Policies
Caitlin Johnstone: In an environment that is saturated with mass media propaganda, it can be hard to figure out which way’s up, let alone get an accurate read on what’s going on in the world. Here are a few tips I’ve learned which have given me a lot of clarity in seeing through the haze of spin and confusion. Taken separately they don’t tell you a lot, but taken together they paint a very useful picture of the world and why it is the way it is.
As the heart-wrenching story of a Honduran mother having her baby daughter ripped from her arms by federal authorities as she was breastfeeding provided yet another example of the immense cruelty of President Donald Trump’s family separation policy, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) on Wednesday led a sit-in outside the offices of Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) demanding that asylum-seekers be released from government detention and reunited with their loved ones immediately.
With a “green light” from the Trump administration and essential military support from the U.S. government, Saudi-led forces plowed ahead with an assault on the Yemeni port city of Hodeida on Wednesday, brushing aside dire warnings from international humanitarian organizations and a small group of American lawmakersthat an attack on the key aid harbor could spark a full-blown famine and endanger millions of lives. Win Without War wrote on Twitter that the attack on Hodeida is “a dark moment of shame for the United States. We could have stopped this.”
The California water shortage is greatly exaggerated for political purposes, which is the justification for more government control. It is a jarring fact that only 11% of available water is allocated for urban use, 41% goes to agriculture, and 48% is allocated to protect the environment. The federal government has control over that portion and requires most of it to flow into the Pacific Ocean! As we have seen in California’s Central Valley, which used to be the breadbasket of America, supplying over 50% of the nation’s vegetables, fruits and nuts, government control over water has become control over the food supply. No water, no food.
The 66th annual Bilderberg Meeting, which has been held in locations around the world throughout the years, kicked off on Thursday in Turin, Italy and is set to end on Sunday. Despite a prestigious guest list of around 130 attendees — who will arguably have more of a global influence than any elected officials — the meeting will escape any scrutiny in the mainstream media. The reason this meeting of the global elite manages to remain free from any mainstream media coverage is no accident. This group of elite power brokers owns the media, they own the politicians, and, arguably, they own the world.
Juan Romero continues to struggle with what happened that day 50 years ago, which saw him go from desperately hoping RFK would shake his hand to cradling the mortally-injured politician’s head on the floor of the hotel’s kitchen. “I remember extending my hand as far as I could, and then I remember him shaking my hand,” the California man, who worked at the hotel at the time, told StoryCorps which aired on NPR’s Morning Edition. “And as he let go, somebody shot him.”
With less than a week before the FCC’s “resoundingly unpopular” repeal of net neutrality rules go into effect on June 11th, defenders of the open internet and online consumers are warning members of the U.S. House of Representatives to either immediately back a resolution petition that would nullify the rules or “face the internet’s wrath.” According to Candace Clement, campaign director for the Free Press Action, “This will be one of the biggest showdowns of the summer in the House. For constituents everywhere Net Neutrality is non-negotiable. Our elected representatives can either side with the people and support the CRA or with the cable and phone lobby.” As part of their campaign, the coalition has organized a day of actions for TODAY (Thursday, June 7), so that citizens nationwide can visit or contact their House member in order to demand support for the CRA.
Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy, where every position of power is appointed by either the king or other members of the Al Saud royal family from which the nation derives its name. Trump recently visited Saudi Arabia, a close ally of the U.S., and took the opportunity to deeply criticize the two nations’ mutual foe, Iran, and its commitment to democracy weeks after it held its presidential election. Though clearly hilarious and at the same time appropriately awkward, the incident highlighted the fact that mainstream journalists rarely ask the obvious questions that might so easily expose the glaring hypocrisy of US foreign policy and its leaders.
With millions of Americans already on the brink of deep poverty, Philip Alston, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights and author of the new report, warned that Trump’s tax law, deregulatory agenda, and welfare cuts are driving the poor closer to complete “ruination,” which the U.N. official defines as “severe deprivation of food and almost no access to healthcare.”
Fighting back against the Trump administration’s “vile” new policy of separating young migrant children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, the ACLU is launching “Families Belong Together” rallies at immigration enforcement offices nationwide on Friday in an urgent effort to “end this practice for good.”
After Pompeo’s unveiled “Plan B” for nuclear negotiations—which comes around two weeks after President Donald Trump violated the Iran nuclear accord and placed the U.S. on the path to yet another war in the Middle East—National Iranian American Council (NIAC) president Trita Parsi argued that the Trump administration’s demands are intentionally unrealistic and “clearly designed to ensure there cannot be any new negotiation.”
After making the widely condemned and erroneous assertion that responsibility for Israel’s massacre of more than 50 Palestinians “rests squarely with Hamas,” the Trump administration on Monday unilaterally blocked a United Nations statement that expressed “outrage” at Israel’s killings and demanded “an independent and transparent” investigation. During an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley took the further step of applauding Israel forces during her speech for showing admirable “restraint” as it mowed down dozens of peaceful demonstrators.
If Any Other Country Was Shooting Civilians Like Israel, The US Would Be Calling For Invasion By Now
The death toll in Gaza increased dramatically on Monday as Israeli Defense Forces opened fire on thousands of Palestinian civilians, killing 41 and injuring at least 1,700, and the United States’ response served as a reminder that if the governments in Iran, Syria, North Korea or Russia had done the same thing, the U.S. would be calling for a full-scale invasion right now. It is hypocrisy at its finest, especially considering the fact that the U.S. has a history of cheering on and aiding protests against foreign governments. In fact, when the mainstream media began sharing reports of protests in Iran in December 2017, President Trump took to Twitter to cheer on the dissidents.
Overcoming weeks of extortionist threats and other forms of “corporate bullying” from the world’s largest retailer, Seattle’s City Council on Monday unanimously approved a new tax on Amazon—which paid nothing in federal income taxes last year—and other major companies in an effort to provide essential services for the homeless and combat the local housing crisis. Noting that the so-called “head tax” is quite modest relative to Amazon’s annual revenue and the pay of its CEO Jeff Bezos – the world’s richest man – Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant argued on Monday that “even a smaller tax is a huge victory,” given the “Goliath-like clout of Amazon.”
“This is a man who was a key adviser to President Bush, George W. Bush, in urging him to…invade Iraq because supposedly Iraq had weapons of mass destruction,” Sanders said of Bolton, who Trump selected to be his top foreign policy adviser in March. “As I think most Americans now know, that effort in Iraq was the worst foreign policy disaster in the modern history of this country.” (Plus, the death and devastation it caused in Iraq).
