Thursday, August 31, 2017

Common Dreams:
"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared in a speech on Monday that Israel's settlements in the occupied West Bank will remain 'forever,' remarks many critics characterized as an explicit statement of a longstanding commitment to maintaining and expanding settlements that have been deemed illegal under international law. ...


Netanyahu's remarks come as Israel has in the past two weeks destroyed or seriously damaged at least three schools for Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank. 'Just when they were due to return to the classroom, Palestinian children are discovering that their schools are being destroyed,' said Hanibal Abiy Worku, a director of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), an independent humanitarian organization. 'What threat do these schools pose to the Israeli authorities? What are they planning to achieve by denying thousands of children their fundamental right to education?' ...

'The two-state solution is a blatant and obvious farce that has no purpose other than to allow liberals to justify their support for Israel,' concluded The Intercept's Glenn Greenwald, pointing to Netanyahu's speech. ..."

-->Our newspaper of record also works hard to allow liberals to justify supporting Israel. It completely omits stories like this. No reference to Netanyahu's flouting of international law. No story about the Palestinian schools being destroyed. 

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Move On:
"On August 23, the New York Times published a major article on the humanitarian catastrophe produced by the U.S.-backed Saudi-UAE war and blockade in Yemen, acknowledging that Yemen is 'the world's largest humanitarian crisis' and that 'there is little chance for significant improvements unless the war ends.' But the August 23 NYT article falsely minimized the U.S. role in the catastrophe: 'the United States is not directly involved in the conflict.' ...

Urge the New York Times to correct its August 23, 2017 article to acknowledge that the U.S. is directly involved in the Saudis' war in Yemen through targeting assistance and midair refueling for Saudi-UAE warplanes bombing Yemen by signing our petition."

-->Letting the empire off the hook again! Let the NYT know Pentagon propaganda shouldn't take the place of accurate news. 

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Common Dreams:
"Bernie Sanders, Nation's Highest Profile Socialist, Once Again Voted Most Popular. Sanders has repeatedly topped the charts on similar surveys and can now safely claim being the nation's most liked politician. ...

According to the [new Harvard-Harris] poll—conducted online from Aug. 17-22 with 2,263 Democrats, Republicans, and registered Independents—Sanders is currently the only politician in the whole country who 'a majority of Americans actually like.' Among the respondents, 54 percent view Sanders favorably with just 36 percent taking the opposite view. Compared to others included in the survey—including Republicans like McConnell, President Donald Trump, and Vice President Mike Pence as well as top Democratic leaders like Hillary Clinton, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California—it wasn't even close."

-->While some US media emphasized who was the most unpopular of politicians, rather than giving Bernie his due, the NYT omitted the story altogether. 

Thursday, August 24, 2017

The Guardian:
"UK's Jeremy Corbyn Admits What Most in US Won't: 'War in Afghanistan Has Failed." 'After 16 years of bloodshed and destruction,' says Labour leader, 'the Taliban are undefeated and terrorism is no less of a threat.'

While the U.S. certainly has outspoken critics of the war—some of them in Congress and many of them consistent in their opposition—few prominent politicians, journalists, or political observers have been willing to decry the nation's longest war as the misadventure it is."

-->What mainstream politician in the US tells it like it is? In addition, our media is busy creating new phantasies of military glory. The empire is without hope or sanity at this critical hour, willing to kill tens of thousands to put off the inevitable. 

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Common Dreams:
"Centrist Democrats Riled as Warren Says Days of 'Lukewarm' Policies Are Over.
'The Democratic Party isn't going back to the days of welfare reform and the crime bill.'

In a wide-ranging and fiery keynote speech last weekend at the 12th annual Netroots Nation conference in Atlanta, Georgia, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) relentlessly derided moderate Democratic pundits calling for the party to move 'back to the center' and declared that Democrats must unequivocally 'fight for progressive solutions to our nation's challenges.' ...

Specifically, Warren took aim at a recent New York Times op-ed by Democratic commentators Mark Penn and Andrew Stein, who argued that Democrats must moderate their positions in order to take back Congress and, ultimately, the presidency."

-->Yes, the NYT is full of warnings against the Democrats moving left. Yesterday's opinion piece was entitled "It’s the Economy, Democrats, but Inequality Is Not the Issue." But where are Warren's words, or the words of other reformers in the pages of the NYT?

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Common Dreams:
"As Yemen Cholera Cases Reach 500,000, US and UK Condemned for Complicity. The epidemic is a 'man-made disaster driven by national and international politics,' said Oxfam's Katy Wright. ...

Wright went on to single out two world superpowers—the United States and the United Kingdom—that have fueled conflict in Yemen by providing weaponry and intelligence to Saudi Arabia, which has for years been waging a relentless bombing campaign against its neighbor. ...

'In backing this war with billions of dollars of arms sales and military support, the U.S. and the U.K. are complicit in the suffering of millions of people in Yemen.' "

-->The NYT doesn't print stories that make the empire look bad. Our newspaper of record omitted Oxfam's condemnation. 

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Common Dreams:
"This Is A Sick Child: Trump Gets A Twice-Daily Folder of Good News About Himself. This Is Not the Onion, Though We Wish It Was.

Thanks to leakers, VICE News reports that twice a day since the start of his unpresidency, Trump has gotten delivery of a folder of admiring tweets, stories, interviews, screenshots and other news about how bigly great he is. According to Politico, we the people pay a flunkie $89,000 a year to dig up the stuff. Sometimes, there are just photos of Trump on TV 'looking powerful.' Reince Priebus and Sean Spicer often did battle to see who got to bring the packet from the 'war room'; in the weeks since their departures, delivery of the 'propaganda document' has been more sporadic.

-->Does our neo-Nazi president have an image problem? More like a whole country with an image problem. The NYT avoided printing this story.

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Global Research:
“ 'New data compiled by the World Socialist Web Site, with the assistance of other Internet-based news outlets and search technology experts, proves that a massive loss of readership observed by socialist, anti-war and progressive web sites over the past three months has been caused by a cumulative 45 percent decrease in traffic from Google searches.'

The drop followed the implementation of changes in Google’s search evaluation protocols. In a statement issued on April 25, Ben Gomes, the company’s vice president for engineering, stated that Google’s update of its search engine would block access to 'offensive' sites, while working to surface more 'authoritative content.' ...

'In late May, changes to Google’s algorithm negatively impacted the volume of traffic to the Common Dreams website from organic Google searches,' said Aaron Kaufman, director of development at progressive news outlet Common Dreams. 'Since May, traffic from Google Search as a percentage of total traffic to the Common Dreams website has decreased nearly 50 percent.' ”

-->Is Google deliberately diverting searches away from leftist webpages? And why wouldn't this brazen attack on political expression be of interest to the NYT? Could be that the NYT cares more about pleasing the giant corporations than informing its readers.

Wednesday, August 09, 2017

Common Dreams:
"As journalists and free press advocates continued to condemn the Israeli government's move to shutter Al Jazeera's Jerusalem office and revoke its journalists' press credentials, the media network responded early Monday, denouncing 'this decision made by a state that claims to be 'the only democratic state in the Middle East.' ...

Rights groups as well as journalists, from Al Jazeera and other outlets, condemned the Israeli government's decision.

Magdalena Mughrabi, Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, called the decision a 'brazen attack on media freedom,' and said: 'The move sends a chilling message that the Israeli authorities will not tolerate critical coverage.' "

-->Brazen attacks on media freedom mean little to the NYT, which didn't include this story. All that news that Israel deems fit to print.

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The Guardian UK:
"Here’s something you may not have thought likely. A majority of American Muslims now believes that it’s fine to be gay. The latest Pew Research Centre survey, published on 26 July, tells us that most think homosexuality 'should be accepted by society'. The poll further shows how dramatically acceptance has risen, nearly doubling from 27% to 52% since 2007 (among millennial Muslims, it’s 60%). Muslims may lag behind the general public, for whom the corresponding figure on this issue is 63%, but they poll at exactly the same percentage as Protestants and far above white evangelical Christians, a mere 34% of whom believe that homosexuality should be tolerated. ...

You’d never know it if you listened to populist leaders. Whether in the US, the UK, or on the European continent, the idea that Muslims represent a civilisational threat to the west because of an intrinsic ultra-conservatism, which includes a violent hatred of gay people, is so widespread that it is seen as a truism. Not only is this tidy titbit of political wisdom false, it also ends up obscuring the degree of homophobia in other parts of society, and in our politics."

-->You would think that American media would be all over this story because it would reduce the overall level of Islamophobia in the US. What is wrong with the NYT? So pro Israel it can't report this story?

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Truthout:
"Ominous developments in three states this summer -- Oregon, Texas, New Jersey, and one city -- Chicago, provide a glimpse into the Pentagon's new playbook to recruit soldiers from high schools across the country. In brief, the military has been engaged in a robust lobbying campaign to lower academic standards to make it easier to recruit youth. '''

The Oregon Department of Education recently endorsed the Oregon National Guard's Credit Proficiency Program for use in high schools across the state. The program gives juniors and seniors the chance to earn academic credits while training for military service at Oregon National Guard facilities. ...

In New Jersey, where students must pass senior year exit exams to graduate, school officials will allow seniors to earn a diploma if they can manage a score of a 31 on the military's enlistment test, the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB.

-->How sweet it is. A little marching and shooting helps you get a high school diploma. So that you can join the Armed Services. The mainstream media has nothing to say about this bastardization of academic standards.

Thursday, August 03, 2017

Common Dreams:
"With Fox News suffering several major setbacks in the past year, Sinclair Broadcasting is making moves to become the new giant of right-wing media. Many are now calling Sinclair 'Trump TV.' ...

The Sinclair Broadcasting group has close ties to the Trump administration and is forcing local stations to air pro-Trump news segments. Trump’s FCC chairman, Ajit Pai rolled back a key Obama administration regulation that had prevented Sinclair from further expansion. The green light from the Trump administration allowed Sinclair to purchase 42 more local stations from the Tribune Media company, extending its reach to 72 percent of American households. ...

[Pro Trump stories] are called 'must-runs,' and they are sent every day to all the local stations owned by Sinclair Broadcasting — video reports that are centrally produced by the company. Station managers around the country must work them into the broadcast over a period of 24 or 48 hours." https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/07/30/classic-propaganda-sinclair-broadcasting-pushes-aside-fox-news-become-trump-tv

-- >Propaganda TV requiring local stations to play far right analysis. Why doesn't the NYT bother covering this media takeover?
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The Intercept:
"The lead author of the controversial Israel Anti-Boycott Act, Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, is open to amending the legislation to address concerns raised by the American Civil Liberties Union, he told The Intercept Monday evening.

The ACLU warned last week that the measure, which targets the BDS movement, was unconstitutional and would have a chilling effect on free speech. In the wake of that warning, and a subsequent article by The Intercept, co-sponsors of the bill have begun to re-examine their support for it. ...

Co-sponsors of the bill have faced pressure at home to explain support for a bill with such language in it. Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass., is reviewing the bill in the light of the ACLU’s concerns, as are Democratic Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Maria Cantwell of Washington, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut." https://theintercept.com/2017/07/25/cardin-amend-israel-boycott-bill-bds/

-- >The entire drama of US senators having to rethink their bill outlawing boycotts of Israel has escaped notice at the NYT. The influence of the Israel Lobby and its attack on First Amendment rights has has not made it into print.
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Common Dreams:
"Reproductive rights advocates are condemning the Democratic Party's decision to offer campaign funds to 2018 House of Representatives candidates who oppose abortion rights.

Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) confirmed the party's position to The Hill on Monday. He emphasized that the party needs to recruit 'a broad coalition' to pick up 24 seats, which would allow Democrats to regain a majority in the House.

'As we look at candidates across the country, you need to make sure you have candidates that fit the district, that can win in these districts across America,' said Rep. Luján, chairman of the party's House campaign arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)." https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/07/31/reproductive-rights-advocates-condemn-dems-support-anti-choice-candidates

-- >Here comes the abortion sellout by the Democratic Party. Why not? The party has sold out every other progressive cause. Readers of the NYT, however, will remain blissfully unaware, since it didn't print this story. Our newspaper of record likes the corporatized Democratic Party just fine.

Thursday, July 27, 2017

The NYT:
In a recent NYT article entitled "These Americans Hated the Health Law. Until the Idea of Repeal Sank In," our newspaper of record portrays a public worried about their healthcare. Will they be able to afford the insurance? Now, the NYT tells us the majority of  even Republicans, are coming to believe that healthcare is a national responsibility. 

The NYT gets credit for showing the shift in public thinking. But notice the omission of "single payer" or "universal healthcare" in the debate. Nowhere in the article does the concept of government actually paying for healthcare come into consideration. It is all about keeping Obama Care, or assisting Americans in buying insurance. 

-->The NYT can't conceive of a world not dominated by the big insurance companies and pharmaceuticals. Our major media has always been in the pocket of corporate interests. It is one of the reasons we can't have what even many Third World Countries have achieved, universal healthcare. 

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Haaretz:
"This week, however, the Netanyahu government made clear that it views family values in a diametrically different direction. Defending the effective ban on gay adoption, government representatives warned the High Court this week of 'the difficulty that is liable to be caused the child as the child of a non-routine family.' They also used the term 'irregular' as a euphemism for LGBTQ people.

It is the kind of statement that cannot be unheard. It is the kind of position which sparks fury and outrage and a profound sense of betrayal, which Netanyahu and his government have sparked among an ever-widening list of communities on an ever-expanding list of issues. The anger is immediate.

The rage and the sense of betrayal were particularly strong among gay Israelis who believed Netanyahu when he would assert, especially on trips abroad, that LGBTQ rights were an important part of the fabric of life in Israel. ... Leftist critics of Israel have long accused it of 'pinkwashing,' disingenuously exploiting the relative freedoms of LGBTQ people in Israel as a means of diverting attention from the abject discrimination and brutal repression of the occupation of the West Bank. This week, the criticism hit home. So did the discrimination."
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.802006 (readers must subscribe to Haartz)

-->The hypocrisy of pinkwashing the occupation comes home. Readers of the NYT and much of the mainstream media never got to read the story. 

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The Intercept:
"THE CRIMINALIZATION OF political speech and activism against Israel has become one of the gravest threats to free speech in the West. In France, activists have been arrested and prosecuted for wearing T-shirts advocating a boycott of Israel. The U.K. has enacted a series of measures designed to outlaw such activism. In the U.S., governors compete with one another over who can implement the most extreme regulations to bar businesses from participating in any boycotts aimed even at Israeli settlements, which the world regards as illegal. On U.S. campuses, punishment of pro-Palestinian students for expressing criticisms of Israel is so commonplace that the Center for Constitutional Rights refers to it as 'the Palestine Exception' to free speech.

But now, a group of 43 senators — 29 Republicans and 14 Democrats — wants to implement a law that would make it a felony for Americans to support the international boycott against Israel, which was launched in protest of that country’s decades-old occupation of Palestine. The two primary sponsors of the bill are Democrat Ben Cardin of Maryland and Republican Rob Portman of Ohio. Perhaps the most shocking aspect is the punishment: Anyone guilty of violating the prohibitions will face a minimum civil penalty of $250,000 and a maximum criminal penalty of $1 million and 20 years in prison."

-->Yes, the Israel Lobby has the power to destroy our First Amendment right of freedom of expression. Yet our major media, including the NYT is silent. Our two NY Senators, among the highest paid by the Israel Lobby, are both cosponsors of this bill. Where in our national media can you read that?

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Middle East Monitor:

"Ever wanted to try and shoot a Palestinian? Israel has set up a military simulator which allows tourists to do just that.

Controversial fantasy 'anti-terrorism' camps set up in the occupied West Bank provide visitors with the opportunity to play the role of Israeli forces in a variety of situations, ranging from an explosion at a Jerusalem marketplace, to a stabbing attack and sniper tournament, Haaretz reported.

The industry has seen a boom in recent years, with six such facilities opening across the country, all of which use live ammunition. Former high ranking officers in the army teach tourists combat skills. Caliber 3, a camp set up in an illegal settlement, also includes a live demonstration of an attacker being taken down by police dogs, all for just $115 per person." https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170711-israel-offers-tourists-the-chance-to-be-soldiers/

-- >Do you think the NYT would ever cover a story like this? Our newspaper of record works very hard to present positive images of apartheid Israel. The story wasn't reported.

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Common Dreams:
"As Senate Republicans are reportedly set to introduce yet another version of their overwhelmingly despised and 'deadly' healthcare plan on Thursday, Medicare for All is experiencing an unprecedented surge in support from both the grassroots and elected officials.

Recent polls have indicated that most Americans favor something like the healthcare plan Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) proposed during his 2016 presidential campaign, despite the fact that his ideas were repeatedly denounced as 'unrealistic' and 'pie-in-the-sky' by politicians and major news outlets like the Washington Post. ...

In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) noted that he is seeing support for Medicare for All even in the most conservative parts of his state.

'I've been asking each audience, I've been saying, 'How many people here 10 years ago would have supported a single-payer Medicare for All?' And it's a small number,' Merkley said. 'And then I ask, How many now? And the hands just go up throughout the room.' " https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/07/13/upside-trumpcare-ugliness-medicare-all-goes-pie-sky-inevitable

-- >When will our politicians catch up with what the people want as far as healthcare? Maybe when newspapers like the NYT publish accurate descriptions of what citizens want.

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NLTimes the Netherlands:
"Israel demolished a Dutch development project consisting of 96 solar panels and other equipment for supplying power to Palestinian village Jubbet Adh Dhib on the west bank of the Jordan. The Netherlands spent about half a million euros on the project last year. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is furious, AD reports.

'We immediately protested seriously with the Israeli authorities and demanded return of the goods. We're currently investigating the exact damages and what next steps can be taken', Foreign Affairs spokesperson Chris Bakker said to the newspaper.

Israeli soldiers raided the village on Wednesday morning. 'The Israeli soldiers also tried to drag the batteries away, but they were apparently too heavy. They were damaged, however', said Tamar Cohen, organizational development manager at Comet-me, the organization with whom the Netherlands donated the solar panels."
http://nltimes.nl/2017/06/30/israel-destroys-dutch-development-project-netherlands-furious

-- >What country would destroy the solar panels of a territory it occupies? No country, if you read the NYT. It didn't carry this story.
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