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-- Jackson Browne

News and Opinion

AOC Is A Genocidal Con Artist

The Democratic Party’s Instagram-friendly progressive darling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has voted with the overwhelming majority of House representatives against withholding $500 million in missile funding for Israel, despite previously saying that Israel is committing “a genocide of Palestinians” in Gaza with US support.

The only lawmakers voting to withhold the military aid were Democrats Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Summer Lee and Al Green, and Republicans Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Coming under fire from the left for the glaring contradiction of providing military assistance to a state that is perpetrating an active genocide, AOC issued a statement claiming her vote was about protecting civilians.

The statement reads as follows:

“Marjorie Taylor Greene’s amendment does nothing to cut off offensive aid to Israel nor end the flow of US munitions being used in Gaza. Of course I voted against it.

“What it does do is cut off defensive Iron Dome capacities while allowing the actual bombs killing Palestinians to continue.

“I have long stated that I do not believe that adding to the death count of innocent victims to this war is constructive to its end. That is a simple and clear difference of opinion that has long been established.

“I remain focused on cutting the flow of US munitions that are being used to perpetuate the genocide in Gaza.”

I didn’t give the mass shooter guns and ammunition, I just bought him a bulletproof vest so nobody could stop the massacre.

— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) July 19, 2025

AOC’s statement is absolute crap. The Iron Dome is not used for defending, it’s used to facilitate constant attacks.

In an article for Jewish Currents titled “Iron Dome Is Not a Defensive System,” Dylan Saba explains:

“By almost entirely negating the ability of militant groups in Gaza to respond to Israel’s incursions, the purportedly defensive Iron Dome allows Israel to strike without fear of repercussion. And because the cost is so low when measured in Israeli casualties, Israel can wage perpetual war without suffering domestic political consequences, and is under negligible pressure to pursue diplomacy with the Palestinians. ‘In theory, a weapon like Iron Dome could be used only defensively. But in practice it doesn’t work that way,’ analyst Nathan Thrall told Jewish Currents. ‘Iron Dome facilitates greater Israeli offensive measures, because it lowers the perceived cost to Israel of escalating or extending or initiating attacks.’ In other words, while the Iron Dome may prevent the deaths of Israeli non-combatants, it has made it easier for Israel to engage in deadly operations that take Palestinian lives.”

The Iron Dome isn’t for protecting civilians, it’s for protecting the Israeli regime from deterrence. We see this in the comfort the regime displays in waging constant military violence on its neighbors knowing they can’t retaliate. That’s why Israel cut a ceasefire deal with Iran so fast.

Iran’s advanced missiles can’t be reliably stopped by the Iron Dome, so Iran was able to smash Israel and force it to cease its unprovoked aggressions. If Israel had had a missile defense system which could casually swat those missiles out of the sky at a high rate of success, Israel would still be bombing Iran today, and would continue doing so until Tehran looked like Gaza. Israel’s war-horny population would have supported this, because they’d have no skin in the game.

Saying you support funding Israel’s “defensive weapons” while opposing sending it “offensive weapons” is as nonsensical as saying you would never give a mass shooter guns and ammunition, but you would give him body armor to keep him safe from the police. You’re helping him commit mass murder just as much as you would be if you gave him guns and ammo. Kings didn’t arm their knights with shields and armor so that they could live long and fulfilling lives, they did it so the knights would live long enough to kill the people the kings wanted killed.

If you believe a state is committing genocide, there is no justifiable reason for you to support enhancing that state’s military capabilities and helping it defend itself from those who try to stop it. As others have pointed out, this is exactly the same as opposing Hitler’s Holocaust but supporting giving anti-aircraft flak cannons to Nazi Germany.

It’s a self-evidently ridiculous, warmongering, and ultimately genocidal position, disguised as progressive humanitarianism. It’s all the ugliest things about western liberals.

AOC’s career was launched by two Israeli venture capitalists, Joe Raby and Cheni Yerushalmi of Gage Strategies

The origin story is left out of her bio, but suggests an Obama-esque trajectory toward national power

As with Obama, the signs of sellout were always there https://t.co/QrBC9ty404 pic.twitter.com/zilwAMubz8

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) July 19, 2025

People who say you should criticize AOC less because there are way worse members of congress act like she’s just passively sitting there being a mediocre lawmaker. She’s not. She’s actively anchoring the leftmost edge of the Overton window of US politics to militarism, capitalism, colonialism, and genocide. She’s actively stopping American politics from moving any further left than the nightmare we see before us.

Leftists shouldn’t hate AOC less than the politicians to her right, they should hate her much more. It isn’t Mike Johnson’s responsibility to move the US government to the left, and it’s not Nancy Pelosi’s job. It’s hers. That’s what she was elected to do. That’s what she framed the goals of her entire political career as being. And she’s taking her stand firmly bracing against any leftward movement from America’s genocidal, warmongering, unjust, exploitative, tyrannical status quo.

And that’s what she was actually put there to do. Her real job is to say “thus far and no further” to the leftmost end of the political spectrum of the world’s most powerful and destructive government. That’s the Democratic Party’s job in general, and it’s the job of media-savvy progressive Democrats in particular. They are there to provide as little resistance as possible when US politics are shoved toward more genocidal, militaristic, oligarchic, capitalist, imperialist abuses, and to provide as much inertia as possible to any movement in the opposite direction.

That’s why people who seek leftward movement in the US political machine see AOC as one of their main enemies. It’s for the exact same reason you’d see someone actively blocking the fire exit as your enemy when trying to escape from a burning building.

Can the Hague Group make a concrete impact?

Pope condemns Gaza war’s ‘barbarity’ as 85 reported killed while waiting for food

Pope Leo XIV has condemned the “barbarity” of the war in Gaza and the “indiscriminate use of force” as Gaza’s health ministry said at least 85 Palestinians had been killed queueing for food. The ministry said on Sunday that the victims had been killed in different locations, mostly in northern Gaza. It said 69 of the dead had been killed by Israeli fire while waiting for UN aid trucks entering through the northern Zikim crossing with Israel.

The UN World Food Programme said that shortly after entering Gaza, a WFP convoy of 25 trucks carrying food aid encountered “massive crowds of hungry civilians” who then came under gunfire. “WFP reiterates that any violence involving civilians seeking humanitarian aid is completely unacceptable,” it said in a statement.

The director of al-Shifa hospital, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, told Associated Press that since Sunday morning the hospital had received 48 people who were killed and 150 wounded while seeking aid from lorries expected to enter Gaza at the Zikim crossing. He could not say whether the dead had been killed by the Israeli army, armed gangs or both. ...

Before these reports emerged, the pope called for “an immediate end to the barbarity of the war and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict” at the end of the Angelus prayer at Castel Gandolfo, his summer residence near Rome. The pope also spoke of his anguish over the Israeli strike on Gaza’s only Catholic church last week, which killed three people and injured 10. Among the injured was the parish priest, who used to receive daily calls from the late Pope Francis.

Israel has expressed “deep sorrow” and opened an investigation into the strike on the church, which was sheltering about 600 displaced people, most of them children and many with special needs. “This act, unfortunately, adds to the ongoing military attacks against the civilian population and places of worship in Gaza,” the pope said on Sunday. “I appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians, as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force, and the forced displacement of populations.”

“Like a Video Game”: How Israel Deploys Grenade-Firing Drones in Gaza to Kill, Threaten and Displace

Recognised Palestinian state could develop disputed gas resources

Recognition of Palestine as a state would put beyond doubt that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is entitled to develop the natural gas resources of the Gaza Marine field, according to one of the experts that worked on the stalled project. Michael Barron, the author of a new book on Palestine’s untapped gas reserves, has suggested the field could generate $4bn (£3bn) in revenue at current prices and it is reasonable that the PA could receive $100m a year over 15 years.

He said the revenues “would not turn the Palestinians into the next Qataris or Singaporeans, but it would be their own revenue and not aid, on which the Palestinian economy remains dependent”. Plans to develop the field have a near 30-year history, during which time legal controversies over ownership have stalled exploration.

A law firm representing Palestinian human rights groups sent a warning letter to the Italian state-owned firm ENI that it should not exploit the gas fields in an area known as Zone G, where six licences were awarded by Israel’s energy ministry. In their letter, the lawyers claim that roughly 62% of the zone lies in maritime areas claimed by Palestine and, as such, “Israel cannot have validly awarded you any exploration rights and you cannot validly have acquired any such rights”.

Palestine declared its maritime borders, including its exclusive economic zone, when it acceded to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 2015, and set out a detailed claim in 2019. Israel is not a signatory to UNCLOS. Barron said recognition of Palestine, particularly by states with large oil firms registered in their jurisdiction, would effectively end the legal ambiguity, and provide the PA with not only a new secure source of income, but regular supplies of energy independent of Israel.

Since the legal letter, ENI has told pressure groups in Italy that “licences have not yet been issued and no exploratory activities are in progress”. Another group, Global Witness, claims the East Mediterranean Gas pipeline that runs parallel to the Gaza coastline is unlawful since it runs through Palestinian waters, and is not providing any revenue to the PA. The 56-mile (90km) pipeline transports gas from Ashkelon in Israel to Arish in Egypt, where it is then processed into liquefied natural gas for export, including to Europe.

Huckabee THREATENS To Declare Israel NOT WELCOME For Christians

Gaza’s Health Ministry Reports Spike in Starvation Deaths Due To Israeli Blockade

Gaza’s Health Ministry on Sunday reported a significant spike in starvation deaths due to the Israeli blockade, saying that it recorded a total of 18 malnutrition-related deaths within 24 hours.

The Health Ministry said in another post on Telegram that it has recorded a total of 86 deaths due to hunger and malnutrition, including 10 adults and 70 children.

“This is a silent massacre, and the Ministry of Health holds the occupation and the international community responsible,” the ministry wrote. “We demand the immediate opening of the crossings to allow the entry of food and medicine.”

Mohammed Abu Afash, the director of Medical Relief in Gaza, told Al Jazeera that women and children in Gaza are “collapsing” due to malnutrition and hunger. He said that if more aid isn’t allowed in, the coming days will be “catastrophic.”

This is the holocau*t now

Syria carve up begins

‘Tense calm’ returns to Syria’s Sweida province after week of deadly violence

An uneasy calm returned to southern Syria’s Sweida province on Sunday, after fighters withdrew following a week of violence estimated to have killed more than 1,000 people. Local people told news agencies the area was calm after Syria’s Islamist-led government said Bedouin fighters had left the predominantly Druze city.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said Sweida had been experiencing “a cautious calm since the early hours of Sunday morning”, but warned of “the deterioration of the humanitarian situation” including a severe shortage of basic medical supplies.

The SOHR reported on Sunday that more than 1,000 people had been killed in armed clashes, bombardment, extrajudicial executions and Israeli airstrikes since the violence in Sweida province began a week ago. The United Nations migration agency said the number of people displaced by the violence had risen to more than 128,000.

One local resident, dentist Kenan Azzam, told Reuters on Sunday morning the situation was one of “a tense calm” but people were still struggling with a lack of water and electricity. “The hospitals are a disaster and out of service, and there are still so many dead and wounded,” he said. Agence France-Presse correspondents on the outskirts of Sweida city reported there were no sounds of fighting, adding humanitarian convoys were preparing to enter the Druze-majority town. ...

The violence was triggered by a dispute between a Bedouin tribesman and a member of the Druze, who are a minority in wider Syria, which prompted government forces to intervene. Druze fighters resisted their entry into the province and violence escalated, turning into days of terror for local people. In response, Israel, which has vowed to protect the Druze community, launched airstrikes on Syria’s defence ministry in Damascus and dozens of military targets in the south of the country. A ceasefire agreement between Syria and Israel had been announced by the US early on Saturday to prevent further Israeli military intervention.

Professor John Mearsheimer: Violent Delights Have Violent Ends

50+ Dems Slam Rubio Plan to Burn 500 Metric Tons of Emergency Food Aid

More than 50 congressional Democrats on Friday condemned U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's decision to withhold and destroy nearly 500 metric tons of emergency food aid for Afghanistan and Pakistan—a move that came a month after the Trump administration's State Department abolished all overseas positions at the United States Agency for International Development.

The USAID emergency food aid—which has been stored in a warehouse in Dubai for months and will expire before the end of July—is enough to feed around 1.5 million children for a week. The aid consists of high energy biscuits that are used primarily to satisfy the immediate nutritional needs of children enduring food crises. It is now set to be incinerated.

"This action is not only morally indefensible, but also wasteful, strategically shortsighted, and completely counter to the entirety of your work while in the Senate," the Democratic lawmakers wrote in a letter to Rubio.

"Given the alarming rates of food insecurity and famine in regions like Gaza and Sudan, the decision to burn lifesaving aid produced by American farmers and paid for by American tax dollars amounts to a tragic abdication of our global humanitarian responsibilities and hurts our own global interests," the letter asserts.

"We are also alarmed by reports indicating that internal USAID memos requesting urgent approval to move the biscuits went unanswered for months," the lawmakers said. "If accurate, this speaks to a systemic breakdown in communication and leadership that has paralyzed America's food aid delivery systems."

"The United States has long led the world in humanitarian assistance, not only as a matter of compassion but also as a cornerstone of global stability and diplomacy," the letter concludes. "Destroying aid that could save lives undermines that legacy and damages our standing in the international community. We urge you to immediately prioritize the distribution of all remaining and viable food assistance stockpiles. American leadership demands nothing less."

Rubio's decision comes a month after the secretary of state ordered the abolition of all overseas USAID positions amid the Trump administration's downsizing and elimination of the agency, one of many targeted by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, formerly led by multibillionaire Elon Musk.

Larry C. Johnson: Iran Gets Tough – Russia Hammers Its Strategy to Confront the U.S.

Rubio moves to strip US visas from eight Brazilian judges in Bolsonaro battle

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has reportedly stripped eight of Brazil’s 11 supreme court judges of their US visas as the White House escalates its campaign to help the country’s former president Jair Bolsonaro avoid justice over his alleged attempt to seize power with a military coup.

Bolsonaro, a far-right populist with ties to Donald Trump’s Maga movement, is on trial for allegedly masterminding a murderous plot to cling to power after losing the 2022 election to his leftwing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro is expected to be convicted by the supreme court in the coming weeks and faces a jail sentence of up to 43 years.

As the day of judgment nears, Trump has been increasing pressure on the court and President Lula’s administration. On 9 July, the US president announced he would impose 50% tariffs on all Brazilian imports as of 1 August, partly as a result of the supposed persecution of his ally. The move triggered an outpouring of nationalist anger in the South American country, with Lula describing it as “unacceptable blackmail”.

On Friday, after federal police raided Bolsonaro’s house and fitted him with an electronic tag to stop him absconding, Rubio announced further moves in support of the defendant, who he claimed was the victim of a “political witch hunt”.

Writing on X, Rubio said he had ordered visa revocations for the judge leading the investigation into Bolsonaro, Alexandre de Moraes, as well as “his allies on the court” and their family members. ... Lula denounced what he called “another arbitrary and completely groundless measure from the US government”.

US justice department asks to unseal grand jury transcripts in Epstein case

The US Department of Justice asked a federal court on Friday to unseal grand jury transcripts in Jeffrey Epstein’s case at the direction of Donald Trump amid a firestorm over the administration’s handling of records related to the wealthy financier.

The move – coming a day after a Wall Street Journal story put a spotlight on Trump’s relationship with Epstein – seeks to contain a growing controversy that has engulfed the administration since it announced that it would not be releasing more government files from Epstein’s sex trafficking case.

Todd Blanche, the US deputy attorney general, filed motions urging the court to unseal the Epstein transcripts as well as those in the case against British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. Epstein killed himself in 2019 shortly after his arrest while awaiting trial.

The justice department’s announcement that it would not be making public any more Epstein files enraged parts of Trump’s base in part because members of his own administration had hyped the expected release and stoked conspiracies around the well-connected financier.

Trump’s demand to release the grand jury transcripts came after the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday on a sexually suggestive letter that the newspaper says bore Trump’s name and was included in a 2003 album for Epstein’s 50th birthday.

Caught On Tape: Trump ADMITS He's In the Epstein Files

Trump, Republicans maneuver to defuse Epstein crisis

In the aftermath of a politically explosive article posted Thursday evening by the Wall Street Journal detailing Donald Trump’s extensive relationship with the billionaire sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, the Trump administration and congressional Republicans have scrambled to defuse the crisis triggered by the Justice Department’s refusal to release FBI investigative files on the Epstein case. In the aftermath of a politically explosive article posted Thursday evening by the Wall Street Journal detailing Donald Trump’s extensive relationship with the billionaire sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, the Trump administration and congressional Republicans have scrambled to defuse the crisis triggered by the Justice Department’s refusal to release FBI investigative files on the Epstein case. ...

[F]ollowing the Wall Street Journal article, he announced that he had instructed Bondi to go to court to seek the release of grand jury testimony in the federal case against Epstein. Bondi promptly reversed course and on Friday filed in court for the release of the testimony. This move, however, falls far short of the demand to release the FBI’s Epstein file, which includes, among other things, reams of video recordings taken from Epstein’s homes. Moreover, it is very difficult to secure the release of grand jury testimony, which is highly protected by the courts, and in any event would take many months of legal wrangling to obtain. The move has more the character of a diversion than a concession to Trump’s enraged base.

Before Trump issued his call for the grand jury testimony, he posted on Truth Social a denunciation of the Wall Street Journal. He accused the newspaper of publishing a “false, malicious and defamatory” report and said he would sue the Journal, NewsCorp and Rupert Murdoch. He added, “President Trump has already beaten George Stephanopoulos/ABC, 60 Minutes/CBS, and others, and looks forward to suing and holding accountable the once great Wall Street Journal.”

Also Thursday evening, House Republicans, in a bid to appease the Republican base and preempt Democratic attempts to pass a resolution demanding the release of the Epstein file, obtained passage by the Rules Committee of a non-binding resolution concerning the controversy. The measure calls on the Justice Department to make available within 30 days “documents, records and communications” surrounding the investigation into Epstein, his death, and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell. The resolution has not been scheduled for a vote and it is not clear if it ever will be. The Rules Committee resolution was also meant to deflect a procedural maneuver by Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a Trump critic, to force a floor vote on the matter, a move that had drawn the support of at least eight other Republicans.

In a social media post, Massie denounced the Rules Committee resolution as a toothless gesture that would not produce any new disclosures. “Congress thinks you’re stupid,” he wrote. “The rules committee passed a NON-BINDING resolution, hoping folks will accept it as real.”

Ice chief says he will continue to allow agents to wear masks during arrest raids

The head of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) said on Sunday that he will continue allowing the controversial practice of his officers wearing masks over their faces during their arrest raids.

As Donald Trump has ramped up his unprecedented effort to deport immigrants around the country, Ice officers have become notorious for wearing masks to approach and detain people, often with force. Legal advocates and attorneys general have argued that it poses accountability issues and contributes to a climate of fear.

On Sunday, Todd Lyons, the agency’s acting director, was asked on CBS Face the Nation about imposters exploiting the practice by posing as immigration officers. “That’s one of our biggest concerns. And I’ve said it publicly before, I’m not a proponent of the masks,” Lyons said. “However, if that’s a tool that the men and women of Ice to keep themselves and their family safe, then I will allow it.”

Lyons has previously defended the practice of mask-wearing, telling Fox News last week that “while I’m not a fan of the masks, I think we could do better, but we need to protect our agents and officers”, claiming concerns about doxxing (the public revealing of personal information such as home addresses), and declaring that assaults of immigration officers have increased by 830%.

While data from January 2024 to June 2024 does show 10 reported assaults on Ice officers compared to 79 during the same period last year, those six months have also seen Ice agents descend in record numbers on streets, businesses, farms and public spaces, rounding up and detaining mostly Latino people as part of a massive Trump administration push to rid the US of as many as 1 million immigrants every year.

Trump fossil-fuel push setting back green progress decades

Ever since Donald Trump began his second presidency, he has used an “invented” national energy emergency to help justify expanding oil, gas and coal while slashing green energy – despite years of scientific evidence that burning fossil fuels has contributed significantly to climate change, say scholars and watchdogs.

It’s an agenda that in only its first six months, has put back environmental progress by decades, they say. Trump’s skewed and unscientific energy priorities have come even as climate-change related weather disasters from huge floods in Texas to giant California fires have increased, and as Trump regulators are clamping down on spending for alternative fuels and weather research.

As the death toll from the Texas floods rose to over 100 on 7 July, Trump signed an executive order that added new treasury department restrictions on tax subsidies for wind and solar projects. That order came days after Trump signed his One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included provisions to gut big tax credits for green energy contained in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act legislation Congress passed during Joe Biden’s presidency

In another oddly timed move, underscoring the administration’s war on science, its proposed budget for the coming fiscal year would shutter 10 labs that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration runs – specifically ones that conduct key research on ways weather changes are affected by a warming earth.

Trump also signed four executive orders in April to help revive the beleaguered and polluting coal industry, which he and key cabinet members touted more at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh as they promoted plans by private companies to spend $92bn on AI projects and expand coal and natural gas in Pennsylvania.

Trump’s EPA eliminates research and development office and begins layoffs

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on Friday it is eliminating its research and development arm and reducing agency staff by thousands of employees. One union leader said the moves “will devastate public health in our country”.

The agency’s office of research and development (ORD) has long provided the scientific underpinnings for the EPA’s mission to protect the environment and human health. The EPA said in May it would shift its scientific expertise and research efforts to program offices that focus on major issues such as air and water.

The agency said on Friday it is creating a new office of applied science and environmental solutions that will allow it to focus on research and science “more than ever before”. Once fully implemented, the changes will save the EPA nearly $750m, officials said.

Representative Zoe Lofgren of California, the top Democrat on the House science committee, called the elimination of the research office “a travesty”.

“The Trump administration is firing hardworking scientists while employing political appointees whose job it is to lie incessantly to Congress and to the American people,” she said. “The obliteration of ORD will have generational impacts on Americans’ health and safety.”

Also of Interest

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

Jonathan Cook: Britain’s Repressive Defense of Genocide

Flotilla Ship Heads Towards Gaza With 7 U.S. Nationals

Ukraine - The Battle Over Zelenski's Fate Is Still in Balance

‘A disaster for all of us’: US scientists describe impact of Trump cuts

Trump’s Desaparecidos

Nearly 300 pages of Atlanta’s ‘Cop City’ records released after first-of-its-kind ruling

A Little Night Music

W. C. Handy - Ole Miss Rag

W.C. Handy - Memphis Blues

W.C. Handy's Orchestra - Aunt Hagar's Blues

W.C. Handy - Loveless Love

W.C.Handy's Orchestra of Memphis - The Snakey Blues

W.C. Handy's Orchestra - The Old Town Pump

W.C. Handy - Way Down South Where The Blues Began

W.C. Handy's Orchestra - Livery Stable Blues

Handy's Memphis Blues Band - Yellow Dog Blues