April 30, 2022

Elon Musk claims the U.S. political spectrum has shifted to the far left, Democratic Party ‘hijacked by extremists’, gets a reality check from other Twitter users. “‘I strongly supported Obama for President, but today’s Democratic Party has been hijacked by extremists,’ [Musk opined]…. Songwriter Richard Marx tweeted, ‘I’m an independent who’s voted for both parties throughout my life. Please offer a Democratic equivalent to banning books, outlawing abortion or supporting and enabling an insurrection.'”   https://www.foxnews.com/media/liberals-melt-down-after-musk-claims-democrat-party-hijacked-by-extremists   “We can’t even get our party to import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada.”   https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/04/29/what-far-left-asks-aoc-we-cant-even-get-our-party-import-cheaper-prescription-drugs   You’ve been watching too much Fox News, Elon. Here’s a tip: Don’t judge politicians by their rhetoric, judge them by their actual accomplishments. If you do that, you’ll see that Democrats and Republicans are not all that different – they both support capitalism/free market economics, U.S. global dominance/the military industrial complex and the interests of the economic elite. They both oppose national health insurance, ending the fossil fuel economy, free college, demilitarization of the police, prosecuting U.S. war criminals, government transparency and free and fair elections that include minor party candidates.

Man being questioned by police asked to call his lawyer, but Albany, New York police tricked him into confessing instead.

Detective: Do you understand each of your rights?

Dawson: Yeah, definitely. I just wish that I’d memorized my lawyer’s number. He’s in my phone. Is it possible for me to like call him or something?

Detective: Do you want your lawyer here?

Dawson: Right now?

Detective: Yeah.

Dawson: If I could get a hold of him ’cause I don’t know his number; it’s in my phone.

Detective: OK.

Dawson: But you could still tell me what’s going on though, right?

Detective: No, I can’t talk to you if you if you want your lawyer here and you already said you did, so let’s, you know what, let’s give him a call.

But when the detective returned to the interrogation room, he came without [Malik] Dawson’s phone. Instead, he said: ‘Here’s the deal, I’m just going to ask you flat out, because we’re in the middle of this and this is something we could potentially resolve—do you want your lawyer here or do you want to just figure this out?’ Dawson responded that he wanted to ‘figure this out’.”   https://reason.com/2022/04/29/new-york-court-of-appeals-police-interrogation-lawyer-miranda-rights-malik-dawson/   They reportedly told him that if he wrote an apology letter to the victim, it might help get him out of trouble.

Only eight U.S. Representatives voted against extra-judicial seizure of the assets of Russian oligarchs, and then giving the money to Ukraine. “Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D–N.Y.) was one of just eight ‘no’ votes on the measure. ‘This vote asked President Biden to violate the 4th Amendment, seize private property, and determine where it would go – all without due process,’ AOC said in a statement. ‘This sets a risky new precedent in the event of future Presidents who may seek to abuse that expansion of power, especially with so many of our communities already fighting civil asset forfeiture.'”   https://reason.com/2022/04/29/aoc-defends-due-process-as-colleagues-greenlight-asset-seizure-bill/   Imagine if President Trump had the power to seize the assets of Facebook and give the money to Parler, or to seize the money of Planned Parenthood and give it to anti-abortion groups.

Sean Hannity reportedly colluded with Trump administration to boost turnout of Republican voters on election day. “On the afternoon of Election Day, Hannity texted [White House chief of staff Mark] Meadows at 1:36 p.m. to ask about turnout in North Carolina. Two hours later, Meadows responded: ‘Stress every vote matters. Get out and vote. On radio.’ ‘Yes sir,’ Hannity replied. ‘On it. Any place in particular we need a push.’ ‘Pennsylvania. NC AZ,’ Meadows wrote, adding: ‘Nevada.’ ‘Got it. Everywhere,’ Hannity said.”   https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/29/politics/hannity-text-messages-meadows-trump-white-house/index.html

Oath Keeper pleads guilty to seditious conspiracy. “‘Did you… agree with [Oath Keepers leader Stewart] Rhodes and develop a plan to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power, by force, on January 6, 2021?’ US District Judge Amit Mehta asked during the hearing on Friday. ‘Yes, your honor,’ [Brian] Ulrich said. Rhodes, who is also charged with seditious conspiracy, has pleaded not guilty…. Ulrich, [Joshua] James, and [fellow] Oath Keeper Mark Grods traveled together to DC on January 4. In his own plea agreement, James admitted to bringing a semi-automatic handgun on the trip, and said Grods and others brought firearms, including a rifle, a shotgun, a semi-automatic handgun, and ammunition to a Virginia hotel. Grods has also pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the investigation.”   https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/29/politics/oath-keeper-guilty-seditious-conspiracy-brian-ulrich/index.html

FBI conducted an estimated 3.4 million warrantless searches of data of U.S. residents in 2021. “More than half of the FBI’s queries were related to attempts to compromise US critical infrastructure by foreign cyber actors in early 2021, according to the report. That includes about 1.9 million queries related to one particular cyber threat from Russia against US critical infrastructure, according to the FBI…. The number of FBI queries detailed in the report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is not the same as the number of individuals whose data was examined. Officials can search an individual’s email address, name and any other identifier, sometimes multiple times — all of which would be counted as unique queries…. According to the report, sometimes the FBI conducts large queries of hundreds or even thousands of terms, and if even one term is associated with a US person, every term in the bulk search is counted as a US person search.”   https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/29/politics/intel-report-fbi-searches/index.html   Why would cyber attacks by foreign hackers result in warrantless searchers of the data of Americans? And why aren’t they getting warrants for these searches? They don’t have any evidence to implicate a particular person, so they’re just deploying a cyber dragnet to see what turns up? Like search terms, social networks or geolocation data?   “There were 376 targets of court-approved wiretaps and physical search orders under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, in 2021, according to declassified data in a new report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The report estimated that of those, 309 were foreigners on domestic soil and 67 were U.S. citizens, American companies or lawful permanent residents…. At the same time, the new report showed that the National Security Agency’s use of its warrantless surveillance powers, under a provision known as Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act, reached a new high…. There were about 232,000 targets of so-called 702 surveillance in 2021, the report said — the largest such number yet in the report’s history…. This year, for the first time, the report included some information about a question that members of Congress have long asked: how often the F.B.I. has searched its 702 surveillance repository using the identifiers of Americans, like their names, phone numbers and addresses. The F.B.I. has long said its systems were not set up to provide an accurate count, but this year’s report provided a stab at it. Still, the figure’s significance was murky. Specifically, the report said that F.B.I. analysts had queried the repository using an American’s identifier fewer than about 3.4 million times from December 2020 to November 2021…. The ability of government officials to search for Americans’ communications swept up without a warrant in the 702 program has been a matter of recurring controversy…. Privacy and civil liberties advocates call that practice the ‘backdoor search loophole’, since it enables the government to read private messages of Americans that it collected without a warrant.”   https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/29/us/politics/national-security-surveillance-2021.html

India/Pakistan heat wave continues to intensify. “The city of Nawabshah in Pakistan hit 117.5 degrees (47.5 degrees Celsius) Thursday — the hottest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere this year so far…. Lucknow, the largest city in the northeastern state of Uttar Pradesh, surpassed 113 degrees (45.1 Celsius) setting a new April record Friday. April records were also set in in the northeastern state of Uttar Pradesh where the city of Banda reached 117.3 degrees (47.4 Celsius) while Prayagraj hit 116 (46.8 Celsius).”   https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2022/04/28/india-pakistan-heat-wave-records/  

Oil company profits up sharply due to higher fuel prices. “Chevron raked in $6.3 billion in the first quarter, quadrupling its profit from the same period last year, while Exxon brought in $5.5 billion, more than double last year’s first-quarter haul. The oil and gas companies are among the biggest beneficiaries of soaring gas prices, which rose 44 percent in the U.S. over the last 12 months, according to AAA. Crude oil remains above $100 per barrel amid supply constraints stemming from the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”   https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/3471782-exxon-chevron-post-massive-q1-profits-amid-soaring-gas-prices/   At least this ‘weakening Russia’ thing is working out for military contractors and oil companies. (sarcasm)

Hundreds of Ukrainians reportedly arrested after being accused of ‘collaboration’ with Russia. “The middle-aged man came to the attention of Ukraine’s Security Service, the SBU, after what authorities said were his social media posts praising Russian President Vladimir Putin for ‘fighting with the Nazis’, calling for regions to secede and labeling the national flag ‘a symbol of death’…. Viktor was one of nearly 400 people in the Kharkiv region alone who have been detained under anti-collaboration laws enacted quickly by Ukraine’s parliament and signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion. Offenders face up to 15 years in prison for collaborating with Russian forces, making public denials about Russian aggression or supporting Moscow.”   https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-europe-kharkiv-51c514b6dc9cc1f935e018e4877222cc

Many U.S. journalists covering Ukraine conflict seem invested in escalation instead of diplomacy. “… here are essential questions that journalists should be raising in their coverage of the war in Ukraine that they are not. Chief among them: Is escalating what has clearly emerged as a proxy war between the United States and Russia… prolonging the carnage in Ukraine? And: What’s the best way to minimize the risk of a nuclear conflict? Thus far, most American news coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine has reflected an unquestioned conviction that the more weapons the United States and the West send the Ukrainians the better…. in the meantime, Ukraine is being destroyed. Civilians are dying, refugees are fleeing for their lives, untold damage is being done to Ukraine’s infrastructure, and young men in arms are killing each other.”   https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/04/28/the-media-is-failing-us-on-ukraine/

70% of American adults polled afraid war in Ukraine could escalate into a nuclear conflict. “In the 1950s and 60s, school children practiced ‘duck and cover’ drills to help survive a blast, and a public campaign educated Americans on surviving the fallout. Office of Civil Defense teams also spent hundreds of millions of dollars building and stockpiling fallout shelters all across the U.S., but a visit to the basement of a public library in Passaic, New Jersey, reveals this threat has fallen into the very back of our minds. In a space that was designed to shelter up to 90 people, decades of dust has settled over the medicine and food — which has long since expired — in the basement. Building supervisor Gary Salvatoriello told CBS News there are no plans for replenishment. Instead, the one-time fallout shelter, like so many others, has turned back into an everyday storage space.”   https://www.cbsnews.com/news/conflict-nuclear-warfare-ukraine-russia/?intcid=CNI-00-10aaa3b

IS blamed for series of recent attacks in northeastern Syria. “According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, ISIL carried out at least 82 other armed operations in 2022, in addition to the Thursday shooting, killing 63 civilians and SDF fighters…. It has… transformed with sleeper cells littered across towns and villages, where it conducts guerilla-style attacks.”   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/29/isil-attacks-warn-reemergence-northeast-syria

Giant mass grave near Kyiv with 900 bodies didn’t actually exist, admits Ukrainian official. “[President Volodymyr] Zelensky misspoke when he told Polish media that another mass grave with 900 bodies had been found in Kyiv Oblast. [The] President’s spokesman said that Zelensky had been referring to the total number of people found in different mass graves in Kyiv Oblast.”   https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/president-zelensky-misspoke-when-referring-to-a-900-body-mass-grave-aide/ar-AAWLdUB

Member of IS hostage group sentenced to life in prison. “[Alexanda] Kotey was part of a brutal ISIL cell that executed hostages whose members were called the ‘Beatles’ for their British accents. The fighters have been stripped of their UK citizenship…. ISIL fighters regularly took hostages and filmed their execution – often by beheading – for propaganda purposes. The group also launched a campaign of massacres and sexual violence against the Yazidis, an ethno-religious minority in northern Iraq in 2014, which the UN has classified as a genocide.”   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/29/uk-born-beatle-isil-member-sentenced-to-life-by-us-court

Iran claims to have uncovered and arrested Kurdish leftist group. “Iranian intelligence forces arrested members of an outlawed leftist Kurdish group in the northwestern province of Kurdistan, local media reported on Friday…. It did not specify how many people were arrested or when the operation took place…. Komalah, a Marxist Kurdish group outlawed since the Islamic revolution of 1979, has often clashed with security forces in northwest Iran, which has a sizeable Kurdish population.”   https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/iran-arrests-outlawed-marxist-kurdish-group-members-media

Economists and journalists accused of trying to ‘undermine Turkey’s economy’ in 2018 found not guilty. “A Turkish court on Friday acquitted two reporters for the U.S.-based Bloomberg news agency who were accused of trying to undermine Turkey’s economic stability with a story on Turkey’s currency crisis in 2018. Istanbul-based reporters Kerim Karakaya and Fercan Yalinkilic had faced up to five years in prison over the article they wrote in August 2018. Some 30 other defendants – including prominent economist Mustafa Sonmez and journalist Sedef Kabas- who were also on trial over their social media comments on Turkey’s economy and banks – were also acquitted.”   https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/29042022

Video allegedly shows Syrian intelligence officer executing prisoners. “When the killing was done, at least 41 men lay dead in the mass grave in the Damascus suburb of Tadamon, a battlefront at the time in the conflict between the Syrian leader and insurrectionists lined up against him…. In leaking the video, first to an opposition activist in France, and then to the researchers, Annsar Shahhoud and Prof Uğur Ümit Üngör, from the University of Amsterdam’s Holocaust and Genocide Center, the source had to overcome the fear of being caught and probably killed and the distress of potentially being cast out from his family – prominent members of Assad’s Alawite sect, which holds the main levers of power in what remains of Syria.”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/27/massacre-in-tadamon-how-two-academics-hunted-down-a-syrian-war-criminal

Federal appeals court upholds lower court ruling that man arrested for creating parody police department Facebook page can’t sue police or city officials. “A three-judge panel unanimously held that police and city officials in Parma, Ohio, acted under the reasonable belief Anthony Novak had committed a felony when he created a satirical account that mimicked that of the Parma Police Department almost to the letter…. The parody page was created by Novak at a bus stop in 2016, and while it was active for just over 12 hours, it garnered attention from local media for its outlandish posts, including one that touted a new Parma police program designed to rid the city of homeless individuals…. Novak was acquitted by a jury and proceeded to file suit in federal court for violations of his First and Fourth Amendment rights…. The panel also upheld the dismissal of Novak’s Fourth Amendment claims and rejected his argument that police officers lied about the number of calls made to the department when they applied for a warrant.”   https://www.courthousenews.com/creator-of-parody-facebook-page-loses-first-amendment-case-against-police/   Police claimed that citizens were confused as to whether or not the parody site was an official police department Facebook page, creating a dangerous situation. “We believe the material that Novak posted on the fake account crossed the line from satire to an actual risk to public safety.”   https://www.cnet.com/culture/ohio-man-arrested-for-parody-parma-police-facebook-page/

Federal judge imposes additional measures on Portland, Oregon police department after increase in excessive force arrests. “… [Portland] police have continued to use force against people who might be mentally ill at rates that have increased slightly since settlement negotiations began, according to a new study submitted to the court by amici Mental Health Alliance…. Ruling from the bench, Judge [Michael] Simon on Friday approved an amendment that adds additional provisions to the original [2012] settlement agreement [with the U.S. Dept. of Justice], such as requiring the city to eventually implement body worn cameras — an issue currently under negotiations between the city and the police union, requiring the city to hire someone outside the police bureau to oversee police training and penalizing the lieutenants who approved the use of force during the 2020 protests.” https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-adds-new-conditions-to-rein-in-violent-police-in-portland/

 

 

 

April 29, 2022

Congress hits the brakes on Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act. “… due to opposition from civil liberties groups and Congressional progressives, House Democrats have postponed a vote on the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act…. The FBI has labeled white collar fraud carried out by sovereign citizens, the freeing of minks by animal rights activists, and vandalism by both anti-war and animal rights activists as ‘domestic terrorism’…. the Department of Justice Inspector General recommended the FBI ‘consider transferring responsibility for investigating crimes committed by environmental, animal rights, and other domestic radical groups or individuals from the Counterterrorism Division to the Criminal Investigative Division, except where a domestic group or individual uses or seeks to use explosives or weapons of mass destruction to cause mass casualties.’ …. Yet, 19 years later not only has the FBI failed to heed the common sense advice of the DOJ OIG. Now, under this bill, Congress gives their mandate to ignoring this advice!”   https://www.rightsanddissent.org/news/setbacks-for-domestic-terrorism-prevention-act-are-a-victory-for-civil-liberties/

Florida and Tennessee outlaw voter-approved ‘ranked choice voting’ schemes. “Buried on page 25 of the 47-page [Florida] bill is a complete ban on the use of ranked-choice voting anywhere in the state, regardless of what voters might want. In this case, it’s the voters of Sarasota, who overwhelmingly decided in 2007 (with 77 percent in favor) to switch to this type of voting for local elections. A similar ban was passed in February in Tennessee…. Ranked-choice voting is a system where voters don’t just choose a single candidate over the others. Instead, voters are invited to rank candidates by preference. In a slate of five candidates, a voter can choose a favorite, then rank the rest as a second-choice, third-choice, et cetera. When votes in this system are tabulated, a single candidate must receive a majority of the vote, not just the most votes, in order to win. If a single candidate doesn’t surpass the 50 percent threshold, the candidate receiving the least number of votes is disqualified. Then the votes are re-tallied. For those who chose that last-place candidate as their first pick, instead their second choice is now their vote. The process repeats until a single candidate gets the most votes…. Ranked-choice voting therefore also creates a system where third-party and independent candidates can have impact without voters having to worry about allegedly ‘throwing their vote away’ or choosing a so-called ‘spoiler’ who can’t win but can draw votes away from a similar candidate.”    https://reason.com/2022/04/28/florida-tennessee-ban-ranked-choice-voting-despite-citizen-support/

Minneapolis police accused of stalking the city’s black community on social media. “… Minneapolis police used covert or bogus social media accounts to monitor Black individuals and groups despite having no clear public safety rationale for doing so. The report released Wednesday by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights echoes numerous past revelations that the FBI and other law enforcement agencies have — sometimes illegally — secretly surveilled prominent people and communities of color even though they weren’t involved in any criminal activity.”   https://apnews.com/article/death-of-george-floyd-police-minnesota-minneapolis-social-media-f6ce6422d81d365daddaa650b43243cc

Four Miami-Dade County corrections officers charged with murder in beating death of prisoner. “The [unnamed] inmate’s death was caused by a punctured lung leading to internal bleeding, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. He also had injuries to his face and torso ‘consistent with a beating’, the agency said.”   https://abcnews.go.com/US/florida-correctional-officers-charged-murder-alleged-beating-inmate/story?id=84375746

President Biden requests an additional $33 billion from Congress for Ukraine. “The size and scope of the President’s latest proposed package comes as his administration prepares to provide long-term support to Ukraine as Russia’s invasion of the nation stretches into its third month.”   https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/28/politics/biden-ukraine-congress/index.html

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says Ukraine conflict could last for years. “There is absolutely the possibility that this war will drag on and last for months and years. …. NATO allies are preparing to provide support over a long period of time.”   https://www.democracynow.org/2022/4/29/headlines/nato_chief_says_allies_are_prepared_to_support_ukraine_for_months_and_years   You can’t ‘weaken Russia’ overnight.

Dept. of Homeland Security creating ‘disinformation’ board. “[DHS Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas said a ‘Disinformation Governance Board’ had recently been created and will be led by Undersecretary for Policy Rob Silvers co-chair with principal deputy general counsel Jennifer Gaskill…. Hours later, Politico reported that Nina Jankowicz, who previously served as a disinformation fellow at the Wilson Center, will head the board as executive director…. ‘Honored to be serving in the Biden Administration @DHSgov and helping shape our counter-disinformation efforts.'”   https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mayorkas-dhs-disinformation-governance-board   Will this board also be targeting U.S. media and U.S. government-generated disinformation threats? “The Senate Intelligence Committee report was unsparing in its criticism of this aspect of the White House’s case for war [in Iraq]. The 170-page report said such Iraq/al-Qaeda statements were ‘not substantiated by the intelligence’, adding that multiple CIA reports dismissed the claim that Iraq and al-Qaeda were cooperating partners — and that there was no intelligence information that supported administration statements that Iraq would provide weapons of mass destruction to al-Qaeda.”   https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/03/22/iraq-war-wmds-an-intelligence-failure-or-white-house-spin/   “The U.S. government has no evidence that any life exists outside our planet, or that an extraterrestrial presence has contacted or engaged any member of the human race,” Phil Larson from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy reported on the [White House We the People petition website]. “In addition, there is no credible information to suggest that any evidence is being hidden from the public’s eye.”   https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna45176460   “More than 50 former senior intelligence officials have signed on to a letter outlining their belief that the recent disclosure of emails allegedly belonging to Joe Biden’s son ‘has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation’.”    https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/19/hunter-biden-story-russian-disinfo-430276   “In a March, 2013 Senate hearing, Senator Ron Wyden (D, OR) asked Director [of National Intelligence James] Clapper if ‘the NSA collected any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans’. Clapper responded ‘no, sir’, which has since been revealed as a lie; the NSA [was routinely collecting] the phone metadata for every call placed within the United States. ‘In June 2013, after the Snowden leaks publicly exposed Clapper’s testimony as false, Clapper finally retracted his remarks….'”   https://www.theverge.com/2013/12/19/5228672/lawmakers-slam-intelligence-chief-james-clapper-for-lying-to-congress

Second insider accuses Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva of attempting to cover up alleged excessive force incident. “That incident occurred March 10, 2021, at the San Fernando Courthouse. An inmate struck a deputy who then kneeled on the inmate’s head and ‘restricted his breathing long after’ the inmate had stopped resisting, [former Assistant Sheriff Robin] Limon’s claim alleges. The deputy’s actions, caught on video, were reminiscent of those of former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin against George Floyd, the legal complaint alleges. Jury selection in Chauvin’s murder trial had begun the day before.”   https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/29/us/los-angeles-county-sheriff-alex-villanueva-coverup-allegations-second-official/index.html

Holocaust survivors critical of Ukrainian government for honoring Nazi collaborators. “Ukraine’s checkered record during the Holocaust, the prevalence of Nazi collaboration there, and the glorification of collaborators today, make for a complicated and often conflicted attitude toward that country by Holocaust survivors from the country, and their descendants…. ‘Of course I had relatives killed by Ukrainians. But other Ukrainians also saved Jews. It’s a very mixed picture,’ [Ida Rashkovich] said…. [Yaakov] Zelikovich recalls being marched as a child to a mass grave in the woods flanked by Ukrainian police officers, who under the auspices of the Nazi-aligned Romanian occupiers, rounded up the Jews of his town of Tomashpil…. ‘It’s especially hurtful that the leaders of the collaborationists are now celebrated as heroes in Ukraine,’ he said.”   https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-israel-holocaust-survivors-from-ukraine-ambivalent-about-the-war-torn-country/

Swedish government opposes referendum on NATO membership. “[Prime Minister Magdalena] Andersson said that a referendum was a ‘bad idea’. ‘I don’t think it is an issue that is suitable for a referendum,’ she told reporters. ‘There is a lot of information about national security that is confidential, so there are important issues in such a referendum that cannot be discussed and important facts that cannot be put on the table.'”   https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/swedish-pm-rejects-referendum-possible-nato-membership-2022-04-28/   Is the Swedish government hiding the threat of a Russian invasion from its citizens? If so, why would it be doing that?

42 reportedly injured as Israeli police again raid Al-Aqsa mosque compound. “Over the past two weeks, more than 250 Palestinians have been injured in incursions by Israeli police at Al-Aqsa…. At least 26 Palestinians and three Palestinian citizens of Israel have died during the period, most of them in raids by Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank.”   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/29/dozens-injured-in-israeli-raid-on-al-aqsa-mosque-compound

India scorched by early heat wave. “Temperatures breached 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) in at least nine Indian cities, reports said on Friday as the government scrambled to ensure power supply to them. The main summer months in India – April, May and June – are always excruciatingly hot in most parts of the country, before monsoon rains bring cooler temperatures. But the heatwave has arrived early and grown particularly intense in the past decade.”   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/29/hottest-summer-ever-many-india-states-facing-severe-heatwave

Huge areas of Earth’s surface damaged by economic exploitation. “Up to 40% of the global terrain has already been [degraded], mainly through modern agriculture…. Just 1% of farms control 70% of the world’s agricultural land, while 80% of all farms are under 2 hectares [4.9 acres]…. Food systems have been the single biggest cause of damage – being responsible for 80% of the deforestation and 70% of freshwater use. If things continue as they are then an extra 16 million square kilometres will be degraded by 2050. That’s an area the size of South America.”   https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61221666

 

 

 

 

April 28, 2022

Florida man released after serving 32 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. “[Thomas] James was convicted in 1991 of the 1990 death of Francis McKinnon, largely on the identification by an eyewitness who told jurors she watched him gun down her stepfather during a robbery in his Coconut Grove apartment…. In a 90-page motion to vacate the conviction, prosecutors said ‘what appears to be a chance coincidence that the defendant, Thomas Raynard James, had the same name as a suspect named by witnesses and anonymous tipsters … led to the defendant’s photograph being included in a lineup, and set in motion a mistaken identity.’ …. The man suspected of killing McKinnon died in 2020 in Las Vegas, the motion said.”   https://www.cbsnews.com/news/thomas-raynard-james-life-sentence-vacated-wrongful-conviction/

Virginia woman pepper sprays man for photographing his own children. “Earlier this month, a woman in Arlington, Virginia, saw a man taking pictures of kids and suspected the worst: a creep on the prowl with his camera…. [A] security guard went to investigate and made contact with the man. As it turns out, the guy was taking pictures of his own children…. The guard went back to report this reassuring news to the lady…. ‘The [woman] then intervened, deployed pepper spray and sprayed the victim, before fleeing the scene on foot.’ …. The [woman] was so obsessed with the idea there are predators everywhere that she literally couldn’t accept reality when confronted by it.”   https://reason.com/2022/04/27/woman-calls-cops-on-dad-pepper-spray-kids/

Investigation finds pattern of racial discrimination in Minneapolis police department practices. “During a two-year investigation, the [state’s] Human Rights Department found that Minnesota’s largest police agency stops, searches, arrests, uses force against and kills people of color — especially Black people — at starkly higher rates than white people, according to the 72-page report.”   https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-department-of-human-rights-to-release-civil-rights-findings/600168389/

Some Canadians claiming they or their family members were ‘brainwashed’ as part of the CIA’s MK Ultra program. “‘[My] father was tortured with 54 shock treatments, followed by 54 seizures,’ [Lana] Mills Sowchuk said of her father. He was admitted to the Allan Memorial Hospital in 1952 for asthma, told that he could be cured. But he was put under the care of Dr. Donald Ewen Cameron, who was working on something known as MK Ultra, a secret experiment funded and sanctioned by the CIA…. ‘He was put in an insulin coma for 36 days with a recording saying “your mother hates you”,’ Mills Sowchuk said. ‘They wiped his brain. This is not right. It should not have happened.’ …. the victims say Cameron was carrying out human experimentation without his subjects’ consent, and anyone aware of this should have stopped it, including the CIA…. They held a protest [in Montreal] Wednesday to draw attention to their fight against the U.S. behemoth.”   https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/families-of-montreal-brainwashing-victims-push-for-right-to-sue-cia-which-funded-experiments-1.5878953

$7 billion in U.S. military hardware reportedly abandoned in Afghanistan. “That includes almost $1 billion of aircraft – rendered inoperable and dumped at Hamid Karzai International Airport – some 22,000 military Humvees and almost all the communications equipment supplied during the course of the conflict…. It includes a total of 9,524 air-to-ground munitions – which can include bombs, machine guns, air-to-surface missiles, rockets [and] air-launched cruise missiles carried by warplanes – valued at $6.54 million…. More than 300,000 of 427,300 weapons delivered to Afghan security forces were left behind, as Kabul’s opposition to the Taliban crumbled and troops melted away. The [Pentagon] report also said ‘nearly all’ 42,000 pieces of night vision, surveillance, ‘biometric and positioning equipment’ had been left in Afghanistan.”   https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10760917/The-left-7-billion-military-gear-including-78-aircraft-12-000-Humvees-Afghanistan.html

Dead Egyptian economist was apparently beaten and tortured after being abducted by the country’s security services. “‘The distribution of these marks strongly suggests repeated systematic infliction in life, that is to say ill-treatment/torture. The depressed appearance of the injuries and their distribution to the forearms and face suggests that they were more likely caused by burns rather than blows.’ …. [Ayman] Hadhoud, a senior economic adviser to Egypt’s liberal Reform and Development Party, was detained on 5 February and forcibly disappeared until 9 April, when his family was asked to collect his dead body from the Abbasiya Mental Health Hospital…. The Public Prosecution has insisted that Hadhoud died on 5 March of ‘hypotensive shock and cardiac arrest’…. According to the rights groups’ report, Hadhoud had criticised the security services prior to his arrest, saying he believed that they intervened in politics in favour of the wealthy.”   https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-economist-ayman-hadhoud-corpse-torture-signs

April 27, 2022

Texas county reportedly removes books from public library, fires librarian, closes board meetings. “A citizens group in Llano County, Tex., has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that county officials violated their constitutional rights when they unilaterally removed ‘award-winning books’ from the public libraries ‘because they disagree with the ideas within them’…. they ‘permanently terminated access to over 17,000 digital books’ they could not censor, affecting the elderly and people with disabilities who find it hard to travel to the physical library. Commissioners also voted to close library board meetings to the public, a move that also denied these citizens equal protection under the law, the suit argues.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/04/25/texas-residents-sue-county-removing-books-firing-librarian/

Former Colombian military officers confess to mass killings of civilians. “On Tuesday, a former military general, four colonels, five other army officials and one civilian said they participated in the kidnapping of 120 youth from the town of Ocana and neighbouring communities to kill and later present them as members of left-wing guerilla and other armed groups that operated in the area…. ‘We killed innocent people, peasants. I want to emphasise this: those we killed were simple peasants,’ [Corporal Nestor Gutierrez] said, adding that pressure from higher-ups and ‘demands for results’ played a role in what happened…. The JEP [tribunal] last year said the Colombian military carried out more than 6,400 of these extrajudicial killings between 2002 and 2008, when President Alvaro Uribe was in power. But rights groups and relatives have said the real number could be much higher.”   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/26/colombia-former-army-officials-admit-role-in-killing-civilians

Russia-aligned breakaway region of Moldova hit by explosions. “Two explosions in a radio facility close to the Ukrainian border knocked a pair of powerful broadcast antennas out of service in Moldova’s separatist region of Trans-Dniester, local police said Tuesday…. On Monday, several explosions, believed to have been caused by rocket-propelled grenades, were reported to have hit the Ministry of State Security in Tiraspol, Trans-Dniester’s capital.”   https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-europe-romania-moldova-0a18c5f703075d7913f5cf49f6bf2493   If this had happened in a NATO-aligned country it probably would have been reported as ‘terror attacks’ on ‘critical infrastructure and law enforcement’.

April 26, 2022

It’s not just dictatorships and authoritarian regimes that are targeting their citizens with spyware. “Commercial spyware has grown into an industry estimated to be worth twelve billion dollars. It is largely unregulated and increasingly controversial. In recent years, investigations by the Citizen Lab and Amnesty International have revealed the presence of Pegasus on the phones of politicians, activists, and dissidents under repressive regimes…. ‘The big, dirty secret is that governments are buying this stuff—not just authoritarian governments but all types of governments.'”   https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/04/25/how-democracies-spy-on-their-citizens

Pro-democracy and civil liberties activists in Turkey hit with lengthy prison sentences. “Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala was jailed for life without parole on Monday after he was convicted of trying to overthrow the government by financing protests, in a case that Europe’s top court and Western powers say is politically motivated…. the Gezi protests… began as small demonstrations in an Istanbul park in 2013 and snowballed into nationwide anti-government unrest…. The court also sentenced seven others to 18 years in jail each for aiding an attempt to overthrow the government and ordered their arrests.”   https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkish-court-sentences-philanthropist-kavala-life-prison-2022-04-25/

Review of Free Speech: A History From Socrates to Social Media points out that free speech has always been controversial. “For much of European history, the speech being widely policed was heretical or treasonous…. the French Revolution sent shock waves across Europe, as panicked monarchs suddenly wanted to crack down on republican ideas spreading among their subjects…. the short-lived Sedition Act of 1798… allowed the deportation or imprisonment of people who produced ‘false, scandalous, or malicious writing’ against the government of the United States…. Southern states sought to ban and punish abolitionist literature, passing laws casting it as incendiary…. Senator Calhoun complained that the abolitionist petitions ‘contained reflections injurious to the feelings’ of Southerners who were being ‘deeply, basely and maliciously slandered.’ It would be hurtful for the poor slaveholders to hear that people thought they were bad…. [The 1918] Sedition Act cracked down on speech seen as defaming the government, or the military, or the flag, or speech that was otherwise deemed disloyal. The American Civil Liberties Union was established in 1920 in response.”   https://reason.com/2022/04/23/speaking-freely-through-the-ages/

Text messages to and from then White House chief of staff Mark Meadows reveal that Trump insiders were shocked by fury of Capitol riot, spun conspiracy theories to blame others, and are prone to making humorous English gaffs. “‘Mark I was just told there is an active shooter on the first floor of the Capitol Please tell the President to calm people This isn’t the way to solve anything,’ [Rep. Marjorie] Greene wrote…. ‘This doesn’t help our cause,’ [Rep. Barry] Loudermilk [texted]…. Donald Trump Jr. weighed in: ‘This (is) one you go to the mattresses on. They will try to fuck his entire legacy on this if it gets worse.’ …. At 3:52 p.m., Greene told Meadows: ‘Mark we don’t think these attackers are our people. We think they are Antifa. Dressed like Trump supporters.'”   https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/25/politics/mark-meadows-texts-2319/index.html   When you fight or argue hard, you ‘go to the mat’ (it’s a wrestling expression). ‘Going to the mattress’ is a different activity, one which Trump Jr. alludes to later in his text. Greene later tells Meadows that ‘members’ (Freedom Caucus members?) are in favor of having Trump declare ‘Marshall law’ to overturn the allegedly stolen election. Sorry, that’s ‘martial law’, meaning to impose military rule (i.e., to abandon democracy and constitutional rights). ‘Marshal law’ is not really a thing, but it sounds like something a wild west sheriff might do. It’s not clear how CNN ‘obtained’ these text messages – I hope they aren’t charged with espionage, like Julian Assange.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin admits goal in supporting Ukraine is to weaken Russia, presumably by prolonging the conflict. “We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine,” Austin said at the news conference. “So it has already lost a lot of military capability. And a lot of its troops, quite frankly. And we want to see them not have the capability to very quickly reproduce that capability.”   https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/25/politics/blinken-austin-kyiv-ukraine-zelensky-meeting/index.html

Washington D.C. sniper fired over 200 bullets, some of his weapons were capable of ‘full auto’ firing. “[Raymond] Spencer sent shots toward the Edmund Burke School just before 3:20 p.m., injuring four people – including a 12-year-old girl. Two of the victims injured, Contee said, are in critical but stable condition…. Spencer graduated from Montgomery County’s Wheaton High School, worked as a lifeguard at one point, and did a stint with the U.S. Coast Guard…. [D.C. Police Chief Robert] Contee could not say on Monday whether there was any known mental health history or what may have been Spencer’s ideology.”   https://www.fox5dc.com/news/over-200-rounds-fired-in-sniper-type-northwest-dc-shooting-police-say   200 shots and zero fatalities by a former member of the military suggests that his primary goal was not to kill people, or else he was a terrible marksman.   “… parts of Spencer’s life remain a troubling mystery to law enforcement, including how he paid for the apartments he leased in the District starting in January and in the Fair Lakes area of Fairfax County starting in February 2021, and how he afforded his expensive arsenal…. The chief said investigators are trying to determine how the young man could afford two residences, and ‘how he’s paying his bills and keeping the lights on’…. It was unclear how Spencer either obtained three fully automatic rifles or modified the rifles to fire continuously with a single squeeze of the trigger. Contee said Spencer’s firearms were not equipped with a so-called ‘giggle switch’, [also known as an] ‘auto sear’…”   https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/04/25/bowser-dc-shooting-school-vanness/   It’s not easy to legally obtain a fully automatic rifle. It will be interesting to see where these rifles came from.

Jack Dorsey gives conditional thumbs up to Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, others say it’s a bad idea. “Taking it back from Wall Street is the correct first step. In principle, I don’t believe anyone should own or run Twitter,” the former CEO added. “It wants to be a public good at a protocol level, not a company. Solving for the problem of it being a company however, Elon is the singular solution I trust. I trust his mission to extend the light of consciousness.”   https://www.foxbusiness.com/business-leaders/former-twitter-ceo-jack-dorsey-responds-to-musk-takeover-elon-is-the-singular-solution-i-trust   “With control of such a massive platform comes great responsibility—and Musk hasn’t shown he has the capacity to be accountable to this diverse online community,” [Jessica Gonzalez] added, noting Musk’s own history of using Twitter to “intimidate and disparage others, including journalists, elected officials, owners of competing businesses and anyone else who might challenge his views.”   https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/04/25/real-threat-democracy-musk-buys-twitter-44-billion   Or even worse, blocking them from commenting on his posts.

Russia has reportedly lost as many soldiers in Ukraine in a few months as it lost in nine years in Afghanistan. “In nearly nine weeks, Russia lost as many troops during its invasion of Ukraine as it did in the nine years of the Soviet War in Afghanistan…. The Soviet War in Afghanistan lasted from 1979 to 1989…. About 14,500 Soviet soldiers died then — along with 90,000 Mujahideen soldiers, 18,000 [Russia-aligned] Afghan soldiers, and approximately one million civilians…”   https://news.yahoo.com/russian-troops-ukraine-suffered-many-020843894.html   For comparison, during the 20 year U.S. campaign in Afghanistan (10/2001 to 8/2021) an estimated 7,385 U.S. and allied foreign troops and contractors were killed, 69,000 U.S.-aligned Afghan government soldiers and police, 52,900 Taliban and allied fighters, and 46,300 civilians.   https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/figures/2021/WarDeathToll

Global military spending exceeds $2 trillion a year. “The United States, China, India, the United Kingdom and Russia were the top five defence spenders, together accounting for 62 percent of the global expenditure, according to new data published on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)…. The US, which far outspent any other nation with $801bn, actually went against the global trend and decreased its spending by 1.4 percent in 2021…. China, the world’s second largest military spender at an estimated $293bn, boosted its expenditure by 4.7 percent, marking the 27th straight year of increased spending.”   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/25/military-spending-reaches-record-levels-report   If I did the math right, the U.S. alone accounted for 40% of the world’s military spending.

Police in Paris killed two prior to anti-Macron rioting. “It came as masses took to the streets to protest Macron’s win — with wild videos showing phalanxes of riot cops repeatedly charging through the streets in a show of strength…. Smoke bombs were also flung during the melee, and officers fired tear gas to contain the crowds, the footage shows.”   https://nypost.com/2022/04/25/paris-police-shoot-two-during-protests-after-macron-victory/   It’s not clear from the story who these protesters were.

Ukraine removes photo of Emperor Hirohito from video on WWII fascism after Japan protests. “The video, posted by the Ukrainian government on Twitter on April 1, criticized Russia’s invasion and showed the three World War II-era leaders [of the Axis powers] with the words ‘Fascism and Nazism were defeated in 1945’ underneath their photos…. The video has been replaced with one without Hirohito’s photo, but many Japanese on social media continued to criticize the original as an insult and said Japan should stop supporting Ukraine…. Some, however, raised concern that Japan’s demand amounted to censorship and said Ukraine’s concession set a bad precedent that would embolden Japanese conservatives to further rewrite Japan’s wartime history.”   https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-04-25/ukraine-removes-hirohito-video-with-hitler-mussolini   Japan blames everything on its military leaders, who are enshrined as national heroes anyway.

U.S. commits another $713 million to Ukraine conflict. “The United States intends to obligate more than $713 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) for Ukraine and 15 other Allied and partner nations. More than $322 million in this obligation is for Ukraine and will provide support for the capabilities Ukraine needs as Russia’s forces train their focus on the Donbas; this assistance will also help Ukraine’s armed forces transition to more advanced weapons and air defense systems. This assistance will also help NATO Allies with backfilling capabilities they have donated to Ukraine from their own stockpiles.”   https://libertarianinstitute.org/news-roundup/biden-approves-713-million-in-weapons-for-ukraine-hopes-war-will-leave-russia-weakened/

Iraq’s foreign minister lodges protest against Turkish military incursions into the country’s north. “‘The Foreign Minister presented [evidence] of the presence of the PKK [in northern Iraq] since 1984 and confirmed that what is rumored about the existence of an agreement allowing Turkey to penetrate northern Iraq is incorrect. There are only minutes of a meeting between Baghdad and Ankara before 2003 allowing the latter to penetrate to a depth of 5 km only, and for limited days, in coordination with the Iraqi government.’ [foreign ministry spokesperson Ahmed] al-Sahaf said.”   https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/25042022

Turkey accused of shelling SDF positions in northern Syria. “‘The targeting of Kobani, shelling of innocent civilians, & killings of administrative figures by drones are provocations that threaten security & peace & hinder anti-ISIS operations,’ the commander-in-chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazloum Abdi tweeted on Friday…. Turkish shelling targeted several positions controlled by the SDF over the past week, including areas around Ayn Issa, Tal Abyad, Manbij, Tal Tamr. At least six people have been killed and 10 wounded in the strikes, according to the Rojava Information Centre.”   https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/turkey-shells-kobane-us-calls-de-escalation

About 90 people have been killed and 190 wounded in recent terror attacks in Afghanistan. “‘We are taking serious steps in this regard to pursue the perpetrators and punish them and to eliminate their sanctuaries,’ said Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate.”   https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-177734

More than 200 killed in Darfur, Sudan in clashes between rival groups. “Eight people were killed on Friday and more than 200 on Sunday in and around the city of Kreinik [in the latest attacks on civilians and local forces, blamed on Janjaweed militia]. By Monday fighting had spread to the regional capital, El Geneina, between the Sudanese government’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the notorious paramilitary group headed by Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, and a local militia called the Sudanese coalition forces, headed by Khamis Abdullah Abakar, the governor of West Darfur and former rebel leader.”   https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/apr/26/janjaweed-militia-blamed-for-attacks-that-left-at-least-200-dead-in-darfur

Human rights lawyer who sued oil company on behalf of indigenous Amazonians finally freed from home detention. “We are relieved that Steven Donziger will finally recover his freedom after almost 1,000 days of arbitrary detention, which included 45 days in prison and over 900 days under house arrest,” Daniel Joloy, senior policy advisor at Amnesty International, said in a statement Monday. “He should have never been detained for even one day, as it has been clear the whole process against him has been in retaliation for his human rights work that exposed corporate wrongdoings.”   https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/04/25/steven-donziger-walks-free-after-993-days-completely-unjust-detention

April 25, 2022

Man who immolated himself at Supreme Court on Earth Day was a climate activist and Buddhist. “[Wynn] Bruce set himself on fire in an apparent imitation of Vietnamese monks who burned themselves to death in protest during the Vietnam War. His Facebook page commemorated the death of Thich Nhat Hanh, an influential Zen Buddhist master and anti-war activist who died in January…. ‘The press spoke then of suicide, but in the essence, it is not. It is not even a protest,’ Thich Nhat Hanh wrote of the monks, adding that ‘to burn oneself by fire is to prove that what one is saying is of the utmost importance.’ ….. Bruce’s Facebook page frequently spoke of climate change activism, as well as Buddhism.”   https://www.denverpost.com/2022/04/24/wynn-bruce-climate-change-self-immolation/

Cholera beats plague in French presidential run-off election. “[Emmanuel] Macron won with 58.5% of the vote to [Marine] Le Pen’s 41.5% — significantly closer than when they first faced off in 2017.”   https://apnews.com/f5b549e3b99930ee05bed17a9d3870b6   “The disillusion with Macron was reflected in an abstention rate expected to settle around 28%, the highest since 1969.”   https://indianexpress.com/article/world/france-election-winner-macron-le-pen-7885634/   “Many of those unsatisfied with the final two candidates stayed home. The voter abstention rate for the runoff was 28%, according to the French Interior Ministry, the highest for a runoff since 2002.”   https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/24/europe/french-election-results-macron-le-pen-intl/index.html

Former CIA agent John Kiriakou describes illegal and pointless torture of Abu Zubaydah. “First, the problem with the torture techniques used on Abu Zubaydah was that, the opinions of George W. Bush-appointed Justice Department attorneys notwithstanding, they were specifically prohibited by law. The Federal Torture Act, 18 U.S. Code § 2340, clearly defines torture…. ‘Whoever outside the United States commits or attempts to commit torture shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both, and if death results to any person from conduct prohibited by this subsection, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life.’ …. Abu Zubaydah’s torture began in earnest on August 4, 2002. From that date through August 23, according to senate investigators, he was subjected to the entire host of techniques…. By August 9, 2002, the interrogation team reported to CIA headquarters that they had come to a ‘collective preliminary assessment’ that it was ‘highly unlikely’ that Abu Zubaydah ‘had actionable new information about current threats to the United States’. That didn’t stop the interrogation, however…. The constant torture, using all of the CIA’s techniques, continued 24 hours a day until August 20. By now Abu Zubaydah was psychologically broken…. The interrogators were no closer to foiling a terrorist plot—or even to determining whether there was a terrorist plot—than they were when Abu Zubaydah was first captured.”   https://scheerpost.com/2022/04/24/john-kiriakou-on-abu-zubaydah-and-unethical-cia-practices/

Legislator in India arrested after criticizing prime minister on social media. “Jignesh Mevani, a prominent campaigner for India’s marginalised low-caste Dalit community, accused the Hindu nationalist leader of idolising Nathuram Godse, the assassin of India’s independence icon Mahatma Gandhi…. He also demanded that [Narendra] Modi apologise for communal violence in Gujarat, where Mevani is a member of the state legislature. He was arrested on Thursday on accusations of attempting to disturb ‘public tranquillity and peace’, the police said.”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/22/indian-lawmaker-arrested-after-tweet-criticising-narendra-modi

News shows much more likely to blame workers than management for inflation. “Of the 310 segments that covered inflation, eight identified profiteering as a causal factor, while 50 put the focus on workers, either in the form of labor shortage or supply-side social spending arguments (the latter being a proxy for the former).”   https://fair.org/home/blaming-workers-hiding-profits-in-primetime-inflation-coverage/

April 24, 2022

Charges dropped against black Memphis woman sentenced to six years in prison for registering to vote. “The central issue in her case was whether [Pamela Moses] had known she was ineligible to vote when a probation officer filled out and signed a form indicating she was done with probation for a 2015 felony conviction and eligible to cast a ballot. Even though the probation officer admitted he had made a mistake, and Moses said she had no idea she was ineligible to vote, prosecutors said she knew she was ineligible and had deceived him…. The case stirred national outrage because it underscored disparities in the way Black people are punished for voting errors…. More than one in five otherwise eligible Black voters – 175,000 people – cannot vote in Tennessee because of a felony conviction, according to an estimate by the Sentencing Project, a criminal justice non-profit organization.”   https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/22/pamela-moses-prosecutor-drops-charges-memphis-tennessee

Colorado man dies after setting himself on fire in front of U.S. Supreme Court. “Police identified the man as 50-year-old Wynn Bruce, of Boulder, Colorado, and said he died of his injuries after being airlifted to a hospital following the incident. At approximately 6:30 p.m., he went on to the plaza in front of the court building and set himself on fire, the court said. The court did not offer any specifics on the person or what their motivation may have been.”   https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-person-sets-themselves-fire/   “A man who reportedly set himself on fire near the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., on Friday has been identified as 54-year-old Wynn Bruce of Boulder, according to the Metropolitan Police Department…. Bruce was observed sitting on a bench about 6:05 p.m. Friday. A short time after that, she said, Supreme Court officers saw the man engulfed in flame.”   https://www.denverpost.com/2022/04/23/wynn-bruce-boulder-supreme-court-fire-death/   Usually when people do something like this they are trying to make a statement of some kind, so it’s a bit suspicious that there was no apparent motive. I’ll bet security at the Supreme Court has video.   “A Facebook page belonging to a person named Wynn Bruce said he was a Buddhist and a climate activist…. A Buddhist priest from Boulder said she knew Bruce and called his death ‘an act of compassion’…. ‘This act is not suicide. This is a deeply fearless act of compassion to bring attention to [the] climate crisis. We are piecing together info but he had been planning it for at least one year.'”   https://nypost.com/2022/04/23/wynn-bruce-dies-after-lighting-himself-on-fire-outside-supreme-court/   Mystery solved. Not one Google News headline includes the phrase ‘climate crisis’ or ‘protest’.

Protesters demand climate action at events in more than 40 U.S. cities. “Scores of people in communities around the United States took to the streets on Saturday to demand swift and bold legislative and executive action to tackle the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis as well as skyrocketing inequality…. The nationwide mobilization—organized by a coalition of more than 20 labor, civil rights, and environmental justice groups including SEIU, NAACP, the Sierra Club, the Sunrise Movement, the Center for Popular Democracy, and the Green New Deal Network—took place one day after Earth Day.”   https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/04/23/rallies-held-across-us-climate-care-jobs-and-justice

Gun violence deaths among children and teens soared almost 30% in 2020 to become leading cause of death for young people. “Firearm-related deaths among people between 1 and 19 years old jumped 29.5% from 2019 to 2020, more than double the increase in the general population. The most common types of gun-related deaths in those age groups were homicide and suicide…. The researchers wrote in a letter to the editor in the [New England Journal of Medicine] that the new data is ‘consistent with other evidence that firearm violence has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic’ and that the reason for the increase was ‘unclear’.”   https://www.axios.com/guns-leading-death-cause-children-teens-2020-6a5f2119-6f56-4f97-b6ea-8a21ce6ce185.html   I suspect this is mainly due to gangster activity, since that lifestyle is attracting more young people, as in Mexico, resulting in more gun violence.

Virginia’s new, Republican attorney general drops prosecution of federal officers who shot unarmed motorist. “Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has dropped an effort to prosecute two U.S. Park Police officers who fatally shot an unarmed motorist back in 2017…. Dashcam video released by Fairfax County Police…. shows the car driven by [Bijan] Ghaisar stopping twice during the chase, and officers approaching the car with guns drawn. In both cases, Ghaisar drives off. At the third and final stop, the officers again approach with guns drawn…. When the car starts to move, [Officer Alejandro] Amaya opens fire. Seconds later, when the car begins moving again, both Amaya and [Lucas] Vinyard fire multiple shots.”   https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/virginia-ag-ends-effort-to-prosecute-park-police-officers

Truck searches on Mexico-Texas border caused $4.2 billion in economic losses, no illegal drugs or migrants found. “The Texas Tribune reports that over an eight-day period beginning on April 8, troopers conducted more than 1,400 truck inspections. Despite no drugs being discovered, troopers managed to take 850 trucks off the road for various equipment violations, including under-inflated tires, broken turn signals and oil leaks.”   https://www.chron.com/politics/article/Border-inspections-law-Abbott-policy-migrants-cost-17119380.php

Russian missiles hit military targets and residential areas of Odessa, at least 8 civilians killed. “Russia’s Ministry of Defense confirmed that it conducted air strikes in the Odessa area – but claimed that a logistics base at a nearby Ukrainian military airfield was the intended target. The strike on the crucial port city gave credence to Zelensky’s warning that Putin has set his sights on [Transnistria] in Moldova, the Soviet breakaway state located just to Odessa’s west.”   https://nypost.com/2022/04/23/russian-missiles-hit-odessa-apartment-blocks-killing-5/

Human Rights Watch investigates Bucha killings, finds evidence of Russian war crimes. “The rights group’s researchers spent a week interviewing residents in Bucha, a suburb of the capital, Kyiv, earlier this month. They found evidence of summary executions, torture and enforced disappearances by Russian forces, ‘all of which would constitute war crimes and potential crimes against humanity,’ the group said…. They documented 16 alleged unlawful killings, including nine summary executions and seven ‘indiscriminate killings of civilians’…. The bodies of residents who had been forcibly disappeared were found laying on streets or in yards after Russian forces withdrew, the report said, and some of the bodies showed signs of torture.”   https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/21/bucha-ukraine-russia-war-hrw-report/   “The chief regional prosecutor in Bucha, Ruslan Kravchenko, told Human Rights Watch on April 15 that 278 bodies had been found in the town since Russian forces withdrew, the vast majority of them civilians, and that the number was expected to rise as more bodies are discovered. Prior to the conflict, Bucha had a population of about 36,000…. funeral home worker, Serhii Matiuk, who helped collect bodies, said that he had personally collected about 200 bodies from the streets since the Russian invasion began on February 24. Most of the victims were men, he said, but some were women and children. Almost all of them had bullet wounds, he said, including around 50 whose hands were tied and whose bodies had signs of torture. Bodies found with hands tied strongly suggests that the victims had been detained and summarily executed.”   https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/04/21/ukraine-russian-forces-trail-death-bucha   It’s not clear from this report if HRW also investigated claims that Ukrainian security forces entered Bucha after the Russians withdrew to ‘cleanse’ the city of collaborators. It’s possible that HRW was not aware of those accusations, but residents would probably mention that during interviews if they had observed that, unless they were worried about the interpreter reporting them.

Woman who fled taxi outside Monterrey, Mexico found dead. “The haunting story of a young law student left on the side of a highway late at night in northern Mexico ended in sorrow, with her decomposing body found in a subterranean water tank at a motel…. It was not clear why [Debanhi Escobar] got out of the car, but her father, Mario Escobar, said prosecutors told him that surveillance camera footage suggested the driver inappropriately touched his daughter…. During the week authorities were searching for Escobar, local media reported that the bodies of five other women and girls had been found in the state. The victims had all been reported missing around the same time as Debanhi. Four were 16 or younger. Later, the head of the state Search Commission, Mary Balderas, said the reports were wrong. She said all five young women had been found alive.”   https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mexico-debanhi-escobar-body-found-motel-water-tank/

NLRB asks federal courts to force Starbucks to rehire fired union activists. “One suit is linked to the February firing of seven Starbucks workers in Memphis, which the board said was retaliation because they ‘joined or assisted the union and engaged in concerted activities, and to discourage employees from engaging in these activities’…. Another suit is an attempt to force Starbucks to rehire three employees in Phoenix, Ariz., that the NLRB claims were fired or forced out illegally.”   https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2022/04/23/labor-board-sues-Starbucks-union-retaliation/1281650762649/

Iowa taxpayers to cover $26.5 million of new hockey arena and mall renovation expenses. “The Iowa Economic Development Authority board unanimously approved plans for a special reinvestment district at the mall, which will allow the city of Urbandale to keep a larger than usual share of revenues there. Urbandale city officials will use the funds to back a bond covering some of the private developers’ up-front construction costs.”   https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2022/04/22/des-moines-buccaneers-hockey-crossroads-mall-fort-dodge-funding-merle-hay/7412542001/

First person charged under new New Hampshire law banning sexual relationships between school employees and students for 10 months after graduation is a female drama instructor. “The criminal case tests a new legal provision, known as the Howie Leung Loophole Law, intended to prevent those holding positions of authority from engaging in any kind of sexual contact with students, even if the student is not a juvenile and out of school at the time…. Rockingham County Attorney Patricia Conway said if there is a conviction, the maximum sentence for each aggravated felonious sexual assault offense is 10 to 20 years in prison. The felonious sexual assault penalty carries a 3 ½ to 7-year sentence, according to the indictment…. According to published reports, when the alleged crimes took place, [Bridgette] Doucette-Howell was working at Sanborn Regional High School in Kingston as a drama coach, her connection with the school on a limited basis for its theater arts extracurricular activity.”   https://www.seacoastonline.com/story/news/local/2022/04/21/nh-teacher-sex-assault-case-first-under-howie-leung-loophole-law/7367903001/   20 years in prison for consensual sex with an 18 year-old?

New York City traffic enforcement officer claims he was attacked by FBI agent over parking ticket. “Traffic agent Dipankar Dipu said he was still nursing an injured shoulder four days after his Sunnyside clash with fuming fed Kenneth Diu, who was parked between a metered spot and a bus stop. ‘I can’t say what made him react so unprofessionally,’ Dipu told The News on Saturday. ‘I was just doing my job.’ …. The federal agent was accused of assaulting and then handcuffing Dipu after the traffic agent refused to void the parking summons last Tuesday, police said. As of Saturday, no charges had been filed against the FBI agent…”   https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-fbi-agent-attacks-tea-agent-queens-20220423-7pmsyipmlvco5kfwbcxji43mvi-story.html

General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin ask their shareholders to vote against human rights ‘due diligence’ assessments. “The shareholder proposal cites an Amnesty International report from 2019 that concluded that the company did not meet its human rights due diligence responsibilities. The proposal also suggests that failing on the human rights front may have ‘legal, financial and reputational risks’ for shareholders. The board of directors at General Dynamics suggests shareholders vote against this proposal because they don’t believe there is ‘additive value to an amorphous human rights report’ and it would ‘destroy significant shareholder value’.”   https://www.jacobinmag.com/2022/04/defense-contractors-human-rights-transparency-lockheed-raytheon

Did federal agencies cover up aspects of the 1995 Oklahoma federal building bombing? Probably. Was the bombing part of a government plot to cover up Clinton crimes? Probably not. “Grand juror Hoppy Heidelberg came to the conclusion that the government was covering up key facts in trying to narrow the case to [Timothy] McVeigh and [Terry] Nichols; he expressed his belief on talk shows nationwide that there was a John Doe #2—and probably #3 and #4—and that the government was refusing to share the information with the American people…. Police and rescue personnel were told in no uncertain terms by one of the lead federal officials that it was necessary for security reasons to provide the public with ‘misinformation’ regarding certain aspects of the case, and that the ‘official line’ was not to be contradicted by any one of those in attendance. When Republican State Representative Charles Key tried to initiate a House investigation into the bombing, he was stymied by Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating [a former FBI agent]…. Adamant that ‘two evil men did this and two evil men paid,’ Keating said that Key and others who questioned the official narrative were ‘howling at the moon’…”   https://covertactionmagazine.com/2022/04/19/oklahoma-city-bombing-was-timothy-mcveigh-a-patsy-in-a-sinister-black-flag-operation/

April 23, 2022

High school student who played along with ‘racial profiling’ joke targeting him ended up in jail. “[Lennon] Betancourt’s health teacher, Guy Farber, had been teaching a lesson about school shootings and said that the ‘typical’ culprit was a ‘white male’. Betancourt was the only one in class who fit that bill, culminating in a crass but harmless exchange where students jested that he should spare them from any violent spree. A peer drew [a caricature of Lennon on the board, captioned ‘Future School Shooter’], and Betancourt posed with it, while Farber played along with the joke…. Sergeant Billy Matranga, a school resource officer… handcuffed Betancourt, brought him to the police station, and put him in a holding cell before questioning him about the picture. Matranga learned about the less-than-seedy details…. Yet he still moved forward with formally arresting Betancourt under Louisiana’s ‘terrorizing’ statute, a charge that carries up to 15 years in prison…. Despite the strange turn of events leading to Betancourt’s arrest, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit awarded Matranga qualified immunity…. Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan [dissented]…. ‘Lennon’s arrest was based on an obviously satiric photo, (1) that Lennon didn’t take, (2) that Lennon didn’t post online, and (3) that grew out of a classroom prank Lennon’s own teacher was in on,’ wrote Duncan…. Qualified immunity does not protect the officer who orchestrated this outrageous clown show.'”   https://reason.com/2022/04/21/cop-arrested-high-schooler-terrorizing-charges-for-class-joke-gets-qualified-immunity-louisiana/

Republican legislators reportedly implicated in Trump coup attempt. “Deposition excerpts filed by the Jan 6. select committee… suggest that some of Trump’s top allies in Congress were frequently present in meetings where a handful of strategies to prevent Joe Biden from taking office were discussed, including efforts to replace the leadership of the Justice Department with figures who would sow doubts about the legitimacy of the election. Lawmakers who attended meetings, in person or by phone, included Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and numerous members of the House Freedom Caucus…”   https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/22/gop-lawmakers-deeply-involved-in-trump-plans-to-overturn-election-new-evidence-suggests-00027340

Florida Dept. of Education releases example of math problem with hidden racial agenda. “It wasn’t much: a math exercise derived from a statistical model (based on an actual survey with two million respondents) that charted degrees of racial bias harbored by various age groups…. The left-wing propaganda was so subtly hidden that it could only be discerned by a leader hypersensitive to such threats. Someone like Ron DeSantis.”  https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/commentary/fl-op-col-grimm-math-textbook-censorship-20220422-5aafj2pbxvcrpbe3bladc6rm6e-story.html   “Kids in Florida classrooms will be taught uplifting, guilt-free accounts of slavery, segregation, [and] Jim Crow violence. Florida schools will put a happy face on the Trail of Tears.” Slavery? Let’s call them ‘aggressively recruited migrant workers’ who were offered the chance of a new life in America! (sarcasm)

President Biden orders inventory of mature and old growth forests, but not their protection from logging. “Biden’s executive order does not ban logging mature or old growth trees, or provide any new protections for them. But the agencies are ordered to produce the inventory in an expedited time frame, put it out for public comment and develop “science-based” policies that address the threats from wildfire and climate impacts.”   https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2022/04/biden-signs-order-that-goes-to-the-heart-of-oregons-forest-politics.html   This appearance of doing something without actually doing anything is so Bidenesque.

Two downtown Seattle homeless camps cleared in advance of President Biden’s visit. “The city of Seattle cleared two homeless encampments within a few blocks of the Westin Seattle this week in anticipation of President Joe Biden’s visit. Biden visited Seattle on Earth Day, in part to sign an executive order at Seward Park aimed at protecting old-growth forests from the ravages of wildfires.”   https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/homeless/two-homeless-camps-removed-ahead-of-president-joe-bidens-seattle-visit/

Hundreds attend funeral of Grand Rapids police shooting victim Patrick Lyoya. “Video of Lyoya’s stop and fatal shooting, which has been seen nationwide, raises  questions of whether fatal force was necessary and whether race was an issue in the stop and shooting. In recent years, police officers nationally have come under increased scrutiny as media outlets have uncovered how hundreds of motorists who were not wielding a weapon or sought for a violent crime [have been killed during traffic stops].”   https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/04/22/patrick-lyoya-funeral-grand-rapids/7407885001/   The end of the sentence is missing from story, but I think that’s what they intended to write.

Israeli police and Palestinian protesters clash again at Al-Aqsa mosque. “Video footage showed the police firing at a group of journalists holding cameras and loudly identifying themselves as members of the press. At least three Palestinian reporters were wounded by rubber bullets fired by police…. The Palestinian Red Crescent medical service said at least 31 Palestinians were wounded, including 14 who were taken to hospitals.”   https://apnews.com/article/business-middle-east-religion-jerusalem-israel-70ec6d764384ad816c8a5adb81b770d8

Six Russian oligarchs found dead so far in 2022. “Both [recent] deaths are believed by police to be cases of murder-suicide, but the evidence supporting these theories is muddled by the fact that the events happened so close together, with the two oligarchs the last of several who have been found to have committed suicide since the beginning of the year.”   https://www.newsweek.com/every-russian-oligarch-who-has-died-since-putin-invaded-ukraine-full-list-1700022

North Texas BBQ chain included managers in tip pool. “Hard Eight BBQ… shorted 910 employees $867,572 in tips and overtime pay, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Labor Thursday. The restaurant, which has five locations scattered around [Dallas-Fort Worth], ‘violated the law by including managers in their tip pool,’ the report said. ‘By doing so, the employer denied tipped workers some of their tips and managers proper overtime wages.’”   https://www.dallasnews.com/food/restaurant-news/2022/04/22/hard-eight-bbq-failed-to-pay-employees-867k-in-tips-and-overtime-feds-say/

Union wins could signal another resurgence for organized labor. “Though labor historians say the push is in its early days, [Prof.] Erik Loomis also said it could be as important to the labor movement as the Service Employees International Union’s organization of janitors in the 1990s and 2000s, and could take on additional significance because of the companies involved…. U.S. auto makers were the dominant companies in the most important industry in the nation early in the 20th century. Big Tech occupies that spot today, but unions have so far organized just a fraction of the massive, 1 million-plus workforce of one of the tech giants, Amazon…. they will need to reach others who have similar concerns and grievances at places like Walmart, which has been defeating unions for its entire history.”   https://www.marketwatch.com/story/unions-push-at-amazon-apple-and-starbucks-could-be-most-significant-moment-in-the-american-labor-movement-in-decades-11650657386

Workers at Starbucks Seattle Roastery vote in favor of union representation. “The Seattle store voted 38-27 to unionize. Workers United said 26 Starbucks locations have unionized nationwide. The Starbucks Reserve and Roastery in the Capitol Hill neighborhood is the business’ second to unionize in its hometown of Seattle.”   https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10741535/Workers-unionize-flagship-Seattle-Starbucks-roastery.html

Summoned Tesla reportedly bumped into $3.5 million dollar jet parked at airfield. “While the company did not elaborate on the accident, in a statement, Cirrus confirmed that the aircraft struck by the Tesla was in fact the company’s Vision Jet.”   https://www.dailydot.com/debug/tesla-crash-vision-jet-autpilot-video/

Couch surfing billionaire has four room private jet. “Despite saying he couch surfs and currently doesn’t have a home, Elon Musk admits he does have one luxury – his $66.5 million private jet…. The jet also features a spacious laboratory [sic] and four large living room spaces featuring cream-colored leather seats and wood furniture. One of the living spaces includes a VIP cabin with a sliding door perfect for holding private meetings. It has a sofa as well as a flat screen television. The total of 19 seats in the living spaces all recline and have footrests, and can be converted into beds.”   https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10743955/Is-Elon-Musks-luxury-Inside-Tesla-CEOs-66-5-million-Gulfstream-G650ER.html

Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows was allegedly registered to vote in three states. “According to [the Washington Post], Meadows was registered in Virginia, South Carolina, and North Carolina until he was removed from the latter’s voter rolls as state officials investigate whether he fraudulently voted in the 2020 election. He is still registered to vote in Virginia and South Carolina…. North Carolina investigators are focusing on whether Meadows voted by absentee ballot in 2020 using the address of a home that he neither owned nor lived in.”   https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/04/22/ardent-voting-fraud-accuser-mark-meadows-registered-vote-multiple-states

Climate protesters target corporate media over low-key coverage of climate crisis. “The demonstration singled out News Corp, The New York Times Company, and Gannett—which respectively own the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and USA Today—for ‘enabling the government’s gaslighting of the public’ by burying critical climate stories below the fold or in later pages.”   https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/04/22/activists-blockade-corporate-newspapers-over-inadequate-climate-coverage

April 22, 2022

Houston city council passes ordinance requiring businesses to install video cameras and to allow police no-warrant access to the recorded data. “The rules apply to all Houston bars, convenience stores, game rooms, nightclubs, or sexually-oriented businesses. Owners of these establishments must install (on their own dime) surveillance cameras in outdoor areas ‘providing video coverage from the exterior of the building to the property line.’ Businesses must keep these cameras running 24 hours a day, and store camera footage for at least 30 days. If surveillance footage is requested by the Houston Police Department, businesses must turn it over within 72 hours. Failure to comply would mean fines of $500 per day.”   https://reason.com/2022/04/21/houston-says-businesses-must-install-surveillance-cameras-and-cops-can-view-footage-without-a-warrant/

President Obama calls for tighter regulation of speech on social media. “… it is not necessary for people to believe [disinformation] in order to weaken democratic institutions,” he said. “You just have to flood a country’s public square with enough raw sewage. You just have to raise enough questions, spread enough dirt, plant enough conspiracy theorizing that citizens no longer know what you believe,” he said. “Once they lose trust in their leaders, the mainstream media, political institutions, in each other, in the possibility of truth, the game is won.”   https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/apr/21/obama-new-social-media-curbs-needed-protect-democr/   “Commentators from journalist Glenn Greenwald to author Benjamin Weingarten pointed out the irony of a Democrat leader complaining about disinformation when the Hunter Biden laptop story was censored by Democrat-friendly social media companies and the Russia-collusion story was peddled by Obama’s Democrat allies and in the press for the last six years…. Liberal journalist Glenn Greenwald… posted a picture of a 2020 Politico article titled, ‘Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say’…. Conservative radio host Austin Petersen posted a sarcastic response… saying, ‘I’m sure there’s no way this will ever be abused…'”   https://www.foxnews.com/media/obama-mocked-initiative-stop-spread-disinformation-no-way-this-will-ever-be-abused   As someone who has had mainstream media news stories about government cover-ups and misconduct deleted from Facebook, apparently because they offended someone, I can testify that censorship is occurring to cover up politically inconvenient facts that challenge the illusion that the U.S. is an inclusive, open and healthy democracy, and that safeguards are effectively protecting us from violations of our constitutional rights by our government. How many ‘conspiracy theories’ turn out to be true? Mass, warrantless government surveillance programs? Government torture programs? Infiltration and surveillance of peace, environmental and social justice groups? Arming political extremists and drug cartels? UFO denial? Kennedy assassination cover-up? 9/11 cover-up? U.S. funded virus gain-of-function research? It sounds like under President Obama’s plan, these kinds of ‘divisive’ ‘conspiracy theories’ could be censored on social media in the name of ‘preserving trust in our leaders’.

Biden administration to send an additional $800 million in military aid and $500 million in ‘direct economic assistance’ to Ukraine. “Mr Biden said the newest aid packages bring the total amount sent to Kyiv this month alone to more than a billion dollars, and credited the defence assistance provided by the US and EU with helping Ukrainian forces fend off Russia’s invasion over the last two months.”   https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/biden-military-aid-weapons-ukraine-b2062543.html   But no money for Build Back Better, a Green New Deal or Medicare for All.

Arizona voters won’t have chance to vote on huge income tax cut. “The Arizona Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the state’s voters do not have the right to reject a massive income tax cut approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Doug Ducey last year…. The high court overturned a lower court judge who ruled in favor of education advocates who collected enough signatures under the state’s referendum law to block them from taking effect until voters could weigh in in November…. The Legislature’s budget analysts said the average Arizonan earning between $75,000 and $100,000 will save $231 a year in state income taxes. Meanwhile, the average taxpayer earning between $500,000 and $1 million a year will save more than $12,000, according to the Legislature’s budget analysts.”   https://news.yahoo.com/arizona-supreme-court-reinstates-massive-232455993.html

Former Philadelphia police officer who allegedly smashed car windows, pulled black mom from car, is charged with assault. “Around 1 a.m. on Oct. 27, 2020, [Rickia] Young and her 2-year-old son were in her car picking up her 16-year-old nephew in West Philadelphia…. Young tried to take her usual route home from West Philly when she encountered protests and police officers at the intersection of 52nd and Chestnut streets…. [Officer Darren] Kardos allegedly began breaking the windows with his metal baton. Kardos is accused of pulling Young out of the SUV by her hair…. [Philadelphia District Attorney Larry] Krasner says Young was then hit by fists, batons and a number of other unknown objects. Young was also sprayed with mace, Krasner said. Young’s attorney Kevin Mincey stated she had swelling on her face and body, a swollen trachea and was bleeding.”   https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/fired-officer-to-be-charged-for-assaulting-mom-during-unrest-da-says/3214551/

CIA-run Camp 7 at Guantanamo prison camp ‘indistinguishable from overseas black sites’ say gagged defense attorneys. “‘It was like being buried alive,’ [defense attorney Susan Hensler] said…. The legal teams that have visited in recent months were allowed to describe their impressions of the facility but not specific features. Neither military nor C.I.A. spokesmen would discuss the conditions.”   https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/21/us/politics/cia-prison-gitmo.html

Surveillance company is linking publicly available phone location data to social media posts to email addresses. “With their powers combined, A6 proposed, Zignal’s corporate and governmental clients could not only surveil global social media activity, but also determine who exactly sent certain tweets, where they sent them from, who they were with, where they’d been previously, and where they went next. This enormously augmented capability would be an obvious boon to both regimes keeping tabs on their global adversaries and companies keeping tabs on their employees…. In addition to location, A6 claimed that it has built a library of over 2 billion email addresses and other personal details that people share when signing up for smartphone apps that can be used to identify who the GPS ping belongs to.”   https://theintercept.com/2022/04/22/anomaly-six-phone-tracking-zignal-surveillance-cia-nsa/

Expert warns of possible genocide brewing in India. “A genocide prevention expert who predicted the Rwandan genocide five years before it happened has warned of the possibility of a similar campaign against India’s Muslims…. [Gregory] Stanton was alarmed by a conference held in India’s Haridwar city last month where Hindu religious leaders close to the ruling party swore to take up arms to kill the country’s Muslims, in order to create a ‘pure Hindu nation’.”   https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgmjd8/stanton-rwanda-genocide-prediction-india-muslims

Few Democratic Party voters see Israel as one of the ‘top allies’ of U.S. “The poll, conducted by the University of Maryland, found that 0.5 percent of Democratic respondents saw Israel as the first-choice US ally, while 0.9 percent found Israel a second-choice. The UK, Canada, Germany, Mexico, France, Japan, South Korea and China all rated higher among Democratic voters, according to the survey. The poll showed that more Republicans, 20 percent, see Israel as their top ally, as do four percent of registered Independents.”   https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-few-us-democrats-view-top-ally-poll-suggests

Editor of news outlet shut down by the authorities in Singapore is sentenced to three weeks in jail for accusing government ministers of corruption. “[Terry] Xu’s jailing adds to fears over worsening of media freedoms in Singapore, which ranks 160th out of 180 territories in Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, behind Belarus and Russia…. Separately, Xu and another Online Citizen writer were ordered to pay substantial damages last year after losing a defamation suit against the prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong.”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/22/singapore-editor-jailed-defamation-corruption-claims-terry-xu-online-citizen

Climate protests planned for Saturday, April 23rd in cities across the U.S. “Over 20 advocacy organizations are planning a nationwide “Fight for Our Future” mobilization for Saturday to demand climate action from the Biden administration and Congress…. ‘From Alaska to Puerto Rico, our communities can’t afford more bureaucratic delays in short and long-term solutions that develop clean energy and prevent natural disasters, massive community displacements, and crisis profiteering. Our federal government must act now.'”   https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/04/21/us-mobilization-planned-demand-livable-just-and-healthy-planet-all

Most student loan borrowers say they would struggle to resume making payments. “A survey out Thursday shows that more than half of student loan borrowers in the United States say they would not currently be able to make a single monthly debt payment if they were required to, a finding that comes amid mounting calls for universal student debt cancellation…. The average monthly student loan payment in the U.S. is $460, according to the Education Data Initiative.”   https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/04/21/more-half-us-student-loan-borrowers-say-they-cant-afford-single-payment

April 21, 2022

Biden administration restores some environmental rules revoked by Trump administration. “In its 2020 NEPA regulatory rewrite, the Trump administration got rid of explicit requirements to consider an [infrastructure project’s] indirect effects — those that happen later on or further removed, but are still reasonably foreseeable. It also got rid of the explicit requirement to consider its cumulative effects, which refers to how a project’s pollution may interact with other pollution sources to make some areas particularly polluted.”   https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/3273660-energy-environment-biden-bolsters-environmental-reviews/

Dept. of Justice investigation finds state prison failing to meet constitutional standards. “A Mississippi prison violated inmates’ constitutional rights by failing to protect them from violence, meet their mental health needs or take adequate steps for suicide prevention, and by relying too much on prolonged solitary confinement, the U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday…. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, said 10 homicides and 12 suicides have occurred among inmates [at the Mississippi State Penitentiary] at Parchman since 2019.”   https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/feds-find-severe-systemic-problems-mississippi-prison-84196660

State trooper charged with manslaughter two years after fatal shooting of fleeing black motorist. “A Connecticut state trooper who fired seven gunshots into a car and killed a man in 2020 after a high-speed chase has been charged with manslaughter…. [Trooper Brian] North fatally shot 19-year-old Mubarak Soulemane in January 2020 as Soulemane sat in the driver’s seat of a car in West Haven, where the chase ended and police boxed in the car. North told officials he feared Soulemane was going to attack other officers with a knife…. Soulemane had a knife, but he was inside the car by himself and police should have attempted to deescalate the situation, they said…. The [state police] union defended North’s actions.”   https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trooper-brian-north-charged-mubarak-soulemane-death_n_62605b25e4b041ee264ff185

Biden administration begins $6 billion program to bail out uncompetitive nuclear power industry. “A certification and bidding process opened Tuesday for a civil nuclear credit program that is intended to bail out financially distressed owners or operators of nuclear power reactors, the U.S. Department of Energy told The Associated Press…. Owners or operators of nuclear power reactors that are expected to shut down for economic reasons can apply for funding to avoid closing prematurely…. Low electricity prices are the main cause of this trend…”   https://apnews.com/2cf1e633fd4d5b1d5c56bb9ffbb2a50a   The government re-deploys its corporate safety net. Why not buy the plants at a huge discount and nationalize them?

Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders both considering presidential runs in 2024, both will be over 80. “‘In the event of an open 2024 Democratic presidential primary, Sen. Sanders has not ruled out another run for president, so we advise that you answer any questions about 2024 with that in mind,’ says the memo from Faiz Shakir, a close Sanders adviser who was his campaign manager when he ran in 2020…. ‘Sen. Sanders is putting forward an extremely popular vision for the Democratic Party that will win back critical support that we have lost.'”   https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/20/sanders-president-2024/

CIA ‘black site’ operative nicknamed ‘Queen of Torture’ gives first interview, has no regrets. “America’s War on Terror changed millions of lives irrevocably…. Thousands of people – some guilty, some not – were abducted, interrogated, tortured, and detained without trials. The woman who presided over or witnessed many of these crimes is now a life coach…. Judging by what [Alfreda Scheuer (née Bikowsky)] told Reuters, she doesn’t regret a thing, telling the publication that waterboarding was not torture, and that she received criticism a male spy wouldn’t have gotten in a similar role…. According to Reuters, Scheuer is now a life coach at a company she runs… where she helps women ‘look good, feel good, and do good’.”    https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/alfreda-scheuer-cia-torture-queen-life-coach-1340433/

Capitol riot investigators in Congress reportedly considering amending Insurrection Act. “… some see a doomsday type scenario where a future rogue president may try to use the military to [carry out a coup d’etat] but others worry about removing the power of a president to quickly deploy armed troops…. The Insurrection Act of 1807 allows the President to deploy U.S. military and federalized National Guard troops against an insurrection…. The act has only been invoked twice in the past 40 years – to quiet unrest after Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and during the Los Angeles riots in 1992. After Joe Biden was declared the victor in the 2020 presidential election, some Trump supporters suggested using the military to declare martial law and seize voting machines.”   https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10736613/January-6-committee-considering-rewriting-1807-Insurrection-Act.html

Republican Congressman reportedly pulled over in March for expired tags, cop took his ‘invalid’ driver’s license. “Earlier this month, local outlet Queen City News released footage from a traffic stop in October during which [Rep. Madison] Cawthorn was pulled over for speeding. ‘I do not have my wallet on me,’ the lawmaker says when asked if he had his license…. The congressman was also pulled over in January of this year for going 17 miles over the speed limit.”   https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10737653/Madison-Cawthorn-pulled-cops-asked-hand-revoked-license-new-dashcam-video.html

Iraqi army skirmishes with Yazidi militia. “Islamic State (ISIS) militants took over Sinjar in August 2014, a Yazidi-majority district along Iraq’s north-western border with Syria, after the Iraqi army and the Kurdish peshmerga [KRG] forces retreated, leaving the Yazidis to experience a genocidal campaign of killings, rape, abductions and enslavement by the ISIS militants. Subsequently, the Yazidis established the armed Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS), with the help of the PKK to defend their vulnerable community. Ezidxane Security Forces are affiliated with the YBS, which is part of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). This is not the first incident in which the Iraqi army and PKK-affiliated forces have clashed. Several YBS commanders have also been killed in previous Turkish drone attacks on northern Iraq.”   https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/sinjar-residents-fear-escalation-after-iraqi-army-ybs-fight

Obama administration accused of arming Islamic extremists in Syria. “Buoyed by their quick success in Libya, the Obama administration set their sights on Damascus, by then a top regime change target in Washington…. Although top intelligence officials obscured the Benghazi operation in sworn testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, a Senate investigation eventually confirmed a direct CIA role in the movement of weapons from Libya to Syria…. Although the Obama administration claimed that the weapons funneled to Syria were intended for ‘moderate rebels’, they ultimately ended up in the hands of a jihadi-dominated insurgency.”   https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2022/04/20/al_qaeda_is_on_our_side_how_obamabiden_officials_helped_create_a_safe_haven_for_terrorists_in_syria_827477.html

Clashes between Hamas and Israel in south of the country reportedly sparked by Al-Aqsa mosque incursions. “Israeli warplanes launched an attack in the Gaza Strip targeting what the military said was a weapons manufacturing site belonging to Hamas, the Palestinian group that administers the coastal enclave…. The attack comes after a rocket fired from the besieged Gaza Strip into southern Israel was intercepted on Monday, the first such attack in months amid soaring tensions over Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem…. Hamas had warned that any incidents at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a site revered by Muslims and Jews, would be a ‘red line’ after Israeli forces raided the site in occupied East Jerusalem several times in recent days, arresting hundreds of Palestinians and leaving dozens injured.”   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/18/rocket-from-gaza-into-southern-israel-intercepted

Russia refuses to participate in U.N. brokered ceasefire in Ukraine. “Russia has rejected a call from U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres for a four-day ceasefire. Guterres had called for the fighting to stop as Orthodox Christians in Russia and Ukraine prepare to mark Easter this Sunday…. ‘The onslaught and terrible toll on civilians we have seen so far could pale in comparison to the horror that lies ahead. This cannot be allowed to happen.'”   https://www.democracynow.org/2022/4/20/headlines/russia_rejects_un_ceasefire_proposal_ukrainian_refugees_top_5_million

Congressman accuses President Trump of orchestrating 2021 coup attempt. “Donald Trump attempted a coup on 6 January 2021 as he tried to salvage his doomed presidency, and that will be a central focus of forthcoming public hearings of the special House panel investigating events surrounding the insurrection at the US Capitol, the congressman Jamie Raskin has said….’This was a coup organized by the president against the vice-president and against the Congress in order to overturn the 2020 presidential election,’ Raskin said in an interview with the Guardian, Reuters news agency and the Climate One radio program.”   https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/19/donald-trump-jamie-raskin-january-6-committee-capitol-attack

Developed countries allegedly investing more in fossil fuel projects than in cleaner energy. “Oil Change International (OCI) unveiled its Public Finance for Energy Database—accessible at energyfinance.org—along with a briefing that lays out key findings…. The briefing points out that ‘G20 international public finance is currently blocking a just energy transition, bankrolling 2.5 times more fossil fuels than clean energy….. Between 2018 and 2020, G20 international public finance institutions provided at least $63 billion per year ($188 billion in total) for oil, gas, and coal projects.'”   https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/04/20/database-shows-rich-governments-funding-fossil-fuels-over-clean-energy

Combination of climate change and pesticide use threatening world’s insect population. “While insects may bug people at times, they also are key in pollinating plants to feed people, making soil more fertile and they include beautiful butterflies and fireflies…. Insect pollinators are responsible for about one-third of the human diet, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And 2 out of 5 species of invertebrate pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, are on the path toward extinction, a 2016 United Nations science report said.”   https://www.courthousenews.com/climate-change-big-agriculture-combine-to-threaten-insects/