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"Our government... teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy."

-- Louis D. Brandeis

News and Opinion

The US Is Discrediting All Arguments For Why It Should Lead The World

One by one, the US empire is discrediting all of its own arguments for why it should lead the world. All the violence, tyranny and injustice it claims to be keeping at bay with its globe-dominating leadership is being inflicted by the empire itself, in more and more brazen and egregious ways each year.

The entire premise behind the empire’s containment strategies, military encirclement and cold war brinkmanship with China is that obviously the PRC needs to be stopped from rising and displacing the US as the global leader, and arguments about the need to control Russia and Iran by any means necessary arise from the same premise. These arguments are accepted as a given by many on the basis that the US is a free and democratic country which promotes liberal values and opposes authoritarianism, so of course it’s better to have the US in charge of world affairs.

But every point which could be used to bolster that argument is being rapidly eroded by the US itself. The US is making the world a much more violent and dangerous place. The US is assaulting freedom by perpetrating and facilitating more and more injustice and authoritarianism. The US is undermining international law by constantly violating it. Every argument that could be made for the merits of US global leadership gets weaker by the day.

As the US backs Israel in routinely committing horrifying massacres in Gaza, it’s clear that the US cannot claim to be making the world a more peaceful and harmonious place.

As the US and its allies recklessly ramp up nuclear brinkmanship with Russia over the failing proxy war in Ukraine, it’s clear that the US cannot claim to be making the world safer.

As the US denounces the International Criminal Court for applying for arrest warrants of Israeli officials, and supports Israel in dismissing the orders of the International Court of Justice to cease its assault on Rafah, it’s clear that the US has discredited its claim as the upholder of the “rules-based international order”.

As online censorship and banned pro-Palestine slogans are increasingly normalized throughout the US-led western world, it’s clear that the US has discredited its claim to being a protector of the freedom of speech.

As the US inflicts violent police crackdowns on anti-genocide protesters on university campuses nationwide, it’s clear that the US has discredited its claim to being a protector of the freedom of assembly.

As the US backs Israel in murdering a historic number of journalists and shutting down Al Jazeera, while itself imprisoning Julian Assange for journalistic activity exposing US war crimes, it’s clear that the US has discredited its claim to being a protector of the freedom of the press.

As the US supports its proxies in Kyiv canceling elections in Ukraine while providing military assistance to most of the world’s dictatorships, it is clear that the US has discredited its claim to being a major promotor of democracy.

Whatever argument you could come up with for why the world benefits from US leadership, there are major stories in the news right now which soundly discredit such claims. The evidence is in, and that argument has been lost.

This is not some empty rhetorical point I’m just making to show that my worldview is better than those of the mainstream western empire apologist; it is extremely relevant to present and future developments of unparalleled importance to the survival of our species.

The US empire has been simultaneously ramping up aggressions against China and Russia as well as in the middle east with increasing recklessness that appears bound for a massive military confrontation with at least one major nuclear-armed state at some point in the coming years. It is doing so because the rise of China means US planetary hegemony will be on its way out the door unless something significant occurs, and the empire managers appear to have calculated that it’s worth risking the life of every terrestrial organism to force that something significant to occur.

The only possible argument that this is a sane or reasonable thing to do is that the world is better off with US leadership than without it. But as we just discussed, every possible premise of that claim has been soundly discredited by the actions of the United States. And it’s only getting worse.

This to me makes it abundantly clear that the world would be better off without US leadership.

Whenever I say this I get empire apologists in my comments furiously arguing that if the US doesn’t dominate our planet then China will, but there’s no evidence that China seeks to supplant the US as a unipolar planetary hegemon, and the assumption that there must always be one unipolar power dominating the globe is ahistorical nonsense. In all of human history there has been only one unipolar planetary hegemon, namely the US empire, and it didn’t exist until the fall of the Soviet Union in the nineties.

It is not rational to believe that something which has only happened one single time in all of history must be the norm for our world. Multipolarity has been the norm, not the exception, throughout all the rest of our time on this planet prior to the emergence of US global supremacy some three decades ago.

None of this is to suggest that a multipolar world will solve all our problems or give rise to peace and harmony. But it is clear that accepting the emergence of such a world is preferable to a world in which the US empire seeks to suppress and delay its arrival with rapidly increasing amounts of violence and aggression, up to and including ramping up for World War Three and playing insane games of chicken with armageddon weapons.

The US empire is too crazy and sick to be allowed to rule the world anymore. There is no argument to be made that the benefits outweigh the costs. There is no reason the world’s great powers cannot come together and collaborate toward a healthy world for the benefit of everyone, if humanity can just shrug off its primitive impulse to dominate and control.

Israel CAUGHT Hacking, Threatening Top ICC Prosecutors

Worth a full read:

Spying, hacking and intimidation: Israel’s nine-year ‘war’ on the ICC exposed

When the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) announced he was seeking arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders, he issued a cryptic warning: “I insist that all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence the officials of this court must cease immediately.”

Karim Khan did not provide specific details of attempts to interfere in the ICC’s work, but he noted a clause in the court’s foundational treaty that made any such interference a criminal offence. If the conduct continued, he added, “my office will not hesitate to act”. The prosecutor did not say who had attempted to intervene in the administration of justice, or how exactly they had done so. Now, an investigation by the Guardian and the Israeli-based magazines +972 and Local Call can reveal how Israel has run an almost decade-long secret “war” against the court. The country deployed its intelligence agencies to surveil, hack, pressure, smear and allegedly threaten senior ICC staff in an effort to derail the court’s inquiries.

Israeli intelligence captured the communications of numerous ICC officials, including Khan and his predecessor as prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, intercepting phone calls, messages, emails and documents. The surveillance was ongoing in recent months, providing Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, with advance knowledge of the prosecutor’s intentions. A recent intercepted communication suggested that Khan wanted to issue arrest warrants against Israelis but was under “tremendous pressure from the United States”, according to a source familiar with its contents.

Bensouda, who as chief prosecutor opened the ICC’s investigation in 2021, paving the way for last week’s announcement, was also spied on and allegedly threatened.

Netanyahu has taken a close interest in the intelligence operations against the ICC, and was described by one intelligence source as being “obsessed” with intercepts about the case. Overseen by his national security advisers, the efforts involved the domestic spy agency, the Shin Bet, as well as the military’s intelligence directorate, Aman, and cyber-intelligence division, Unit 8200. Intelligence gleaned from intercepts was, sources said, disseminated to government ministries of justice, foreign affairs and strategic affairs. A covert operation against Bensouda, revealed on Tuesday by the Guardian, was run personally by Netanyahu’s close ally Yossi Cohen, who was at the time the director of Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, the Mossad. At one stage, the spy chief even enlisted the help of the then president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila.

Contacted by the Guardian, a spokesperson for the ICC said it was aware of “proactive intelligence-gathering activities being undertaken by a number of national agencies hostile towards the court”. They said the ICC was continually implementing countermeasures against such activity, and that “none of the recent attacks against it by national intelligence agencies” had penetrated the court’s core evidence holdings, which had remained secure. A spokesperson for Israel’s prime minister’s office said: “The questions forwarded to us are replete with many false and unfounded allegations meant to hurt the state of Israel.” A military spokesperson added: “The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] did not and does not conduct surveillance or other intelligence operations against the ICC.”

Israeli spy chief ‘threatened’ ICC prosecutor over war crimes inquiry

The former head of the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, allegedly threatened a chief prosecutor of the international criminal court in a series of secret meetings in which he tried to pressure her into abandoning a war crimes investigation, the Guardian can reveal. Yossi Cohen’s covert contacts with the ICC’s then prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, took place in the years leading up to her decision to open a formal investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in occupied Palestinian territories. ...

According to accounts shared with ICC officials, he is alleged to have told her: “You should help us and let us take care of you. You don’t want to be getting into things that could compromise your security or that of your family.”

One individual briefed on Cohen’s activities said he had used “despicable tactics” against Bensouda as part of an ultimately unsuccessful effort to intimidate and influence her. They likened his behaviour to “stalking”.

The Mossad also took a keen interest in Bensouda’s family members and obtained transcripts of secret recordings of her husband, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation. Israeli officials then attempted to use the material to discredit the prosecutor.

Israel Strikes Rafah AGAIN?! HUMILIATING State Department Defense Of Biden’s ‘Red Line’

Hmmm ... if Hamas is using tunnels to fight Israeli thugs, why would they have an "ammunition warehouse" on the surface? The IDF sure are lousy liars, or perhaps they just don't care.

Tanks reach centre of Rafah as attacks mount and Israel’s isolation grows

Tanks reached the middle of Rafah on Tuesday as Israel’s global isolation deepened, with three European countries formally recognising a Palestinian state and the UN security council calling an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza. ...

Growing international outrage about the Israeli push into Rafah, including an order from the UN’s top court to stop the offensive and sharp criticism from the US, Israel’s most important ally, after Sunday’s attack, have not had any apparent impact on its military plans.

The prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, described Sunday’s strike as a “tragic mistake” but vowed to continue the operation. Later a spokesperson for the Israeli military said its airstrike had not caused the fire. R Adm Daniel Hagari said jets used small bombs to kill two Hamas commanders inside buildings about 180 metres from tents where the fire broke out.

“Our munition alone could not have ignited a fire of this size,” he said, adding that the military was investigating whether the “unexpected and unintended” fire had been caused by secondary explosions at what they claimed was an ammunition warehouse near tents. ...

For months, Israel urged Palestinian civilians to seek safety in Rafah as intense fighting razed much of the rest of Gaza. Now they are being told to move again, as Israeli troops move in to the last area that had not seen ground operations. For much of May, since seizing the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, Israeli ground forces had mostly probed the city’s outskirts and entered only eastern areas. But on Tuesday tanks were seen near al-Awda mosque, a landmark in central Rafah, Reuters reported, citing witnesses. They also pushed towards western neighbourhoods, taking positions on the Zurub hilltop, after heavy bombardment.

Scott Ritter: Israel is LOSING the War as IDF Suffers HUMILIATION on the Battlefield

US Appears To Justify Israel’s Rafah Massacre That Killed 45 Palestinians

The White House on Monday appeared to justify the Israeli strike on displaced Palestinians in Rafah that hit a tent camp and killed at least 45 people, including many women and children.

In a statement on the massacre, a White House National Security spokesperson called it “heartbreaking” but also said Israel had the “right” to go after Hamas and backed Israeli claims that the strike also killed two Hamas fighters.

“The devastating images following the IDF strike in Rafah last night that killed dozens of innocent Palestinians are heartbreaking,” the spokesperson said, according to CNN. “Israel has a right to go after Hamas, and we understand this strike killed two senior Hamas terrorists who are responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians.”

US Weapons Used In Rafah Tent MASSACRE

Palestinians should no longer have to die & suffer to remain on their land: Palestine's UN envoy

US aid to Gaza stalls after temporary pier breaks apart in heavy seas

US aid efforts for Gaza have suffered an embarrassing setback after the temporary pier built by the military broke apart in heavy seas, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. The $320m pier was intended to provide a crucial supply line for aid deliveries by sea to reach starving Palestinians and alleviate a humanitarian catastrophe. Now the effort is on hold for at least a week.

Sabrina Singh, the deputy press secretary for the defence department, told reporters that high seas and a north African weather system had caused a section of the pier to break away on Tuesday morning. The pier will be pulled out and sent to the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, where US Central Command (Centcom) will repair it. “The rebuilding and repairing of the pier will take at least over a week, and, following completion, will need to be re-anchored to the coast of Gaza,” Singh said.

The White House insisted that the pier is still viable as a supplement to aid routes.

Phil Giraldi : How Deep is DC Support for Israel?

Putin & King of Bahrain; Ready to mediate in Middle East

Top EU Official Accused at ICC of ‘Complicity’ in Gaza Genocide

The Geneva International Peace Research Institute (GIPRI) has submitted a request to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, for complicity in Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

A communication submitted by GIPRI on 22 May details “through facts and evidence, that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the current president of the European Commission … is complicit in a number of violations of international humanitarian law, amounting to crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC, committed by the Israeli armed forces against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), including the Gaza Strip.”

“This communication, endorsed by various human rights groups and prominent academics and experts in international criminal law, calls the [ICC] Prosecutor to initiate investigations on the basis of the information provided against Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen,” the communication adds.

GIPRI notes that Von der Leyen is complicit in violations of articles 6, 7, and 8 of the ICC Rome Statute, including military, economic, diplomatic, and political support to Israel.

It adds that she “had knowledge of participating, by aiding and abetting, in the commission of the relevant crimes” and that she “has been instrumental in securing the provision of means, under the form of military support, to the IDF.”

“America’s Monster”: How a U.S. Ally Kidnapped, Killed & Tortured Hundreds in Afghanistan

Joe Biden's European Vacation?

Putin would applaud Biden absence at Swiss peace summit, says Zelenskiy

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Vladimir Putin will give a standing ovation to Joe Biden if the US president fails to attend a peace summit in Switzerland next month.

On a visit to Brussels where he signed a 10-year security pact with Belgium, the Ukrainian leader said it would not be “a strong decision” if Biden failed to attend the talks scheduled for 15-16 June near Lucerne.

“[The] peace summit needs President Biden and so do the other leaders who look at the reaction of the United States. Putin will only applaud his absence, personally applaud it – and standing, at that,” Zelenskiy said.

The conference is being organised at Zelensky’s request to secure “a just and lasting peace” but Russia has not been invited, so it remains unclear what it can achieve.

Nikki Haley shows off her Christian bona fides:

Nikki Haley writes ‘finish them’ on IDF artillery shells during Israel visit

Nikki Haley, the failed Republican presidential nominee, signed Israeli artillery shells with the inscription “Finish Them!” on a Memorial Day visit to Israel.

The former South Carolina governor’s graphic display of support came on a trip to Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, where she was accompanied by Danny Danon, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations and a noted hawkish member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party in the Knesset.

Her shell-signing activities came at a time when Israel is engaged in a devastating military offensive in Gaza that has so far killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, an estimated 15,000 of them children.

Talking to reporters, Haley was unapologetic, criticising Joe Biden’s administration for temporarily withholding weapons as a means of discouraging an Israeli attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, and aiming barbs at the international criminal court (ICC) – which is seeking Netanyahu’s arrest – and the international court of justice (ICJ), which is considering charges of genocide against Israel.

“What America needs to understand is if Israel’s fighting our enemies, how can we not help them,” said Haley, whose missile message also carried the words “America loves Israel”.

Dems In 'FULL-BLOWN FREAK-OUT MODE' Over Biden Poll Numbers

EPA accused of ‘egregious’ misconduct in PFAS testing of pesticides

Documents obtained from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicate the agency may have presented false information to the public about testing for harmful contaminants in pesticides, according to allegations being made by a watchdog group and a former EPA research fellow.

The claims come almost a year to the day after the EPA issued a May 2023 press release that stated the agency found no per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in testing of samples of certain insecticide products. The press release contradicted a published study by the former EPA researcher that had reported finding PFAS in the same pesticide products.

PFAS contamination is a hot topic in environmental and public health circles because certain types of PFAS are known to be very hazardous for human health, and world governments and public health advocates are pushing to sharply limit exposure to these types of chemicals. Accurate testing for PFAS contamination is key to regulating exposure, making the accuracy and transparency of EPA testing a critical issue.

The allegations that the EPA incorrectly reported some PFAS test results were made Tuesday by the nonprofit group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Peer), led by former EPA employees. The Peer director of scientific policy Kyla Bennett said that the organization obtained pesticide product testing data from the EPA through a Freedom of Information Act (Foia) request. The documents they received back from the EPA showed the agency had indeed found PFAS in the tested products, directly contradicting the press release the agency had issued.

“It’s pretty outrageous,” said Bennett. “You don’t get to just ignore the stuff that doesn’t support your hypothesis. That is not science. That is corruption. I can only think that they were getting pressure from pesticide companies.”

Majority of US voters support climate litigation against big oil

As US communities take big oil to court for allegedly deceiving the public about the climate crisis, polling shared with the Guardian shows that a majority of voters support the litigation, while almost half would back an even more aggressive legal strategy of filing criminal charges. The poll, which comes as the world’s first-ever criminal climate lawsuit was brought in France last week, could shed light on how, if filed, similar US cases might be viewed by a jury.

The 40 existing US lawsuits against major oil companies, filed by cities and states, are based on civil charges such as tort law and racketeering protections. But last year, the consumer advocacy non-profit Public Citizen proposed also filing criminal charges – most notably, homicide – against the companies.

Big oil, the argument goes, knew pollution from the use of fossil fuels could have lethal consequences and yet still fought to delay climate action, which could be considered grounds for charges of reckless or negligent homicide. Asked for comment about the legal theory last year, the American Petroleum Institute, the top US fossil fuel lobby group, said that “the industry has achieved its goal of providing affordable, reliable American energy to US consumers while substantially reducing emissions and our environmental footprint”. The seemingly radical idea has received “real, serious interest” from several district attorneys’ offices, said Aaron Regunberg, senior policy counsel with Public Citizen’s climate program. But it has also garnered some skepticism.

To see how the scheme plays with ordinary Americans, Public Citizen teamed up with progressive polling firm Data for Progress to survey 1,200 likely US voters. Conducted earlier this month, the poll was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, race, geography and voting history. Asked if fossil fuel companies “should be held legally accountable for their contributions to climate change”, 62% of voters said yes, suggesting majority support for the existing civil lawsuits against oil companies. That included 84% of Democrats, 59% of Independents and 40% of Republicans. The results confirm a majority opinion suggested by earlier national and state polls.

Also of Interest

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

Patrick Lawrence: US Endgame in Ukraine — War Without End, Amen

Biden Sliding Towards World War III

Are European Politicians Beginning to Worry About Their Own Possible Complicity in Israel’s War Crimes?

Hamas says Washington to blame for Rafah massacres

‘Without them, the city would be lost’: the art of preserving Mexico City’s ancient floating gardens

Biden Keeps MOVING Red Line On Israel; KILLING Of Palestinians MOUNTS

Cops FLIP On Milei As Argentina Currency COLLAPSES

A Little Night Music

Martin, Bogan & Armstrong - Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out

Martin, Bogan & Armstrong - Do You Call That A Buddy?

Martin, Bogan & Armstrong – Carl's Blues

Louie Bluie & Ted Bogan - Ted's Stomp

Martin, Bogan & Armstrong – Old Man Mose

Howard Armstrong - State Street Rag

Martin, Bogan & Armstrong – French Blues

Howard Armstrong - Streets of Old Chicago

Ted Bogan - Mary, Run to the Window

Martin, Bogan & Armstrong – Knox County Stomp