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This evening's music features blues-rock guitarist and singer Bonnie Raitt. Enjoy!

"America has always been a country of amateurs where the professional, that is to say, the man who claims authority as a member of an élite which knows the law in some field or other, is an object of distrust and resentment."

-- W. H. Auden

News and Opinion

Mind the fnords!!! Fresh off of The Guardian's propaganda catapult. They have some nerve quoting Nina Jankowicz - Miss "Hunter Biden's laptop is russian disinformation" - as a "disinformation expert."

Limits on Biden officials working with social media firms a ‘weaponisation of the court’ – expert

Restricting the ability of the Biden administration to work with social media companies in countering online conspiracy theories is a “weaponisation of the court system” that could devastate the fight against misinformation ahead of the 2024 presidential election, a leading expert has warned.

Nina Jankowicz, a specialist in disinformation campaigns, told the Guardian that an injunction imposed by a federal judge on Tuesday against key federal agencies and officials blocking their communication with tech platforms could unleash false information in critical areas of public life. She said that election denialism and anti-vaccine propaganda could be the beneficiaries.

“This is a weaponisation of the court system. It is an intentional and purposeful move to disrupt the work that needs to be done ahead of the 2024 election, and it’s really chilling,” she said.

In Tuesday’s ruling, a federal judge from a US district in Louisiana imposed tough restrictions on federal agencies and officials liaising with social media companies over online content. The injunction, which the Biden administration appealed on Wednesday, comes amid mounting pressure from Republican leaders and rightwing groups claiming collusion between the Biden administration and social media platforms to censor conservative speech.

The judge, Terry Doughty, sided with Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri who sued the Biden administration, claiming it violated the first amendment right to free speech. He ruled that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits in showing that the government “has used its power to silence the opposition”.

Robby Soave: Liberal Media OUTRAGED That Judge Would DARE Block Biden’s Censorship Powers

Trudeau 2.0? Macron Threatens SUSPENDING Social Media In France Amidst Riots Over Police Killing

The mania for government control of social media spreads broadly among demockeries ...

Macron accused of authoritarianism after threat to cut off social media

Emmanuel Macron is facing a backlash after threatening to cut off social media networks as a means of stopping the spread of violence during periods of unrest. Élysée officials and government ministers responded on Wednesday by insisting the president was not threatening a “general blackout” but instead the “occasional and temporary” suspension of platforms.

The president’s comments came as ministers blamed young people using social media such as Snapchat and TikTok for organising and encouraging rioting and violence after the shooting dead of a teenager during a police traffic stop in a Paris suburb last week.“We need to think about how young people use social networks, in the family, at school, the interdictions there should be … and when things get out of hand we may have to regulate them or cut them off,” Macron told a meeting of more than 250 mayors, whose municipalities were hit by the violence, on Tuesday.

“Above all, we shouldn’t do this in the heat of the moment and I’m pleased we didn’t have to. But I think it’s a real debate that we need to have in the cold light of day,” Macron told the mayors in a video obtained by BFM television.

Critics said considering such measures would put France alongside authoritarian countries such as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. ...

Fatima Ouassak, co-founder of the Front de Mères (Mother’s Front) collective representing parents in the working-class banlieues, said the issue was a distraction. “It’s a diversion tactic. Instead of debating the issue of police violence … we are diverting to the responsibility of the social media networks and parents,” Ouassak told BFM television. “It’s secondary and about the authorities avoiding their responsibility.”

NATO summit and a failed, big counter-offensive

Ukraine Changes War Tactic To One That Will Cause It More Losses

After a month of failed attempts to reach the Russian defense lines the Ukrainian side is stuck. Its forces are unable to even cross the security zone in front of the Russian lines. The long promoted counter-offensive, launched to to pressure from Washington and NATO, has undoubtedly failed. As it has caused enormous losses with no substantial gains the Ukrainian army is now changing its tactic.

Yesterday the secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, tweeted in English and Russian:

At this stage of active hostilities, Ukraine’s Defense Forces are fulfilling the number one task – the maximum destruction of manpower, equipment, fuel depots, military vehicles, command posts, artillery and air defense forces of the russian army. The last few days have been particularly fruitful. Now the war of destruction is equal to the war of kilometers. More destroyed means more liberated. The more effective the former, the more the latter. We are acting calmly, wisely, step by step.

Overnight the Ukrainian army fired more missiles on Donetz city and into the Belgograd and Kursk regions of Russia.

Attritional warfare is of course what Russia has practiced over the last twelve month by systematically destroying Ukrainian forces, especially artillery and weapon supplies along the front line as well as deep within the Ukraine. When both sides commit to attrition warfare, like in World War I, the side with more resources will usually win. In this conflict that side is without doubt the Russian one.

Report Shows How Military Industrial Complex Sets Media Narrative on Ukraine

Wealthy donors have long funded think tanks with official-sounding names that produce research that reflects the interests of those funders (Extra!, 7/13). The weapons industry is a major contributor to these idea factories; a recent report from the Quincy Institute (6/1/23) demonstrates just how much influence war profiteers have on the national discourse.

The Quincy Institute—whose own start-up funding came mainly from George Soros and Charles Koch—looked at 11 months of Ukraine War coverage in the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, from March 1, 2022, through January 31, 2023, and counted each time one of 33 leading think tanks was mentioned. Of the 15 think tanks most often mentioned in the coverage, only one—Human Rights Watch—does not take funding from Pentagon contractors. Quincy’s analysis found that the media were seven times more likely to cite think tanks with war industry ties than they were to cite think tanks without war industry ties.

With 157 mentions each, the top two think tanks were the Atlantic Council and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Both of these think tanks receive millions from the war industry. The Atlantic Council has long been the brain trust of NATO, the military organization whose expansion towards Russia’s borders was a critical factor in Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine. (See FAIR.org, 3/4/22.) Both think tanks receive hundreds of thousands of dollars from Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, companies which have already been awarded billions of dollars in Pentagon contracts as a result of the war in Ukraine.

CSIS was revealed in a New York Times expose (8/7/16) to produce content that reflected the weapons industry priorities of its funders.  It also “initiated meetings with Defense Department officials and congressional staff to push for the recommendations” of military funders.

In addition to showing think tanks’ enormous influence, the Quincy report highlights how difficult it is to trace just how much war industry funding these think tanks receive, and exactly whose interests they represent. “Think tanks are not required to disclose their funders,” study author Ben Freeman wrote, and “many think tanks list donors without indicating the amount of donations and others just list donors in ranges (e.g., $250,000 to $499,999).”

While the study was not aimed at establishing a causal connection between weapons industry funding and the think tanks’ positions, it acknowledges that funding typically plays a major role in shaping the institutions. “Funders,” Freeman wrote, “are able to influence think tank work through the mechanisms of censorship, self-censorship, and perspective filtering.” In other words, people with points of view antithetical to the funders likely would not last long in these think tanks.

Causal or not, there is a marked correlation between war industry funding and hawkish positions. “Think tanks with financial ties to the arms industry often support policies that would benefit the arms industry,” the report noted. For example, one Atlantic Council article (2/6/23) advocated against “any compromise with the Kremlin,” while another, titled “Equity for Ukraine” (1/16/23), argued that Ukraine has a “right to destroy critical infrastructure in Russia and plunge Moscow and other cities into darkness.”

Earlier this year, the president of the American Enterprise Institute—fifth on the list, with 101 mentions—was cited numerous times in the Wall Street Journal (e.g., 1/20/23, 1/25/23) arguing that “tanks and armored personnel carriers are essential,” and agreeing to provide them will “let Ukraine know that it can afford to risk and expend more of its current arsenal of tanks in counteroffensive operations because it can count on getting replacements for them.” AEI (6/9/23) has gone so far as to suggest that the US give tactical nuclear weapons to Ukraine, something that could easily escalate to all-out nuclear war.

The Quincy Institute did not find a single instance in which a media organization disclosed the fact that its source received funding from the war industry, obscuring how interested parties may be shaping coverage or promoting policy recommendations that directly benefit their funders.

The study found that for the few think tanks that receive little or no Pentagon contractor funding, positions on the war are dramatically different. With less influence from the war industry, the study found, these organizations emphasize “expository rather than prescriptive analysis, support for diplomatic solutions, and a focus on the impact of the war on different parts of society and the region.”

Human Rights Watch, which takes no war industry money, “was agnostic on the issue of providing US military assistance to Ukraine,” and instead “focused on human rights abuses in the conflict.” The Carnegie Endowment, which receives less than 1% of its funding from that industry, was never quoted advocating an increase in military spending or weapons sales during the Ukraine War.

One critical way that corporate news media manufactures consent for US foreign policy is by carefully selecting the sources and voices that they present, and narrowing the spectrum of debate. While this can take the form of uncritically repeating pronouncements from government officials, this research demonstrates that there are more subtle ways in which media outlets can push a corporate/state agenda under the guise of independent journalism.

Global troublemakers at it again:

Taiwan’s Tsai Hosts Another US Congressional Delegation in Taipei

On Tuesday, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen hosted a US congressional delegation led by Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK), the second time within a week that a group of US lawmakers visited the island.

Hern is the head of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) and expressed support for Taiwanese independence during a meeting with Tsai. While it operates as a de facto independent state, Taiwan has never formally declared independence from the mainland, as the issue is a major red line for Beijing.

Tsai has previously said there’s no need to declare independence because Taiwan is already independent. But it’s long been believed a formal declaration would trigger Chinese military action. In recent years, Chinese officials have been warning the US that any attempt to make Taiwan independent from China would mean war.

Israel Launches DEADLY RAID On West Bank City

Netanyahu responsible for settler pogroms and terrorism, US Jewish groups say

A joint statement issued by 12 American Jewish groups on Monday blames Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for violent attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

"As leaders of the American Jewish community, we cannot and will not stand idly by," Haaretz reported the statement as saying, which was signed by groups including the Union for Reform Judaism, the New Israel Fund, J Street and the National Council for Jewish Women.

The groups expressed their "growing anguish and horror" over the recent wave of "violent attacks by Jewish Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank".

Israeli settler gangs on Sunday morning burned crops in the Palestinian town of Turmusaya, north of Ramallah, only days after the village was subject to a rampage that left at least 3o houses and 70 vehicles on fire. Israeli settlers also attacked Palestinian homes and property in the town of Jalud.

This violence "has not come from nowhere, but is aligned with the Netanyahu government's broader agenda of settlement expansion, deepening of occupation and displacement of Palestinians", the groups said.

World’s 722 biggest companies ‘making $1tn in windfall profits’

The world’s 722 biggest companies collectively are making more than $1tn a year (£780bn) in windfall profits on the back of soaring energy prices and rising interest rates, according to research by development charities.

The companies made $1.08tn this way in 2021 and $1.09tn last year, according to analysis of Forbes magazine data by the charities Oxfam and ActionAid. The collective profits were 89% higher than the previous four-year average covering 2017-2020. Windfall profits are defined as those exceeding average profits in the previous four years by more than 10%.

Energy companies recorded the highest windfall profits. Of the 45 energy firms on Forbes list of the 2,000 biggest companies, they made on average $237bn a year in windfall profits in 2021 and 2022, according to the research.

The surge in energy profits has led to the creation of a total of 96 energy billionaires with a combined wealth of nearly $432bn – about $50bn more than in April last year.

Many food and beverage corporations, banks, pharmaceutical companies and retailers also reported a surge in profits during a cost-of-living crisis in which more than a quarter of a billion people in 58 countries experienced acute food insecurity in 2022.

Negotiations COLLAPSE As Historic UPS Strike Looms

Abortion Rights Amendment Backed by 700,000+ Ohioans on Track for November Vote

A nonpartisan coalition on Wednesday submitted more than 700,000 signatures from Ohio residents across all 88 counties in a bid to qualify a referendum on whether to enshrine reproductive rights and abortion access in the state constitution.

Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, which is backed by the Fairness Project, seeks to ensure that the Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety Amendment is on the ballot for the November 2023 election. ...

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) and county boards of elections have until July 25 to review the signatures submitted by the campaign. At least 413,487 valid signatures are required for the referendum to be placed on the November ballot.

Although Ohio's abortion ban is currently enjoined, there's an ongoing risk that the state Supreme Court's right-wing majority could reinstate it. However, if voters approve the Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety Amendment in November, any potential decision would be rendered moot.

Because the proposed ballot measure is a constitutional amendment, it would nullify existing abortion bans in Ohio and codify reproductive freedom throughout the state.

Oil lobbyists spend millions to stall California’s game-changing climate bill

Two transparency bills in the California legislature would require corporations to disclose more information about their emissions and their efforts to fight the climate crisis. The oil and gas industry is spending millions to kill them. The bills would force large companies that do business in California to report all of their emissions and also require firms that buy or sell carbon offsets– which represent a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions – to disclose more information in an effort to crack down on bogus climate claims. Both measures have momentum but could be blocked by moderate Democrats historically aligned with corporate interests.

Since the legislation would make new information available beyond California, the two bills could represent a watershed moment for holding big polluters accountable when they claim climate bonafides, supporters say. Reporting requirements for corporate emissions are currently fragmented and the climate disclosures bill would be a landmark law pinning down the impacts of some of the world’s largest companies. And as more companies market themselves as partners in the climate fight, greater oversight over voluntary carbon trading markets could help verify their claims. ...

The Western States Petroleum Association, a trade organization, opposes these bills and has already spent $2.38m on lobbying and advocacy groups this year.

‘Double agents’: fossil-fuel lobbyists work for US groups trying to fight climate crisis

More than 1,500 lobbyists in the US are working on behalf of fossil-fuel companies while at the same time representing hundreds of liberal-run cities, universities, technology companies and environmental groups that say they are tackling the climate crisis, the Guardian can reveal.

Lobbyists for oil, gas and coal interests are also employed by a vast sweep of institutions, ranging from the city governments of Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia; tech giants such as Apple and Google; more than 150 universities; some of the country’s leading environmental groups – and even ski resorts seeing their snow melted by global heating.

The breadth of fossil-fuel lobbyists’ work for other clients is captured in a new database of their lobbying interests which was published online on Wednesday. It shows the reach of state-level fossil-fuel lobbyists into almost every aspect of American life, spanning local governments, large corporations, cultural institutions such as museums and film festivals, and advocacy groups, grouping together clients with starkly contradictory aims.

For instance, State Farm, the insurance company that announced in May it would halt new homeowner policies in California due to the “catastrophic” risk of wildfires worsened by the climate crisis, employs lobbyists that also advocate for fossil fuel interests to lawmakers in 18 states.

Meanwhile, Baltimore, which is suing big oil firms for their role in causing climate-related damages, has shared a lobbyist with ExxonMobil, one of the named defendants in the case. Syracuse University, a pioneer in the fossil fuel divestment movement, has a lobbyist with 14 separate oil and gas clients. “It’s incredible that this has gone under the radar for so long, as these lobbyists help the fossil fuel industry wield extraordinary power,” said James Browning, a former Common Cause lobbyist who put together the database for a new venture called F Minus. “Many of these cities and counties face severe costs from climate change and yet elected officials are selling their residents out. It’s extraordinary.

June was hottest June on record globally, Copernicus says

Tuesday was world’s hottest day on record – breaking Monday’s record

World temperature records have been broken for a second day in a row, data suggests, as experts issued a warning that this year’s warmest days are still to come – and with them the warmest days ever recorded.

The average global air temperature was 17.18C (62.9F) on Tuesday, according to data collated by the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), surpassing the record 17.01C reached on Monday.

Until the start of this week, the hottest day on record was in 2016, during the last El Niño global weather event, when the global average temperature reached 16.92C.

Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.

The Supreme Court and Political Corruption

Failed Russian Coup Through a US Looking Glass

The United States Wants to Poison Ukraine to Save It

Making Madness Normal in Wartime

These Charts Show Why the Fed Is Terrified to Stop Raising Interest Rates and Why Nasdaq Is Ripping Higher

From coal to kayaking: West Virginia’s miners turn to tourism to pay the bills

Unpublished letter by Abraham Lincoln discovered in Pennsylvania

Industrial Revolution iron method ‘was taken from Jamaica by Briton’

A Little Night Music

Bonnie Raitt - Love Me Like a Man

Bonnie Raitt & Lowell George, John Hammond Jr, Freebo - Going Down To Louisiana

Bonnie Raitt – I Feel The Same

Bonnie Raitt - Kokomo

Bonnie Raitt - Pride And Joy

Lindley, Browne, Raitt, Colvin, Hornsby - Mercury Blues Live

Bonnie Raitt - Sweet Forgiveness

Bonnie Raitt& John Prine - Angel From Montgomery

Bonnie Raitt - Runaway

Bonnie Raitt & Richard Thompson - Dimming of the Day

Austin City Limits - Not Fade Away