of 10-20 Israeli civilians were brought in and allowed to record torture sessions in which the men, stripped nearly naked, were beaten with metal batons, electrocuted, and had hot water poured over their heads. The ex-prisoners said some of the Israelis laughed while filming their torture."<br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/gaza-torture">https://www.commondreams.org/news/gaza-torture</a><br /><br />-->Needless to say, this story was not picked up by any US media. It is just too much for our citizens to see. After all, stories like this indicate that the US is aiding and abetting a genocide. <br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-82071142229734214672024-02-14T23:39:00.002-05:002024-02-14T23:39:48.638-05:00<p>The Guardian:<br />"Food shipment for 1.1 million Palestinians stuck at port due to restrictions from Israeli authorities, says UNRWA<br /><br />A food shipment for 1.1 million Palestinians is stuck at an Israeli port due to recent restrictions from Israeli authorities, says the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) as an estimated 25% of families in Gaza face catastrophic hunger.<br /><br />The Associated Press (AP) report that UNRWA’s director, Philippe Lazzarini, said on Friday that a convoy of food donated by Turkey had been sitting for weeks in the Israeli port city of Ashdod. The agency said that the Israeli contractor they work with received a call from Israeli customs authorities 'ordering them not to process any UNRWA goods'."<br /><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/feb/10/middle-east-crisis-israel-gaza-war-hamas-rafah-latest-news">https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/feb/10/middle-east-crisis-israel-gaza-war-hamas-rafah-latest-news</a><br /><br />-->Last week, the NYT covered a story about food aid being stopped in Northern Gaza. Nothing so far about the million starving people huddled at the Southern boarder with no place to go. All the news that the Israel Lobby sees fit to print.<br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"The Minneapolis City Council voted on Thursday to override Mayor Jacob Frey's veto of what advocates say is one of the strongest cease-fire resolutions in the country. <br /><br />The measure, which first passed 9-3 on January 25, with one abstention, calls for a cease-fire in Gaza, an end to U.S. military aid for Israel, the release of the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, and the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners held indefinitely in Israel. The motion to override the veto also passed by nine votes. ...<br /><br />With this override, Minneapolis becomes the latest U.S. city to call for a cease-fire, joining at least 60 other localities including San Francisco; Oakland; Atlanta; Seattle; Detroit; Dearborn, Michigan; Albany, New York; Akron, Ohio; and Providence, Rhode Island. Chicago became the largest U.S. city to pass a cease-fire resolution on January 31."<br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/minneapolis-cease-fire-veto">https://www.commondreams.org/news/minneapolis-cease-fire-veto</a><br /><br />-->The NYT seems blind to this growing effort to have local governments pass ceasefire resolutions. It didn't print this story.<br /><br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"Around 100 Jewish American and allied activists were arrested in New York City Wednesday after they blocked President Joe Biden's motorcade route to protest U.S. complicity in Israel's genocidal war against the Palestinian people and to demand an immediate Gaza cease-fire. <br /><br />The group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) led the Upper East Side demonstration, during which activists sat down in the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, where the president was attending a nearby fundraiser. <br />'As Jewish New Yorkers we want to make crystal clear that President Biden is not welcome in our city while he continues to fund and arm the Israeli government's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,' said JVP's Jay Saper." <br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/jewish-protest-cease-fire">https://www.commondreams.org/news/jewish-protest-cease-fire</a><br /><br />-->Amazing that the NYT didn't cover this story. How often does a presidential motorcade get blocked? Isn't that newsworthy? Or how about the story that the blockers were none other than Jewish Voice for Peace activists? Not reporting news like this is indicative of how our major media is still under the sway of the pro-genocide lobby. <br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-5295528734669380322024-02-07T09:04:00.002-05:002024-02-07T09:04:20.782-05:00<div style="text-align: left;">Mondoweiss:<br />"The British Guardian has just published an extraordinary, thorough confirmation of what we already suspected — that CNN’s bias about reporting Israel’s war on Gaza is no accident, but a conscious and complex policy directed from the very top of the network. ... CNN is facing a backlash from its own staff over editorial policies they say have led to a regurgitation of Israeli propaganda and the censoring of Palestinian perspectives in the network’s coverage of the war in Gaza. You get the impression that CNN spends just as much time distorting the news as it does actually gathering it. Here’s a quick summary:<br /><br />'Daily news decisions are set by a flow of directives from the CNN headquarters in Atlanta that have set strict guidelines on coverage. They include tight restrictions on quoting Hamas and reporting other Palestinian perspectives while Israel government statements are taken at face value. ... In addition, every story on the conflict must be cleared by the Jerusalem bureau before broadcast or publication.'<br /><br />This is exactly how authoritarian regimes control their news output. [CNN insiders reported] that the network’s bias 'resulted, particularly in the early weeks of the war, in a greater focus on Israeli suffering and the Israeli narrative of the war as a hunt for Hamas and its tunnels, and an insufficient focus on the scale of Palestinian civilian deaths and destruction in Gaza.' "<br /><a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2024/02/the-guardian-exposes-how-cnn-slants-the-gaza-news/">https://mondoweiss.net/2024/02/the-guardian-exposes-how-cnn-slants-the-gaza-news/</a><br /><br />-->Do you still believe that our media does a good job in reporting the news from Palestine? This Guardian story wasn't covered in the NYT, or in any other major news source in the US. The Zionists simply own much of our national media.<br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"The nation's leading newspapers were under fire this weekend after publishing opinion pieces seen as 'Bigoted,' 'Islamophobic,' 'Racist,' and 'Reckless.' A Wall Street Journal opinion piece published on Friday afternoon read 'Welcome to Dearborn, America's Jihad Capital.' And on Saturday, The New York Times published a piece by long-time columnist Thomas Friedman titled 'Understanding the Middle East Through the Animal Kingdom.' <br /><br />The Islamaphobic article was written by Steven Stalinsky, who is a commentator 'on terrorism' and has served as executive director of the pro-Israel Middle East Media Research Institute based in Washington, DC. ...<br /><br />Friedman's piece in the New York Times entitled, 'Understanding the Middle East Through the Animal Kingdom,' posited Iran as a metaphorical 'parasitoid wasp' with proxies in Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria as caterpillars. Friedman claimed, 'We have no counter strategy that safely and efficiently kills the wasp without setting fire to the whole jungle,' suggesting that the US militarily destroys the entire Middle East to annihilate Iran and its allies. He concluded that he could 'contemplate' the Middle East by watching Animal Planet." <br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/outrage-over-bigotry-islamophobia-in-wall-street-journal-new-york-times">https://www.commondreams.org/news/outrage-over-bigotry-islamophobia-in-wall-street-journal-new-york-times</a><br /><br />-->Our major newspapers are not afraid to print bigoted and hateful opinions, maybe because these same ideas are held by our ruling class of warmongers and racists. <br /><br />=====<br /><br />Truthout:<br />"calling on the United States to 'end its complicity in the nightmare unfolding in Gaza,' U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday said he would introduce an amendment to remove more than $10 billion from the foreign aid supplemental requested by President Joe Biden.<br /><br />The $10.1 billion has been proposed to pay for offensive weaponry funding for the Israeli government, which has killed at least 27,131 Palestinians in Gaza so far—including at least 11,500 children—and displaced 1.9 million.<br /><br />'Twenty-seven thousand dead—two-thirds of them women and children,' said the Vermont Independent. 'Sixty-seven thousand wounded… 70% of housing units damaged or destroyed. And now, hundreds of thousands of children facing starvation.' ”<br /><a href="https://truthout.org/articles/sanders-moves-to-block-funding-for-israeli-weapons-as-aid-bill-looms/">https://truthout.org/articles/sanders-moves-to-block-funding-for-israeli-weapons-as-aid-bill-looms/</a><br /><br />-->Our supposed "newspaper of record" didn't even cover this story. The NYT was busy promoting racists and warmongers like Thomas Freedman. <br /><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-17985554780710124612024-01-31T18:59:00.002-05:002024-01-31T18:59:17.733-05:00<p>Guardian UK:<br />"The Gaza Strip is facing 'inevitable famine' because of the decision by western countries to pause funding for the UN’s agency for Palestinian affairs after Israeli accusations that 12 of the group’s employees took part in the Hamas attack on 7 October last year.<br /><br />Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, said on Sunday 'famine was imminent' and now 'inevitable', in a comment following the news that the US and nine other countries were suspending additional funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). 'This collectively punishes over 2.2 million Palestinians,' he said. ...<br /><br />Israel has not publicly shared the details of its allegations against the UNRWA employees, which according to the Axios website were provided by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and internal security service, the Shin Bet."<br /><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/28/famine-in-gaza-is-being-made-inevitable-says-un-rapporteur">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/28/famine-in-gaza-is-being-made-inevitable-says-un-rapporteur</a><br /><br />-->Israel and the US is willing to starve hundreds of thousand, with no proof yet that the UN agency was involved in the Hamas attack. The racism is staggering. Maybe that is why this story got so little coverage in the US.<br /><br />=====<br /><br />The Hill:<br />"The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Sunday condemned Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for linking pro-Palestinian protesters to Russia during a CNN interview in which she also indicated she wants the FBI to investigate any potential financial links.<br /><br />Pelosi suggested on CNN’s 'State of the Union' that some pro-Palestinian protesters who are calling for a cease-fire in Gaza are spreading a message that is beneficial to Russian President Vladimir Putin. ... <br /><br />When co-anchor Dana Bash asked Pelosi whether she thought some of the protesters were 'Russian plants,' Pelosi responded: 'I don’t think they’re plants. I think some financing should be investigated. And I want to ask the FBI to investigate that.'<br /><a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4434319-pelosi-pro-palestinian-protesters-russia/">https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4434319-pelosi-pro-palestinian-protesters-russia/</a><br /><br />-->This story got plenty of coverage in the US media. Very few stores, however, condemned this baseless charge. Or even referred to the huge bribes she has taken from the Israel Lobby for her pro Israel stances ($606,698 in all according to Open Secrets).<br /><br />=====<br /><br />The Intercept:<br />"In a momentous day for the quest to keep Israel and its allies accountable for its brutal war on Gaza, members of leading Palestinian human rights groups, residents of Gaza, and Palestinian Americans argued in a U.S. District Court on Friday that the Biden administration should halt its financial and military support for Israel and uphold its obligations to prevent genocide.<br /><br />The arguments came in a lawsuit that the Center for Constitutional Rights, or CCR, filed in November against President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, charging them with complicity and failure to prevent the 'unfolding genocide' in the occupied strip. Testifying either in person at the Oakland, California, courthouse or remotely from Palestine, the plaintiffs spoke for nearly three hours about the deliberate devastation wrought by Israel in the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attacks. <br /><br />The hearing commenced hours after the International Court of Justice in The Hague found that it’s plausible that Israel has committed acts of genocide in Gaza, in a case brought by South Africa. While the United Nations court fell short of ordering an immediate ceasefire, a panel of judges delivered a historic set of rulings and denied Israel’s request to dismiss the case. A final resolution in that case is expected to take years."<br /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/01/26/palestinians-biden-genocide-lawsuit-ccr/">https://theintercept.com/2024/01/26/palestinians-biden-genocide-lawsuit-ccr/</a><br /><br />-->This is not a popular story in the US. I think it's because the US now fears being linked to the horrendous genocide in Gaza. And our empire couldn't be much more involved. We send the weapons, we send the money, and we protect Israel at the UN. We are in a position to see the worst holocaust of our century. Look in the mirror and you will see the mark of Cain.<br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-16606783188311643012024-01-24T21:12:00.001-05:002024-01-24T21:12:24.589-05:00<div style="text-align: left;">Mondoweiss:<br />"Don’t believe Haaretz and the NYT. Israeli society fully supports the Gaza genocide.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Haaretz and the New York Times are peddling fantasies about how genocidal incitement in Israel is only coming from an extremist fringe. But evidence shows there is near universal support across Israeli society for the genocide in Gaza.<br /><br />An editorial in Haaretz last week, as well as a piece by the New York Times’s Michelle Goldberg a few days later, told a similar story. Both articles portrayed genocidal statements by Israeli leaders, and both articles explained them as an expression of far-right extremism. Haaretz seems to suggest that the solution (which would protect Israel at the International Court of Justice) would be for Netanyahu to fire his extremist ministers. Goldberg’s article takes it even further, suggesting that Netanyahu is also part of the problem. <br /><br />However, there’s a story that is not being fully told in these two main liberal outlets. Both ignore the evidence and the polling that show near universal Israeli support for the unfolding genocide in Gaza — both from the Israeli political class and the vast majority of the Israeli population."<br /><a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2024/01/dont-believe-haaretz-and-the-nyt-israeli-society-fully-supports-the-gaza-genocide/">https://mondoweiss.net/2024/01/dont-believe-haaretz-and-the-nyt-israeli-society-fully-supports-the-gaza-genocide/</a><br /><br />-->I wonder if the German people were wholeheartedly behind Hitler's extermination plans for Jews, Gypsies and gays? Its a topic that must be discussed, and not hidden away in supposedly liberal newspapers. Like the NYT and Haaretz.<br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"Gaza's children—already reeling from 102 days of U.S.-backed Israeli bombardment that has killed and maimed tens of thousands of them—are now dying of starvation, with adults likely to soon follow, as famine rapidly grips the besieged Palestinian enclave, doctors and United Nations officials said this week. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Hundreds of thousands of Gazans, half of whom are children, are starving as Israel's bombardment and siege have "brought famine with such incredible speed to the front of the lines," United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said during a Monday interview on CNN. <br />The Guardian reported Tuesday that doctors in Gaza say that newborn babies there are not lasting more than a few days because their undernourished mothers are unable to feed them. ...<br /><br />'Not only is Israel killing and causing irreparable harm against Palestinian civilians with its indiscriminate bombardments, it is also knowingly and intentionally imposing a high rate of disease, prolonged malnutrition, dehydration, and starvation by destroying civilian infrastructure,' the experts continued. <br /><br />Salwa Tibi, an aid worker and mother of four, told CNN her children are 'screaming all day from hunger.' "<br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/gaza-famine">https://www.commondreams.org/news/gaza-famine</a><br /><br />-->This weekend the NYT had a big story on Israeli women serving in the IDF. Very little on starving children. One day, our newspaper of record will pay for its pro-genocide reporting.<br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"OpenAI Cuts 'Military and Warfare' Ban From Permissible Use Policy <br /><br />Although the company's new policy stipulates that users should not harm human beings or 'develop or use weapons,' experts said the removal of the 'military and warfare' language leaves open the door for lucrative contracts with U.S. and other militaries. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />'Given the use of AI systems in the targeting of civilians in Gaza, it's a notable moment to make the decision to remove the words 'military and warfare' from OpenAI's permissible use policy,' Sarah Myers West, managing director of the AI Now Institute and a former AI policy analyst at the Federal Trade Commission, told The Intercept."<br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/openai">https://www.commondreams.org/news/openai</a><br /><br />-->AI has the brightest of futures, and now it can kill innocent, helpless civilians, without being bothered by military bans. The NYT didn't think this story was worth printing. All the news that the military industrial complex deems fit to print.<br /><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-44557568952951197062024-01-18T10:25:00.001-05:002024-01-18T10:26:17.451-05:00<p>The Guardian UK<br />"Thousands of marchers descended on Washington DC on Saturday to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and to protest US aid to Israel, more than three months into an Israeli offensive against Hamas that is killing 250 Palestinians per day, according to the Oxfam charity.<br /><br />The protest, called a march on Washington for Gaza, was promoted as likely to be the largest pro-Palestinian demonstration in the US since the 7 October attack on southern Israel by Hamas fighters ... Oxfam said the Israeli bombardment has displaced 1.8 million of the 2.3 million Palestinians living in Gaza and turned much of the besieged territory bordering Israel, the Mediterranean Sea and Egypt into rubble and dust.<br /><br />Saturday’s protest, organized by the American Muslim Task Force for Palestine and aligned groups, was organized to draw attention to what it calls Israel’s 'crimes against humanity' and articulates a position that the creation of a fully recognized Palestinian state is in US national interests.<br /><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/13/march-on-washington-ceasefire-gaza">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/13/march-on-washington-ceasefire-gaza</a><br /><br />-->But the NYT didn't print this story, or any story in fact, about one of the largest pro Palestinian demonstrations ever in this country (at least 400,000). But it is the hubris of the NYT that is on full display here. On Sunday, our "newspaper of record" headlined a story about those troublesome Indian courts, making people wait for years. On Monday, the headline was "how Netflix Reels in Viewers With Its Three-Word Hooks." Nothing about millions rising up against US supported genocide. It's simply the empire's newspaper. <br /><br />=====<br /><br />Jacobin:<br />"Less than a month before a catastrophic aircraft failure prompted the grounding of more than 150 of Boeing’s commercial aircraft, documents were filed in federal court alleging that former employees at the company’s subcontractor repeatedly warned corporate officials about safety problems and were told to falsify records.<br /><br />One of the employees at Spirit AeroSystems, which reportedly manufactured the door plug that blew out of an Alaska Airlines flight over Portland, Oregon, allegedly told company officials about an 'excessive amount of defects,' according to the federal complaint and corresponding internal corporate documents reviewed by us. <br />According to the court documents, the employee told a colleague that 'he believed it was just a matter of time until a major defect escaped to a customer.'<br /><br />The allegations come from a federal securities lawsuit accusing Spirit of deliberately covering up systematic quality-control problems, encouraging workers to undercount defects, and retaliating against those who raised safety concerns. Although the cause of the Boeing airplane’s failure is still unclear, some aviation experts say the allegations against Spirit are emblematic of how brand-name manufacturers’ practice of outsourcing aerospace construction has led to worrisome safety issues."<br /><a href="https://jacobin.com/2024/01/alaska-airlines-boeing-parts-malfunction-workers-spirit-aerosystems">https://jacobin.com/2024/01/alaska-airlines-boeing-parts-malfunction-workers-spirit-aerosystems</a><br /><br />-->Another missing story from the NYT. Along with its love of US militarism, the paper has always protected the empire's weapons makers. All the stories that the empire sees fit to print. <br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"Members of Congress who expressed more support for Israel during the first six weeks of its war on Gaza received $125,000 on average from pro-Israeli lobby groups and individuals during their last elections, The Guardian reported Wednesday. In contrast, lawmakers who expressed more pro-Palestinian views only received $18,000 on average from these groups. <br /><br />The Guardian analysis does not prove that legislators changed their views because they received donations; it is also the case that pro-Israel groups are more likely to fund campaigns run by people who express pro-Israel views. However, experts and advocates argue that the lobbying is one reason why around 82% of Congress was more supportive of Israel while only 9% was more supportive of Palestine. </p><p>'One of the main reasons most members of Congress don't represent the majority of Americans who want a cease-fire: The Israel lobby gave Congress $58 million last cycle; only 33 members didn't receive donations,' the group Justice Democrats posted in response to the analysis. 'This dark money poisons our democracy.' " <br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/u-s-lawmakers-money-gaza-war">https://www.commondreams.org/news/u-s-lawmakers-money-gaza-war</a><br /><br />-->Amazingly, no national media would touch this story. Exposing just how bought and sold our governing system has become, is just not considered good journalism. And most Americans think they have a free press!<br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-25145983247904346692024-01-10T19:25:00.005-05:002024-01-10T19:25:56.614-05:00The Intercept:<br />"Whether reporting from the Middle East, the United States, or anywhere else across the globe, every CNN journalist covering Israel and Palestine must submit their work for review by the news organization’s bureau in Jerusalem prior to publication, under a long-standing CNN policy. While CNN says the policy is meant to ensure accuracy in reporting on a polarizing subject, it means that much of the network’s recent coverage of the war in Gaza — and its reverberations around the world — has been shaped by journalists who operate under the shadow of the country’s military censor.<br /> <br />Like all foreign news organizations operating in Israel, CNN’s Jerusalem bureau is subject to the rules of the Israel Defense Forces’s censor, which dictates subjects that are off-limits for news organizations to cover, and censors articles it deems unfit or unsafe to print. As The Intercept reported last month, the military censor recently restricted eight subjects, including security cabinet meetings, information about hostages, and reporting on weapons captured by fighters in Gaza. In order to obtain a press pass in Israel, foreign reporters must sign a document agreeing to abide by the dictates of the censor.<br /><br />CNN’s practice of routing coverage through the Jerusalem bureau does not mean that the military censor directly reviews every story. Still, the policy stands in contrast to other major news outlets, which in the past have run sensitive stories through desks outside of Israel to avoid the pressure of the censor."<br /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/01/04/cnn-israel-gaza-idf-reporting/">https://theintercept.com/2024/01/04/cnn-israel-gaza-idf-reporting/</a><br /> <br />-->I wonder if the NYT sends its stories to this same Jerusalem Bureau? Someone from the NYT decided not to publish this story in our supposed "newspaper of record."<br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"The Israeli government has mounted a pressure campaign urging governments around the world to publicly denounce South Africa's genocide case at the International Court of Justice, which is set to convene hearings on the detailed charges on Thursday. <br /><br />According to a cable obtained by Axios, the Israeli Foreign Ministry is calling on the country's embassies to pressure host country diplomats and political leaders to swiftly issue an 'immediate and unequivocal statement along the following lines: To publicly and clearly state that YOUR COUNTRY rejects the outrage[ous], absurd, and baseless allegations made against Israel.' <br /><br />The cable warns that 'a ruling by the court could have significant potential implications that are not only in the legal world but have practical bilateral, multilateral, economic, security ramifications.' Israel is seeking to prevent an injunction ordering the country to suspend its attack on Gaza."<br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-south-africa-genocide">https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-south-africa-genocide</a><br /><br />-->No mention of this story in our mainstream media. Must be that miserable Jerusalem Bureau again.<br /><br />=====<br /><br />Haaretz:<br />"But what ordinary people with little control over any aspect of their lives should be forgiven for, powerful heads of state and decision makers shouldn't be. When Israeli President Isaac Herzog signed a mortar shell in a photo op with IDF soldiers on the border last month, he was saying – like Haaretz journalist Netta Ahituv pointed out – that 'revenge' is an official goal of the war.<br /><br />And when former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence – a representative of a country that has the power to use military and financial support to Israel to change the course of the war – signed a mortar while on a visit to the Lebanese border last week, he was sending a message of gleeful killing and uncritical thinking. Herzog, of course, thanked Pence for his 'unwavering commitment to Israel.' "<br /><a href="https://us18.campaign-archive.com/?e=e668db0354&u=d3bceadb340d6af4daf1de00d&id=f10985eb76">https://us18.campaign-archive.com/?e=e668db0354&u=d3bceadb340d6af4daf1de00d&id=f10985eb76</a><br /><br />-->So our former vice president is signing Israeli mortars bound for the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza. This action is so shameful that even the NYT refused to print a story about it. Our political elite, be they Republican or Democrat, have blood on their hands. The Israeli genocide is the United States' genocide. And we the people will be held accountable for these war crimes being committed in our name.<br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-70273796890095678002024-01-03T17:37:00.001-05:002024-01-03T17:37:16.881-05:00<p>Common Dreams:<br />"As a self-proclaimed observant, practicing Catholic, [Joe Biden], you have not only failed to heed Pope Francis' figurative encyclical regarding Gaza but are shipping billions of dollars of weapons into the arsenal of the Israeli government.<br /><br />We and many other organizations and peaceful protesters in our country have worked in vain to persuade President Joe Biden to use his influence to have the Israeli regime agree to a ceasefire that would allow hundreds of humanitarian aid trucks daily into the devastated graveyard that is now the Gaza Strip. Biden regularly begs Israel to let in more trucks, paid for by the U.S. At the same time the Biden administration exercises veto power on the U.N. Security Council blocking a cease-fire, truce, or negotiations toward a permanent two-state resolution. A cease-fire would at least allow aid to reach the besieged.<br /><br />According to Professor Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, '[U]nless something changes, the world faces the prospect of almost a quarter of Gaza’s 2 million population—close to half a million human beings' can die within a year. (See, The Guardian, December 29, 2023)."<br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/biden-genocide-gaza">https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/biden-genocide-gaza</a><br /><br />-->This article written by Ralph Nader and Bruce Fein goes well beyond our mainstream media in predicting a genocide in Gaza. Millions of people around the world fear this outcome. Why doesn't our media want to look ahead and predict what constant bombing, starvation, and loss of shelter will do to millions of displaced Palestinians. Is it because our media doesn't want to be responsible? And isn't that as hypocritical as Joe Biden talking about peace while sending Israel more bombs? <br /><br />=====<br /><br />Financial Times:<br />"The order books of the world’s biggest defence companies are near record highs after growing by more than 10 per cent in just two years because of rising geopolitical tension, including the conflict in Ukraine. An analysis by the Financial Times of 15 defence groups, including the largest US contractors, Britain’s BAE Systems and South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace, found that at the end of 2022 — the latest for which full-year data is available — their combined order backlogs were $777.6bn, up from $701.2bn two years earlier.<br /><br />The trend’s momentum continued into 2023. In the first six months of this year — the latest comprehensive quarterly data available — combined backlogs at these companies stood at $764bn, swelling their future pipeline of work as governments kept placing orders. The sustained spending has spurred investors’ interest in the sector. MSCI’s global benchmark for the industry’s stocks is up 25 per cent over the past 12 months. Europe’s Stoxx aerospace and defence stocks index has risen by more than 50 per cent over the same period." <br /><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/001d2e1c-8e59-444b-a07b-9a62be620431">https://www.ft.com/content/001d2e1c-8e59-444b-a07b-9a62be620431</a><br /><br />-->Let the good times roll, when it comes to weapons makers! Western factories can't even pump out enough bombs and bullets for the hearts of Palestinians in Gaza. In fact, this article never gets around to mentioning Gaza at all. It's like US weapons manufacturers have played no part in the extermination of the Palestinians. <br /><br />The NYT has run similar stories, but it is always about Ukraine, rather than Gaza. Readers can tell how sensitive these weapons makers must be about being linked to a genocide. And our media can't bring itself to mention the connection. <br /><br />=====<br /><br />Jacobin:<br />"Earlier this month, the Biden administration joined governments around the world in marking the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1948. At the very same time, US government officials were trying to fend off a legal action accusing them of complicity with Israel’s 'unfolding genocide' of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Now the South African government has filed a case with the International Court of Justice, invoking the Genocide Convention and accusing Israel of 'genocidal acts.'<br /><br />Some commentators have contemptuously dismissed the idea that Israel’s war on Gaza should be considered genocidal as an absurdity. But academic experts have presented the question in a very different light and insisted on the need for urgent, morally serious debate.<br /><br />The dismissive attitude to the charge of genocide betrays two forms of ignorance. The first concerns the definition of genocide in the convention itself. Although that definition was greatly influenced by the crimes of Nazism, its understanding of genocide also applies to a wider set of cases. The second form of ignorance concerns the deliberately murderous nature of the Israeli onslaught on the people of Gaza, and the overtly genocidal rhetoric that government officials have used to justify it."<br /><a href="https://jacobin.com/2023/12/biden-administration-israel-gaza-war-ethnic-cleansing-genocide-convention">https://jacobin.com/2023/12/biden-administration-israel-gaza-war-ethnic-cleansing-genocide-convention</a><br /><br />-->This story was picked up by Code Pink, Vox and Israel's newspaper Haaretz. Why no mainstream media coverage? Perhaps this story will be like the tale of the emperor who had no clothes. Once a country points out that the US and Israel are involved in the worst genocide of the 21st Century, why everyone will finally realize the terrible truth.<br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-42225924454374175162023-12-26T18:25:00.003-05:002023-12-26T18:25:47.740-05:00<p>Common Dreams:<br />"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.<br /> <br />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. ...<br /><br />'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."<br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/bombing-gaza">https://www.commondreams.org/news/bombing-gaza</a><br /><br />-->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?<br /><br />=====<br /><br />Jacobin:<br />"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.<br /><br />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. ...<br /><br />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.<br /><a href="https://jacobin.com/2023/12/pro-israel-billionaires-socialists-dsa-aipac-gaza-cease-fire-israel-war?mc_cid=917d570ade&mc_eid=487355f8cb">https://jacobin.com/2023/12/pro-israel-billionaires-socialists-dsa-aipac-gaza-cease-fire-israel-war?mc_cid=917d570ade&mc_eid=487355f8cb</a><br /><br />-->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 <br />the US public see these links. Our media is as bought off as most of our elected representatives. <br /><br />=====<br /><br />Open Letter to Colleges and Universities:<br />"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. <br /><br />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.' <br /><br />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." <br /><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeGdLpRTC7ZiixBx7B1-3vgyHCpqJdSomph0Rafy7a83L6mnw/viewform">https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeGdLpRTC7ZiixBx7B1-3vgyHCpqJdSomph0Rafy7a83L6mnw/viewform</a><br /><br />-->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!<br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-12143115378114060062023-12-20T14:55:00.004-05:002023-12-20T14:55:40.557-05:00<p>The New York Times:<br />"Who’s a ‘Colonizer’? How an Old Word Became a New Weapon ...<br /><br />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."<br /><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/10/world/europe/colonialist-word-gaza-ukraine.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/10/world/europe/colonialist-word-gaza-ukraine.html<br /></a><br />-->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.<br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"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.<br /><br />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. ...<br /><br />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.' ...<br /><br />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."<br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/nyt-fake-outrage-campus-antisemitism">https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/nyt-fake-outrage-campus-antisemitism</a><br /><br />-->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.<br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"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. <br /><br />'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. <br /><br />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.' <br />'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. <br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/facebook-censorship">https://www.commondreams.org/news/facebook-censorship</a><br /><br />-->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. <br /><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-32781774969997251552023-12-14T21:34:00.000-05:002023-12-14T21:34:03.451-05:00<div style="text-align: left;">Common Dreams:<br />" 'Moral Insanity: Biden Admin Bypasses Congress to Rush Tank Shells to Israel <br />'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. <br /><br />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. ...<br /><br />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.' "<br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/gaza-2666509472">https://www.commondreams.org/news/gaza-2666509472</a><br /><br />-->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.<br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"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.<br /><br />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. ...<br /><br />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."<br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/uk-workers-block-factories-gaza">https://www.commondreams.org/news/uk-workers-block-factories-gaza</a><br /><br />-->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.<br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />" '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.'<br /><br />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. <br /><br />'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.' "<br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/free-speech-hearings">https://www.commondreams.org/news/free-speech-hearings</a><br /><br />-->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. <br /><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-22497749741514669172023-12-07T10:53:00.006-05:002023-12-07T10:53:45.120-05:00<div style="text-align: left;">Telesur English:<br />"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.<br /><br />'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.<br /><br />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."<br /><a href="https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Netanyahu-Will-Be-Tried-as-the-Gaza-Butcher-Erdogan-Predicts-20231204-0008.html">https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Netanyahu-Will-Be-Tried-as-the-Gaza-Butcher-Erdogan-Predicts-20231204-0008.html</a><br /><br />-->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?<br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"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. <br /><br />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.'<br /> <br />'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.'<br /> <br />'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.' " <br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/israeli-genocide">https://www.commondreams.org/news/israeli-genocide</a><br /><br />-->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!<br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"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.<br /><br />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. <br /><br />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."<br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/jeff-bezos-homeless">https://www.commondreams.org/news/jeff-bezos-homeless</a><br /><br />-->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!<br /><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-20101692504300807132023-11-29T09:15:00.002-05:002023-11-29T09:15:15.594-05:00<p>The Electronic Intifada:<br />"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.<br /><br />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. ...<br /><br />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." <br /><a href="https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-child-burned-completely-israeli-tank-fire-kibbutz/41706">https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-child-burned-completely-israeli-tank-fire-kibbutz/41706</a><br /><br />-->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.<br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"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. <br />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. ...<br /><br />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.' " <br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/harvard-law-review-gaza-genocide">https://www.commondreams.org/news/harvard-law-review-gaza-genocide</a><br /><br />-->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.<br /><br />=====<br /><br />Aljazeera:<br />"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.<br /><br />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.'<br /><br />'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.' ”<br /><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/11/21/brics-condemns-israel-war-on-gaza-in-signal-to-the-west">https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/11/21/brics-condemns-israel-war-on-gaza-in-signal-to-the-west</a><br /><br />-->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. <br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-41258268472474191232023-11-16T12:55:00.001-05:002023-11-16T12:55:29.594-05:00<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">The Intercept:<br />"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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />'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.' ”<br /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/11/11/palestine-israel-protests-ceasefire-antisemitic/">https://theintercept.com/2023/11/11/palestine-israel-protests-ceasefire-antisemitic/</a><br /><br />-->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?<br /><br />=====<br /><br />The Chris Hedges Report:<br />"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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />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."<br /><a href="https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-horror-the-horror">https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-horror-the-horror</a><br /><br />-->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. <br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"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.' <br />'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. ...<br /><br />'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. ..."<br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/postal-workers-gaza-cease-fire">https://www.commondreams.org/news/postal-workers-gaza-cease-fire</a><br /><br />-->Labor Unions are the latest group calling for a cease fire. Where was the NYT for this story?<br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-45085850737815745522023-11-09T11:01:00.008-05:002023-11-09T11:02:47.062-05:00<div style="text-align: left;">Common Dreams:<br />"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. ...<br /><br />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. <br /><br />Speaking at U.N. headquarters in New York, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla called the embargo an 'illegal, cruel, and inhumane policy' and 'an act of economic warfare in times of peace.' "<br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/us-embargo-on-cuba">https://www.commondreams.org/news/us-embargo-on-cuba</a><br /><br />-->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. <br /><br />=====<br /><br />The Guardian UK:<br />"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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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."<br /><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/03/israel-aid-democrats-leahy-act-congress">https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/03/israel-aid-democrats-leahy-act-congress</a><br /><br />-->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?<br />=====<br /><br />Middle East Monitor:<br />"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.<br /><br />'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.”<br /><br />'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.<br /><a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231010-us-congresswoman-tlaib-slams-us-for-funding-israels-policies-of-apartheid/">https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231010-us-congresswoman-tlaib-slams-us-for-funding-israels-policies-of-apartheid/</a><br /><br />-->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.<br /><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-57604201527924759712023-11-01T09:09:00.000-04:002023-11-01T09:09:02.619-04:00<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">The Intercept:<br />"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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />'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."<br /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/10/27/palestine-israel-free-speech-retaliation-senate/">https://theintercept.com/2023/10/27/palestine-israel-free-speech-retaliation-senate/</a><br /><br />-->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.<br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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." <br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/us-weapons-to-israel">https://www.commondreams.org/news/us-weapons-to-israel</a><br /><br />-->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.<br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-56998684461864875312023-10-26T20:38:00.003-04:002023-10-26T20:38:22.181-04:00<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">The Electronic Intifada:<br />"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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><a href="https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-forces-shot-their-own-civilians-kibbutz-survivor-says/38861">https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-forces-shot-their-own-civilians-kibbutz-survivor-says/38861</a><br /><br />-->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. <br /><br />=====<br /><br />The Guardian UK<br />"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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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."<br /><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/21/israel-hamas-conflict-palestinian-voices-censored">https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/21/israel-hamas-conflict-palestinian-voices-censored</a><br /><br />-->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. <br /><br />=====<br /><br />The Intercept:<br />"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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />'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.' " <br /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/10/19/israel-gaza-biden-genocide-war-crimes/">https://theintercept.com/2023/10/19/israel-gaza-biden-genocide-war-crimes/</a><br /><br />-->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.<br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-52660951629407012102023-10-19T21:51:00.000-04:002023-10-19T21:51:05.184-04:00<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Aljazeera:<br />"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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.'<br /><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/10/13/watching-the-watchdogs-babies-and-truth-die-together-in-israel-palestine">https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/10/13/watching-the-watchdogs-babies-and-truth-die-together-in-israel-palestine</a><br /><br />-->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?<br /><br />=====<br /><br />HuffPost:<br />"Stunning State Department Memo Warns Diplomats: No Gaza 'De-Escalation' Talk. ...<br /><br />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.<br />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.”<br /><br />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.' ”<br /><a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/state-department-internal-emails-gaza-israel_n_65296395e4b0a304ff6ff95d">https://www.huffpost.com/entry/state-department-internal-emails-gaza-israel_n_65296395e4b0a304ff6ff95d</a><br /><br />-->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. <br /><br />=====<br /><br />FAIR:<br />"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.<br /><br />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. ...<br /><br />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. ...<br />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."<br /><a href="https://fair.org/home/papers-that-ignore-causes-of-violence-cant-help-prevent-it/">https://fair.org/home/papers-that-ignore-causes-of-violence-cant-help-prevent-it/</a><br /><br />-->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. <br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-46310853504213531932023-10-11T11:36:00.000-04:002023-10-11T11:36:20.343-04:00FAIR:<br />"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]<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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."<br /><a href="https://fair.org/home/npr-falsely-claims-its-reporter-is-the-only-one-to-visit-nicaragua/">https://fair.org/home/npr-falsely-claims-its-reporter-is-the-only-one-to-visit-nicaragua/</a><br /><br />-->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. <br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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." <br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/green-climate-fund">https://www.commondreams.org/news/green-climate-fund</a><br /><br />-->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. <br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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." <br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/medicare-advantage-overcharging">https://www.commondreams.org/news/medicare-advantage-overcharging</a><br /><br />-->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. <br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-24934756979449736812023-10-04T20:25:00.000-04:002023-10-04T20:25:42.645-04:00<div style="text-align: left;">Haaretz:<br />"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<br /><br />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).<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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."<br /><a href="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">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</a><br /><br />-->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. <br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"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. <br /><br />'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. <br /><br />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." <br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/imf-austerity-undermines-rights">https://www.commondreams.org/news/imf-austerity-undermines-rights</a><br /><br />-->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? <br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"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. ... <br /><br />'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.' ... <br /><br />'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.' " <br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/warren-grills-biden-medicare-trustee-pick-over-shocking-ties-to-medicare-advantage-firm">https://www.commondreams.org/news/warren-grills-biden-medicare-trustee-pick-over-shocking-ties-to-medicare-advantage-firm</a><br /><br />-->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. <br /> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-2005240276163396672023-09-27T13:37:00.003-04:002023-09-27T13:37:54.353-04:00Democracy Now:<br />"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."<br /><a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2023/9/7/hanna_perekhoda_ilya_budraitskis_ukraine_russia">https://www.democracynow.org/2023/9/7/hanna_perekhoda_ilya_budraitskis_ukraine_russia</a><br /><br />-->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.<br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />=====<br /><br />Common Dreams:<br />"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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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." <br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/irs-targeting-rich-tax-cheats">https://www.commondreams.org/news/irs-targeting-rich-tax-cheats</a><br /><br />-->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.<br /><br />=====<br /><br />The Intercept:<br />"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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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."<br /><a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/08/18/deconstructed-leaked-pakistan-cable/">https://theintercept.com/2023/08/18/deconstructed-leaked-pakistan-cable/</a><br /><br />-->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.<br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34309652.post-63172963173617963382023-09-27T13:32:00.004-04:002023-09-27T13:32:36.141-04:00<div style="text-align: left;">Common Dreams:<br />"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. ...<br /><br />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. ...<br /><br />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."<br /><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/new-york-times-editorial-ukraine-war">https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/new-york-times-editorial-ukraine-war</a><br /><br />-->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. <br /><br />=====<br /><br />Information Clearing House:<br />"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.<br /><br />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:<br /><br />'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.' "<br /><a href="https://informationclearinghouse.blog/2023/09/20/nato-chief-admits-nato-expansion-was-key-to-russian-invasion-of-ukraine/">https://informationclearinghouse.blog/2023/09/20/nato-chief-admits-nato-expansion-was-key-to-russian-invasion-of-ukraine/</a><br /><br />-->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.<br /><br />=====<br /><br />Jacobin:<br />"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. ...<br /><br />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. ...<br /><br />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."<br /><a href="https://jacobin.com/2023/09/wealth-tax-supreme-court-katyal-safe?mc_cid=40bf85b6bd&mc_eid=487355f8cb">https://jacobin.com/2023/09/wealth-tax-supreme-court-katyal-safe?mc_cid=40bf85b6bd&mc_eid=487355f8cb</a><br /><br />-->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.<br /><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com