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"Secretary of State Antony Blinken thought it wise to perform with a Ukrainian band on his last visit to Kiev. Not only that, but neither the Secretary nor his handlers were aware that the song he performed, “Rockin’ in the Free World,” is a lament about poverty and hopelessness in a supposedly free world which isn’t truly free for millions of people. The administration is so divorced from reality that they thought it wise for Secretary Blinken to play this song as men are rounded up to be cannon fodder."

-- Margaret Kimberley

News and Opinion

If You Can’t Even Elect A Candidate Who’ll End A Genocide, How Real Is Your “Democracy”

The Biden administration has reportedly approved of an Israeli assault on Rafah, the last slightly safe city in the Gaza Strip, and is openly preparing to work with Congress to punish the International Criminal Court for seeking arrest warrants of Israeli officials for war crimes. Biden is a monster who belongs in a cell at The Hague.

I talk about Biden’s criminality a lot, but I should probably clarify that I don’t do so because I believe Trump or even Kennedy would be acting any kinder toward the people of Gaza if they were president. All three of the arguably viable US presidential candidates are virulent Zionists who have all made it clear that they would back Israel’s genocidal atrocities with adamant fervor.

A lot of fuss gets made over the west’s brand of democracy. Wars of aggression have been waged under the banner of spreading it throughout the world and allowing the people to control what their government will do. But what you very seldom see discussed in mainstream discourse is the fact that there are a great many issues that this form of so-called democracy never allows the people to vote on.

The genocide in Gaza is arguably the single most urgent matter in the world right now — partly for how horrific it is in and of itself, and partly for its potential to explode into wars which would bring far greater devastation to the region. But nobody’s allowed a vote on whether this will continue or not, even in the heart of the US empire which is making it all possible.

The only candidates who stand any chance of getting elected are all committed to making sure this mass atrocity continues, because if you ever want to get anywhere near the presidency you have to make a whole lot of deals with powerful forces who were never elected by anybody.

And this just says so much about the nature of this “democracy” — a word which literally means “rule by the people”. If the people were actually in charge, there would be some option available to them to end the worst thing happening in the world right now. But the people are not in charge. When it comes to matters of the most importance, they never get a vote.

Americans don’t get a vote on whether or not vast fortunes should be poured into funding a war machine which stretches around the globe; the option is never on the ballot.

They don’t get to vote on whether or not the drastic action needed to prevent environmental collapse should be taken.

They don’t get to vote on whether or not the US empire should be escalating against nuclear-armed nations like Russia and China with ever-increasing aggression.

They don’t get to vote on whether the wealthy should be getting richer and richer while the poor have to struggle harder and harder to survive.

They don’t get to vote on whether the wealthy should be allowed to use their wealth to influence political affairs in a way that gives them more and more wealth and power.

They don’t get to vote on whether they should have their minds pummeled with empire propaganda 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year by rich and powerful people who are invested in manipulating the way they think, act, vote, shop and work.

They don’t get to vote on whether their police force should be getting more and more militarized, or whether the surveillance practices of the US intelligence cartel should be getting more and more intrusive.

They don’t get to vote on whether the US should have the highest incarceration rate in the world and the profoundly unjust legal system which gives rise to it.

They don’t get to vote on whether the internet should be getting more and more consolidated and censorship-heavy as Silicon Valley megacorporations move into more and more collaborative relationships with the US government.

They don’t get to vote on whether there should be billionaires when there are people living on the streets.

They don’t get to vote on whether their government should be encircling the planet with hundreds of military bases and working to destroy any nation which disobeys it while their own people struggle and suffer at home.

If you want to vote on something the powerful don’t care about, there’s a possibility that your vote might have some sway. You might have some tiny degree of influence over women’s reproductive rights, for example, or whether or not gay people can get married. But when it comes to the mechanisms of the imperial machine like war, militarism, propaganda, oligarchy, capitalism or authoritarianism, your hand will get smacked away the instant you move to touch them.

So it’s not really democracy then, is it? It’s not really rule by the people if all the most important and consequential decisions are made by forces with no accountability to the electorate, while the people are confined to a toddler’s playpen in the corner arguing about pronouns and fatphobia.

And what really sucks is that so many people believe this is freedom and democracy. The people will never know freedom until they first understand how profoundly unfree they really are.

‘The American people are in rebellion.’ Dr Jill Stein

US ‘concerned’ by Israel’s isolation, Biden national security adviser says

The US is concerned about Israel’s growing diplomatic isolation among countries that have traditionally supported it, Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said on Wednesday.

Sullivan’s remarks, at a White House briefing, followed the announcement by Ireland, Spain and Norway that they will next week formally recognise a Palestinian state. They also came amid efforts by the Biden administration and Congress to coordinate a response to a decision by the international criminal court (ICC) to seek an arrest warrant for Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, over Israeli actions in Gaza.

Asked if he was concerned about Israel’s diplomatic isolation, Sullivan – who is due to visit the country in the coming days – answered affirmatively.

“I think it’s a fair question,” he said. “As a country that stands strong in defense of Israel in international forums like the United Nations, we certainly have seen a growing chorus of voices, including voices that had previously been in support of Israel, drift in another direction. That is of concern to us because we do not believe that that contributes to Israel’s long-term security or vitality … So that’s something we have discussed with the Israeli government.”

The best way to address it, Sullivan said, was for Israel to pursue a strategy of defeating Hamas in Gaza while seeking to protect civilians and ensuring the delivery of humanitarian aid. At the same time, Israel should embrace a two-state solution – something Netanyahu’s government fiercely opposes – as part of a regional settlement that would see Israel peacefully integrated with moderate Arab states. However, Sullivan appeared critical of the Irish-Norwegian-Spanish move to recognise Palestinian statehood, saying the goal could only be achieved through a negotiated agreement.

US worried Netanyahu may torpedo normalisation deal with Saudi Arabia

The US is worried that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, may be willing to torpedo a potential normalisation deal with Saudi Arabia if it entails ending the war in Gaza and committing to working towards a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, told the Senate’s foreign relations committee on Tuesday: “There’s an opportunity for Israel to become integrated in the region, to get the fundamental security it needs and wants, to have the relationships it’s wanted since its founding. The Saudis have been clear that this would require calm in Gaza and a credible pathway to a Palestinian state,” he said, adding: “It may well be at this moment, Israel is not able or willing to proceed down this pathway.”

The Biden administration has been working for some time on a plan in which Riyadh would normalise relations with Israel in return for a formal defence pact with the US and assistance in developing a civilian nuclear programme.

For Israel, normalisation with the Saudi kingdom – the anchor of Sunni Islam and home to the religion’s two holiest sites – could in theory pave the way for the acceptance of the Jewish state across the Muslim world and shore up a nascent Arab-Israeli defence coalition against Iran.

Who would have ever guessed that a genocidal war of annihilation would result in people picking up arms to fight the invaders? https://t.co/T5ee6MBpQN

— jeremy scahill (@jeremyscahill) May 22, 2024

Irish Lawmaker: Recognizing Palestine as a State Is Rooted in Our History of Colonization & Famine

Israel Threatens 'Severe Consequences' for Nations Who Recognize Palestine

Israel's foreign minister issued a blunt threat of "severe consequences" for the countries of Norway, Ireland, and Spain—and presumably other nations that may follow—after the trio announced their decision Wednesday to formally recognize a Palestinian state.

In their joint move, inspired in large measure by the ongoing Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, the governments of Norway, Ireland, and Spain said they would make the formal recognition next week on May 28. In response, Israel recalled its ambassadors from Oslo and Dublin as an initial sign of displeasure and protest.

Israel's foreign minister Israel Katz said in a public statement that the move to recognize Palestine was a "distorted step" by the countries which he claimed was "an injustice to the memory of the victims of 7/10, a blow to efforts to return the 128 hostages, and a boost to Hamas and Iran's jihadists, which undermines the chance for peace and questions Israel's right to self-defense."

Katz warned that "Israel will not remain silent" in the face of what it perceives as a betrayal by its European allies and that "further severe consequences" would follow for those making such a decision. Israel recalled its ambassador to Spain last year after comments made about violations of humanitarian law in Gaza.

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also condemned the move Wednesday and said the response from Israel would be to intensify its operations in Gaza—where the ICC chief prosecutor this week alleged war crimes by Israeli forces have taken place—even further. In his remarks, Ben-Gvir called for a "root treatment" for the city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled but many still remain with nowhere go.

BREAKING NOW: After Norway, Spain, and Ireland recognized the Palestinian state, Israeli Minister of National Security Ben-Gvir storms Al Aqsa mosque as a way of provocation.

Lunatics are running the asylum. pic.twitter.com/LqMEcoIUqK

— Khalissee (@Kahlissee) May 22, 2024

Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, meanwhile, called for immediate punishment for the Palestinian Authority and expanded settlement construction in the Occupied West Bank as a response.

In their remarks, leaders from Norway and Ireland defended recognition of a Palestinian state as the appropriate response to the violent conflict that has endured for decades but has escalated dramatically—and brutally—over the last seven months, both in Gaza and the Occupied West Bank.

"In the midst of a war, with tens of thousands killed and injured, we must keep alive the only alternative that offers a political solution for Israelis and Palestinians alike," said Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, as he led the three nations in their announcement.

In place of a "long and gruesome conflict," Støre said a new reality must be realized: "Two states, living side by side, in peace and security."

Taoiseach Simon Harris, head of the Irish Parliament—who made the announcement on behalf of Ireland alongside Tánaiste Micheál Martin and Green Party Minister Eamon Ryan—called the decision the "right thing to do" as he condemned Hamas, which he said has "nothing to offer," while also reiterating unwavering commitment for "Israel's right to exist securely and in peace with its neighbors."

The decision by Ireland, Harris said, was made in the context of its own fight for independence and freedom from colonial rule. Citing Ireland's own declaration for independence in 1919, Harris said recognition for a Palestinian state is vital "because we 'believe in freedom and justice as the fundamental principles of international law,' and because we believe that 'permanent peace' can only be secured 'upon the basis of the free will of a free people.'"

In response to Ireland's announcement, Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns applauded the government's decision.

"The Social Democrats have long called for the government to match its strong words, on the carnage in Gaza, with action—and this is a powerful action which sends a strong message," Cairns said. "That message is one of hope, peace, justice and freedom— for an imprisoned Palestinian people being massacred by a barbaric occupier."

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez spoke before members of Congress in Madrid on Wednesday where he denounced "the massacre in Gaza and the rest of the Palestinian territories," and defended the move to recognize a Palestinian state as necessary under the circumstances and in the face of Israel intransigence.

"Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu is still turning a blind eye and bombing hospitals, schools, andhomes," Sánchez declared. "He is still using hunger, cold and terror to punish more than a million innocent boys and girls—and things have gone so far that prosecutors at the International Criminal Court have this week sought his arrest for war crimes."

Reacting to Wednesday's announcements by Ireland, Norway, and Spain, officials with Oxfam International—which has long lobbied for a Palestinian state and urgently demanded a cease-fire in Gaza to end the current bloodshed—welcomed the news.

"This recognition is a landmark decision and other countries must follow suit," said Sally Abi Khalil, Oxfam Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. "It is a crucial step in affirming the Palestinian people's inalienable right to self-determination, but it must transcend beyond symbolism into concrete steps towards ending the Israeli occupation and achieving full sovereignty for the Palestinian State."

While the ongoing assault on the southern city of Rafah has triggered a mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of people with no safe place to go in Gaza, Khalil said, "We urgently need an immediate and permanent ceasefire and an end to the blockade to end the death and destruction, to allow unfettered aid into Gaza and to ensure the release of the hostages and illegally detained Palestinian prisoners."

Jim Clarken, Oxfam's chief executive, also championed the decision by the three European nations for showing "real and brave leadership on the world stage."

"We know right now that the people of Gaza are starving and that UN agencies have regrettably had to halt aid operations in Rafah," Clarken said, "Ireland stood by UNRWA in its hour of need. We need now to leverage today’s move to press for urgent life-saving aid to get to the people of Gaza."

For those saying Palestinian statehood is a "gift to Hamas," please take note that what has actually bolstered Hamas is Israel's genocidal slaughter which has allowed Hamas to recruit thousands of new members. https://t.co/8E5POmLqpK

— Krystal Ball (@krystalball) May 22, 2024

Humanitarian operations ‘near collapse’ in Gaza, says World Food Programme

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is set to worsen once again as deliveries of aid and fuel to the Palestinian territory slow to a trickle in the wake of Israel’s two-week-old ground offensive in the southern city of Rafah.

The UN has suspended food distribution in Rafah owing to a lack of supplies and insecurity, the world body said late on Tuesday, and delivery operations from the new US-funded floating pier have also been halted after desperate people seized most of the shipment offloaded on to trucks on Saturday, an incident in which one person was killed.

Since 10 May, shortly after Israel seized control of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, through which the majority of aid to Gaza flows, only about three dozen trucks have successfully been delivered via the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing, and only about a quarter of the allowed fuel has been delivered since the Israeli operation began.

The ongoing fighting means that both Kerem Shalom and Rafah are effectively blocked, and perishable food and medicine is piling up on the Egyptian side of the border. Egypt and Israel have traded blame over a failure to negotiate Rafah’s reopening, which has also prevented sick and injured Palestinians from leaving the strip for treatment elsewhere. ...

Limited distributions of reduced food parcels are ongoing in central Gaza, said Abeer Etefa, a spokesperson for the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), but the agency’s food parcel supplies are expected to be depleted within days. “Humanitarian operations in Gaza are near collapse,” she said, and if food and other supplies do not resume “in massive quantities, famine-like conditions will spread”. The UN says 1.1 million people in the coastal strip – nearly half the population – face catastrophic levels of hunger, and that the territory is on the brink of famine.

Palestinians surviving on 3% of minimum daily water needs in Gaza

Some Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are surviving on just three percent of the global minimum standard for daily water usage, two humanitarian groups have said, as Israel’s war has decimated the enclave’s water infrastructure.

A lack of clean water and sanitation facilities have led to an increase in diseases and infections among Gaza’s civilian population, particularly children, according to the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP).

The two organisations said in a report on Tuesday that they were alarmed at the situation after recent trips to the besieged Gaza Strip, which has been under a brutal Israeli offensive since 7 October.

The report adds that field observations by experts from IRC and MAP in Gaza are struggling to find safe and clean water, and that "at least one major hospital struggling to keep sufficient water supplies to meet its needs".

Rishi Sunak takes gamble by calling UK general election for 4 July

Rishi Sunak has called a surprise general election for 4 July in a high stakes gamble that will see Keir Starmer try to win power for Labour after 14 years of Conservative-led government.

Addressing the nation outside Downing Street, Sunak said it was “the moment for Britain to choose its future” as he claimed the Tories could be trusted to lead the country during a time of global instability.

The rain-soaked prime minister was almost drowned out by the New Labour anthem, D:Ream’s Things Can Only Get Better, blasted out by the anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray, as the surprise early election was called.

Sunak’s words were met with alarm by senior Tories who are concerned that their party, trailing 20 percentage points behind Labour in the polls, could face electoral wipeout, with some MPs even considering submitting letters of no confidence.

Starmer is widely expected to become the next prime minister after transforming Labour since its historic election defeat almost five years ago.

Aaron Maté : Desperation and Escalation in Ukraine.

It's at times like this that I regret living so close to Washington D.C.

Speaker Johnson Thinks Ukraine Should Use US Weapons on Russian Territory

On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) expressed support for Ukraine using US-provided weapons on Russian territory, a step that would risk a major response from Russia.

Ukraine has been lobbying the US to allow the use of US-provided missile systems on Russian territory in the wake of Russia’s Kharkiv offensive, and the idea is gaining support in Congress.

A group of bipartisan members of the House sent a letter to President Biden on Monday urging him to lift any restrictions on Ukraine’s use of US weapons. “It is essential the Biden administration allows Ukraine’s military leaders to conduct a full spectrum of operations necessary to respond to Russia’s unprovoked attack on their sovereign land,” the lawmakers said.

Federal Reserve concerned over ‘lack of further progress’ in bid to tame inflation

Policymakers at the Federal Reserve have expressed concern over stalling progress in their fight to bring down inflation.

Although price growth has fallen sharply since peaking at its highest levels in a generation two years ago, it has remained stubbornly above where officials want it to be.

The closely watched consumer price index rose at an annual rate of 3.4% in April, according to official data released last week, down from an annual pace of 3.5% in March, but still significantly higher than the Fed’s medium-term goal of 2%.

Having raised interest rates to their highest point in more than two decades in an effort to suppress inflation, officials at the Fed have been mulling their next steps. At its latest meeting, on 3 April and 1 May, the central bank decided to keep rates on hold.

Alaskan rivers turning orange due to climate change

Dozens of rivers and streams in Alaska are turning rusty orange, a likely consequence of thawing permafrost, a new study finds. The Arctic is the fastest-warming region in the globe, and as the frozen ground below the surface melts, minerals once locked away in that soil are now seeping into waterways.

“It’s an unforeseen impact of climate change that we’re seeing in some of the most pristine rivers in our country,” said Brett Poulin, study author and assistant professor of environmental toxicology at University of California Davis.

The permafrost thaw is exposing minerals to oxygen in a process known as weathering, which increases the acidity of the water and dissolves metals like zinc, copper, cadmium and iron – the most apparent metal that gives the rivers a rusty color visible even from satellite images. The study highlights the potential degradation of drinking water and risk to fisheries in the Arctic. “When mixed with another river, it can actually make the metals even more potent [in its] impact to aquatic health,” Poulin said.

The phenomenon was first observed in 2018, when researchers noticed the milky orange appearance of the rivers across northern Alaska’s Brooks Range, a stark contrast to the crystal clear waters seen the year prior. Within the year, a tributary of the Akillik river in Kobuk Valley national park saw the complete loss of two local fish species: the dolly varden and the slimy sculpin.

Young Alaskans sue state over fossil fuel project they claim violates their rights

Eight young people are suing the government of Alaska – the nation’s fastest-warming state – claiming a major new fossil fuel project violates their state constitutional rights.

The state-owned Alaska Gasline Development Corporation has proposed a $38.7bn gas export project that would roughly triple the state’s greenhouse gas emissions for decades, the lawsuit says. Scientists have long warned that fossil fuel extraction must be swiftly curbed to secure a livable future.

The Alaska LNG Project would involve the construction of a gas treatment plant on the state’s North Slope, an 800-mile pipeline and liquefaction plant on the Kenai Peninsula which would prepare the gas for export to Asia.

“[Y]outh plaintiffs are uniquely vulnerable to and disproportionately injured by the climate harms that would result from the Alaska LNG Project,” the suit says.

In an unusual move in 2014, Alaska passed legislation amending multiple state laws to direct the state to see the project through.

Investigate fossil fuel industry, top Democrats urge justice department

Democrats from two powerful committees are urging Joe Biden’s justice department to investigate the fossil fuel industry over its decades-long attempts to sow doubt about the climate crisis.

“We believe that there is adequate evidence that fossil fuel industry companies and trade associations may have violated one or more federal statutes,” the Senate budget committee chair, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, wrote in a Wednesday letter to the attorney general, Merrick Garland.

The letter follows a multi-year joint investigation into the oil industry by the two committees, launched in 2021 by the House oversight committee, which was disbanded when Republicans took control of the chamber in 2022.

“Fossil fuel companies do not dispute any longer that they had known for more than 60 years that burning fossil fuels causes climate change,” Raskin told reporters on Wednesday. “And yet they’ve worked for decades to undermine public understanding of that fact.” The Department of Justice declined to comment.

Late last month, the lawmakers released a report on the sector’s history of climate misinformation, based on a tranche of subpoenaed documents from Exxon, Shell, BP, Chevron and the lobbying organizations the American Petroleum Institute and the US Chamber of Commerce.

Also of Interest

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

Craig Murray: Something Changed in the Assange Case

It’s Not Unusual That We’re Being Lied To, It’s Unusual That People Are Noticing

Activists Arrested as Debt Collective Demands US 'Fund Education, Not Genocide'

UN Can’t Feed Rafah Anymore

Experts Say Israeli Apartheid—Not Palestinian Statehood—Is the Real 'Gift to Hamas'

Al-Aqsa 'belongs only to Israel', says Ben Gvir during 'incendiary' visit

Israel Gaza Starvation Ploy Intensifies With Seizure of Rafah Crossings

Western Arms Supplies to Ukraine Prevent Peaceful Solutions

Ukraine: 'Shot Down' Drones Hit Targets

“Am I An Extremist? ”

Another provocative flag flown at Samuel Alito residence, report says

Displaced by climate disasters, ageing Americans struggle to find housing

"Power": Yance Ford on His New Documentary & Why "Violence Is Part and Parcel" of U.S. Policing

A Little Night Music

Lucille Bogan - Coffee Grindin' Blues

Lucille Bogan - They Ain't Walking No More

Lucille Bogan - Skin Game Blues

Lucille Bogan - Till the cows come home

Lucille Bogan - Jump Steady Daddy

Lucille Bogan - I Hate That Train Called The M & O

Lucille Bogan - That's Wat My Baby Likes

Lucille Bogan - Barbecue Bess

Lucille Bogan - Drinking Blues

Lucille Bogan - Sloppy Drunk Blues