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This evening's music features Piedmont blues guitarist and the Pink in Pink Floyd, Pink Anderson. Enjoy!

"Today we are engaged in a final, all-out battle between communistic atheism and Christianity. The modern champions of communism have selected this as the time, and ladies and gentlemen, the chips are down - they are truly down."

-- Joseph McCarthy

News and Opinion

Pelosi Calls for FBI to Investigate Cease-Fire Supporters

As The New York Times reported Sunday that more than 1,000 Black American pastors have joined the widespread call for a cease-fire in Gaza, U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi suggested the demand was "Putin's message" and said the FBI should investigate groups that are speaking out about Biden's pro-Israel policies.

On CNN, the former House speaker, a California Democrat, told Dana Bash that the "call for a cease-fire is [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's message" and said she thinks some of the protests that have erupted across the U.S. since October to demand the U.S. push for an end to Israel's killing of civilians in Gaza "are connected to Russia."

"I think some financing should be investigated and I want to ask the FBI to investigate that," Pelosi said.

Now Nancy Pelosi is saying that protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza are connected to Russia and doing Putin’s work. Unreal.

pic.twitter.com/l0PCR6jZLx

— Read Let This Radicalize You (@JoshuaPHilll) January 28, 2024

A number of progressives pointed out that the demand for a cease-fire is hardly coming from the fringes of American society, but rather from more than two-thirds of Americans in a November poll by Reuters/Ipsos. Three-quarters of Democrats in the survey backed a cease-fire, along with half of Republicans.

The Times detailed calls from more than 1,000 Black pastors who represent hundreds of thousands of congregants across the U.S. and who have written open letters and spoken to White House officials at sit-down meetings in support of a cease-fire, warning that "it's going to be very hard to persuade our people to go back to the polls and vote for Biden."

The Intercept reporter Prem Thakker pointed to other groups supportive of the call, including the Democratic parties of Arizona and Texas; the United Auto Workers, which endorsed Biden last week; and Doctors Without Borders.

Pelosi Ties RUSSIA to Ceasefire Protests, Calls for FBI to INVESTIGATE Finances Behind Protestors

Despite Looming Gaza Famine, U.S. Halts UNRWA Funding After Israel Claims Staff Aided Oct. 7 Attack

Famine in Gaza is being made ‘inevitable’ by countries defunding UNRWA, says UN rapporteur

The Gaza Strip is facing “inevitable famine” because of the decision by western countries to pause funding for the UN’s agency for Palestinian affairs after Israeli accusations that 12 of the group’s employees took part in the Hamas attack on 7 October last year.

Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, said on Sunday “famine was imminent” and now “inevitable”, in a comment following the news that the US and nine other countries were suspending additional funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).

“This collectively punishes over 2.2 million Palestinians,” he said.

According to the UN secretary-general,António Guterres, 12 UNRWA staff members were identified by Israel, nine of which had been fired, one killed and the identities of two more were being checked. A UN investigation has been launched.

Israel has not publicly shared the details of its allegations against the UNRWA employees, which according to the Axios website were provided by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and internal security service, the Shin Bet. The information “pointed to the active participation of UNRWA staffers along with the use of the agency’s vehicles and facilities”, it reported. An UNRWA employee in the region said staff lists in Gaza were cross-referenced against UN blacklists and shared with Israel, and that Israeli authorities had not raised significant objections before.

As Civilians Starve in Gaza, Israelis Block Humanitarian Aid Convoy for Third Day

With nearly the entire population of Gaza now regularly forced to go without food for an entire day due to Israel's total blockade of the enclave, protests by hundreds of Israelis at a crossing between Gaza and Israel over the past three days have put residents at even greater risk of starvation by blocking the passage of humanitarian convoys.

Demonstrators displaying Israeli flags have stopped trucks from entering Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing since Wednesday, forcing some to go through the Rafah crossing in Egypt or preventing them from delivering the aid altogether.

Some of the protesters have been identified as relatives of the reported 132 hostages who remain in Gaza after being abducted by Hamas from southern Israel on October 7, while others are related to Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers and some are right-wing activists who want the return of Israeli settlements in Gaza.

On Wednesday, members of the Tzal 9, or Order 9, movement—named for the emergency notice received by Israeli reservists to mobilize—said, "No aid goes through until the last of the abductees returns, no equipment [will] be transferred to the enemy."

As the protests began that day, the demonstrators stopped more than 100 aid trucks from entering Gaza and allowed just 153 in, according to the United Nations—far below the amount of aid that's been permitted in on a daily basis in recent weeks. Before the current war, many Palestinians in Gaza relied on the delivery of aid via an average of 500 trucks per day.

"The hostages must be released and Israel must respect the right to protest, but it must also ensure continuous entry of lifesaving aid to Gaza," said Tania Hary, executive director of Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said Wednesday that by holding up humanitarian aid deliveries, Israel is "using this as a pressure tool on the people of the strip," despite claims by officials and the protesters who have mobilized at Kerem Shalom that they are only trying to keep deliveries from "aiding the enemy."

Right-wing Israeli groups are reportedly planning a march in Jerusalem next week to protest aid entering Gaza.

Earlier this month, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini condemned Israel's "baseless" claim that Gazans are currently facing starvation because Hamas is diverting aid deliveries.

The protesters at Kerem Shalom have said Gazans should receive no more aid until the hostages are released.

But negotiations between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Qatar, were stalled this week as Israel refused to agree to a permanent cease-fire in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages.

According to the BBC, Israeli and American officials including Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns are expected to hold "critical" talks in Europe with Egyptian and Qatari mediators.

A senior Palestinian official told the outlet that they may discuss a proposal to initiate a "phased release" of the remaining hostages in exchange for a "renewable" cease-fire, more aid, and the release of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

Since Israel began its bombardment of Gaza on October 7 with officials saying the IDF should "release all restraints" that would otherwise protect civilians, at least 26,083 Palestinians have been killed in the densely-populated enclave, including at least 11,500 children.

The "complete siege" Israel declared on Gaza, with deliveries of food, potable water, fuel, and other aid severely curtailed, has left "half a million people literally starving" nearly four months into the assault, the World Food Program's (WFP) chief economist said earlier this week.

Briahana Joy Gray: ICJ Israel Genocide Case 'PLAUSIBLE', U.S. Keeps WAVING AWAY Israeli WAR CRIMES

Israeli Ministers Attend ‘Resettle Gaza’ Conference

A conference in Jerusalem on Sunday that called for the re-establishment of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip was attended by thousands of Israelis, including members of the Knesset and ministers within the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the Jewish Power party, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionism party, both spoke at the conference, which was titled the “Conference for the Victory of Israel – Settlement Brings Security: Returning to the Gaza Strip and Northern Samaria.” ...

Ben-Gvir said Israel must find a way to expel Palestinians from Gaza. “If we don’t want another October 7, we need to go back home and control [Gaza]. We need to find a legal way to voluntarily emigrate [Palestinians] and impose death sentences on terrorists,” he said. “I turn to you, PM Netanyahu: this is time for brave decisions.”

Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, also spoke at the conference. Discussing the idea of “voluntary” emigration, he said, “‘Voluntary’ is at times a state you impose [on someone] until they give their consent.'”

Palestinians Charge Genocide in U.S. Court; Biden & Blinken Sued for Backing Israel's War on Gaza

Three US service members killed in ‘despicable’ drone attack in Jordan, Biden says

The spectre of a direct US-Iranian military conflict drew closer on Sunday when the US president Joe Biden announced three US servicemen have been killed and more than 34 injured following a drone attack on a US service base on the border of Jordan and Syria. Biden blamed Iranian backed militia mainly based in Iraq for the “despicable” attack and vowed revenge.

Responsibility for Saturday’s attack on Tower 22, a military outpost on the Jordanian Syrian Iraqi borders was claimed by the Iranian backed umbrella group Islamic Resistance, and the US made no attempt to disguise its belief that Iran was ultimately responsible.

Four separate drone strikes had been fired at three US bases, and the US was investigating why the T-22 base’s defence mechanism did not repel the drone. Many of the American servicemen wounded have suffered traumatic brain injury, but the extent of injuries has not been disclosed. An official said the drone struck near the barracks early in the morning, which would explain the high number of casualties.

US forces have faced a near-daily barrage of drone and missile strikes in Iraq and Syria since the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas, but this incident draws the US much closer to a direct conflict with Iran, an outcome both sides insist they wish to avoid, but may now be unable to prevent as the incidents proliferate and escalate in impact. ...

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group that claimed responsibility for the deaths at T-22, includes Kata’ib Hezbollah group, which fought against coalition forces in Iraq.

Drone Strike Kills 3 U.S. Troops in Jordan as Risk Grows of Regional War over Israel's Gaza Assault

Biden White House moves closer to Iran conflict

More US-Driven Escalations Toward War In The Middle East

Well, it finally happened. The scores of attacks on US troops in the middle east in response to Israel’s US-backed atrocities in Gaza have resulted in American deaths, just as critics of US foreign policy have been saying would happen for months. At least now we can stop bracing for it, I guess.

Antiwar’s Dave DeCamp, among those who have long warned of this eventuality, writes the following:

“Three US troops were killed by an overnight drone attack in northeastern Jordan, the first Americans to die by enemy fire in the region since President Biden threw the US’s weight behind the Israeli onslaught in Gaza.

“According to CNN, one-way attack drones hit Tower 22, a small US outpost in Jordan near the Syrian border. Over 30 troops were also wounded in the attack.

“Since mid-October, US bases in Iraq and Syria have come under attack over 150 times in response to US support for the Israeli slaughter in Gaza. The overnight drone attack in Jordan appears to be the first time Tower 22 was targeted.”

Three American Troops Killed in Drone Attack in Jordan
Biden is blaming 'Iran-backed militants,' referring to Iraqi Shia militias, and might directly attack Iran in response
by Dave DeCamp@DecampDave #Jordan #Iraq #Syria #Iran #Gaza #drones https://t.co/iJxvgxFa5E pic.twitter.com/3YZgBbPxV7

— Antiwar.com (@Antiwarcom) January 28, 2024

The Biden administration immediately claimed the attack was backed by Iran, with profoundly influential news agencies like AP and Reuters regurgitating this claim as established fact in their headlines immediately thereafter. As DeCamp notes in the aforementioned article, back in October a US official acknowledged to CNN that that there’s actually a “persistent intelligence gap” as to how much these Shia militias are in fact beholden to the orders of Tehran, but apparently this attack being linked to Iran is now being treated as established gospel truth anyway.

This attribution has allowed perpetually war-horny Republican senators Lindsey Graham, Tom Cotton and John Cornyn to call on Biden to attack Iran directly. US officials actually told the press last week that Biden would consider direct strikes on Iran if and when the attacks on US troops led to American deaths, with The New York Times reporting the Biden administration knew it was “only a matter of time” before this occurred.

In a statement on the attacks Biden said the US “will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner our choosing,” meaning yet another military escalation in the middle east is on its way under this murderous administration. A full-scale war with Iran would be the absolute worst-case scenario resulting from the violence which erupted in the middle east this past October, potentially with mass deaths on a scale that would make what’s been happening in Gaza look like child’s play.

In that same statement Biden said the US troops who were killed in the “despicable and wholly unjust attack” died working “to fight terrorism”, which is of course ridiculous. People who live in the middle east have far more legitimacy attacking US troops in resistance to a US-backed genocide than US troops have in being in the middle east to begin with, and the US military presence they attacked is there to shore up geostrategic control, not to fight terror.

As Aris Roussinos explains in a new article for Unherd, the US base by the Jordan-Syria border that was struck by Iraqi forces functions as a support base for America’s al-Tanf garrison, a sprawling “deconfliction zone” (read: illegal military occupation) in Syria which the US has for years been using to disrupt Iranian activities in the region and help Israel carry out its constant airstrikes in Syria. “Fighting terrorism” is just the pretense for the US military presence in the region; as always, the real reason is to facilitate the geostrategic domination of the US empire.

Those three US military personnel didn’t die fighting terrorism. They didn’t even die advancing the interests of ordinary Americans. The real reason they died was summed up nicely by Responsible Statecraft’s Trita Parsi:

“They didn’t die defending US interests, they died defending Biden’s refusal to press Israel for a ceasefire. Their lives were put at risk by Biden to defend Israel’s ability to continue its carnage in Gaza.”

Parsi has spent months arguing that the only thing that can de-escalate the rapidly expanding hostilities in the middle east is a ceasefire in Gaza, since that’s what they all ultimately arise from. The massive increase in attacks on US troops, the Yemeni blockade in the Red Sea, the brinkmanship with Hezbollah in Lebanon and the skyrocketing tensions with Iran are all the direct result of Israel’s massacre in Gaza and the opposition thereto.

Instead of pushing for a ceasefire, the US is preparing to send Israel 50 fighter jets and 12 Apache helicopters in preparation for the next war while stepping toward the horrifying prospect of a hot war with Iran. Meanwhile Nancy Pelosi is saying there needs to be an FBI investigation into people calling for a ceasefire, because they might be Russian secret agents.

Every US military fatality in the middle east is the fault of the US government for putting them there. US troops shouldn’t be in the middle east at all, and the US has no legitimacy in retaliating against efforts to kick them out of the region by the people who live there. Iraqi militias have 100 percent legitimacy in attacking US troops in the middle east during a US-backed genocide, and the US has zero legitimacy in retaliating.

To the managers of the US empire:

Get out of the middle east. Just get the fuck out. Stop backing a genocide in Gaza, stop murdering people to shore up domination of world resources, and leave. Leave before you unleash something far worse than the nightmare you’ve already inflicted upon our species.

Ray McGovern: Israeli False Flag Killing US Troops?

Neocons DEMAND IRAN WAR After US Troops Killed In Jordan

Arab, Muslim Leaders in Michigan Refuse to Meet Biden Campaign

U.S. President Joe Biden narrowly won Michigan in 2020, but his reelection campaign's trip to the key swing state on Friday made clear that his support for Israel's war on the Gaza Strip is angering Arab American and Muslim voters.

Assad Turfe, a deputy Wayne County executive, was coordinating a Friday afternoon meeting with Biden's delegation, led by campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez. He reached out to over 10 Arab and Muslim leaders in the Dearborn area.

"As the community got to learn about the meeting, there was definitely a lot of outrage and, ultimately, the decision was made to cancel the meeting," he told The Detroit News, adding that the cancellation was "in the best interest of the community."

Turfe also publicly warned the Democrat's campaign that "unless something drastic happens, you have lost the Arab American and Muslim community."

"At this point, from what I can see, there's no winning them over. That was the idea of the meeting," he said. "Until there's a cease-fire, the overall consensus in the community is they're not welcome here, essentially."

Democratic Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud was among the local leaders who declined an invitation to the scrapped meeting.

"The lives of Palestinians are not measured in poll numbers. Their humanity demands action, not lip service. When elected officials view the atrocities in Gaza only as an electoral problem, they reduce our indescribable pain into a political calculation," Hammoud said on social media Friday, noting that Israel's U.S.-backed war has now killed over 26,000 Palestinians.

"Our immediate demand is crystal clear: The Biden administration must call for a permanent cease-fire to a genocide it is defending and funding with our tax dollars," he continued. "Dearborn residents have tirelessly protested and organized in demand of a cease-fire. As their mayor, I follow their lead."

Hammoud added that "community engagement is powerful when it is used to shape policies that save lives—these conversations must be had with policymakers, not campaign staff. I will not entertain conversations about elections while we watch a livestreamed genocide backed by our government."

The canceled meeting was set to be held on the same day that the International Court of Justice issued its initial ruling in the South African-led case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza—to which the U.S. government responded by making clear it would not push Israel to end the devastating military assault.

Others who were invited to the meeting include state Reps. Alabas Farhat (D-3) and Abraham Aiyash (D-4), Michigan's House majority floor leader, who said on social media that "we will not allow our communities to be utilized for political expediency."

Farhat said that he agreed with the decision to cancel the meeting.

"This pushback is not just about failed policy—it's about humanity," he explained. "It's unrealistic to expect that political conversations will re-secure our support for the president when only a cease-fire can truly reopen that door."

Citing an unnamed source familiar with Rodríguez's schedule, The Associated Pressreported that she still "held multiple meetings across Detroit and Dearborn that have been in the works for weeks, and that included talking with many Michigan leaders, such as local elected officials and leaders from the state's Arab and Palestinian American, Hispanic, and Black communities."

According to the AP:

"People in the community, like community leaders, don't want to meet with Mr. Biden," said Dawud Walid, the executive director of Michigan's chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "I don't know who he's planning on meeting with, but the major organizations are not interested in meeting with him."

Hundreds gathered Friday for an "Abandon Biden" rally movement at the Islamic Center of Detroit that included prominent civil rights activist Imam Omar Suleiman. The event was timed for when organizers heard Rodríguez would be visiting to urge otherwise sympathetic voters not to support Biden in November.

The frosty reception to the president's team came just two days after the United Auto Workers formally backed his reelection—after which Reuters reported that "a Biden campaign official said this endorsement will mean more in November in Michigan than the anger among Muslim voters in the state over the administration's support for Israel."

Turfe suggested Friday that the Biden administration is misreading voters and clearly does not "understand how big of a problem this is and how upset and angry the community is."

With recent wins in the GOP's Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, former President Donald Trump is expected to face Biden in November, despite his ongoing legal trouble.

In response to how the president's campaign handled Michigan on Friday, Nina Turner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy, warned that "Biden is throwing away electoral support to back a right-wing Israeli government that would prefer Trump wins in 2024."

Alastair Crooke: Will Israel Self-Destruct?

Commemorating A Past Holocaust While Cheerleading The Current One

The US and eight of its allies have suspended funding to UNRWA, the primary humanitarian agency in Gaza, following Israeli allegations that a dozen employees of the 30,000-staff organization were involved in the October 7 attack by Hamas. The allegations conveniently sprung up at the same time as the International Court of Justice rulings against Israel in the genocide case brought against it by South Africa, quickly supplanting the ICJ ruling in western mass media headlines. The US has continued to dismiss the South African case as unfounded.

A senior Israeli official told Axios that Israeli intelligence agencies came upon the information about the UNRWA staffers largely through “interrogations of militants who were arrested during the Oct. 7 attack.” Israel has an extensive history of using torture in its interrogations, and there’s no reason to believe it hasn’t been used on captured Hamas fighters in recent months.

So to recap — 

Accusations of genocide deemed credible by the International Court of Justice: Preposterous lies. Not worth opposing a single massacre over.

Unsubstantiated claims about UNRWA staff extracted via torture: Gospel truth. Worthy of ending humanitarian support to Gazans for.

How does ANY unproven claim by the Israeli government get treated seriously by ANYONE anymore? There ought to be a limit on how many lies you can get caught circulating before the entire political/media class just starts laughing at you whenever you make any claim about anything.

North Korea fires cruise missiles off east coast, says South Korea

North Korea has fired multiple cruise missiles off an eastern military port, South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff have said. ...

It is North Korea’s third weapons demonstration this year in the face of deepening tensions with the US, South Korea and Japan and follows a previous round of cruise missile tests on 24 January and test-firing of the country’s first solid-fuel intermediate range ballistic missile on 14 January

But officials in Washington and Seoul say they have spotted no signs Pyongyang intends to take imminent military action. ...

The US, South Korea and Japan in response have been expanding their combined military exercises, which Kim portrays as invasion rehearsals, and sharpening their deterrence strategies built around nuclear-capable US assets.

NSA finally admits to spying on Americans by purchasing sensitive data

The National Security Agency (NSA) has admitted to buying records from data brokers detailing which websites and apps Americans use, US Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) revealed Thursday.

This news follows Wyden's push last year that forced the FBI to admit that it was also buying Americans' sensitive data. Now, the senator is calling on all intelligence agencies to "stop buying personal data from Americans that has been obtained illegally by data brokers."

"The US government should not be funding and legitimizing a shady industry whose flagrant violations of Americans' privacy are not just unethical but illegal," Wyden said in a letter to Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines. “To that end, I request that you adopt a policy that, going forward," intelligence agencies "may only purchase data about Americans that meets the standard for legal data sales established by the FTC.” ...

NSA officials told Wyden that not only is the intelligence agency purchasing data on Americans located in the US but that it also bought Americans' Internet metadata. ...

To fix the problem, Wyden wants intelligence communities to agree to inventory and then "promptly" purge the data that they allegedly illegally collected on Americans without a warrant. Wyden said that this process has allowed agencies like the NSA and the FBI "in effect" to use "their credit card to circumvent the Fourth Amendment."

Call your representative today & urge them to sign Resolution 934: "Regular journalistic activities are protected under the First Amendment, and that the United States ought to drop all charges against and attempts to extradite Julian Assange" #FreeAssangehttps://t.co/WQHqkcdzip pic.twitter.com/87xK441wv9

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 24, 2024

Biden vows to ‘shut down the border’ if Senate immigration bill is passed

Joe Biden said on Friday that the border deal being negotiated in the US Senate was the “toughest and fairest” set of reforms possible and vowed to “shut down the border” the day he signs the bill. The bipartisan talks have hit a critical point amid mounting Republican opposition. Some Republicans have set a deal on border security as a condition for further Ukraine aid.

Earlier in the day, the House speaker, Mike Johnson, said the deal is “dead on arrival” in its current form, according to a letter to Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives reviewed by Reuters.

Biden, a Democrat seeking another term in the 5 November elections, has grappled with record numbers of migrants caught illegally crossing the US-Mexico border during his presidency. Republicans contend Biden should have kept the restrictive policies of Republican former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner for his party’s nomination. “What’s been negotiated would – if passed into law – be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve ever had in our country,” Biden said in a statement.

“It would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed. And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law.”

The White House has agreed to new limits on asylum at the border, including the creation of an expulsion power that would allow migrants who cross the US-Mexico border illegally to be rapidly returned to Mexico if migrant encounters surpass 4,000 per day, three sources familiar with the matter said. If encounters pass 5,000 per day, the use of the expulsion authority would become mandatory, according to the sources who requested anonymity to discuss details of the private negotiations.

In December, encounters averaged more than 9,500 per day, according to US government statistics released on Friday.

Mayorkas Facing IMPEACHMENT, Biden Could Solve Border Crisis TODAY If He Wanted To: Julio Rosas

Republicans unveil impeachment articles against head of homeland security

Republicans published two articles of impeachment against homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday, and plan to formally advance them on Tuesday towards a full House vote, despite two hearings failing to produce any evidence of his wrongdoing.

The politically charged move comes amid a raging battle in Washington DC over immigration, with a senior Democrat announcing Sunday that senators had reached a bipartisan agreement to tighten border security, even as Donald Trump took credit for likely sinking it.

The impeachment charges against Mayorkas allege, first, that he ignored laws passed by Congress and court orders, in order to pursue policies that led to a surge in illegal immigration; and second, that he breached the public trust by making false statements and obstructing oversight of the homeland security department.

Donald Trump ordered to pay E Jean Carroll $83.3m in defamation trial

A New York City jury awarded $83.3m to E Jean Carroll in her defamation trial against Donald Trump on Friday.

Carroll will receive $18.3m in compensatory damages and $65m in punitive retribution. The former president is paying Carroll compensatory damages of $18.3m – $11m to fund a reputational repair campaign. The $7.3m is for the emotional harm caused by Trump’s 2019 public statements. Carroll and her legal team were beaming as they left court in a black SUV. They did not answer questions immediately after court let out.

Moments after the decision was announced, Trump decried it as “absolutely ridiculous” on Truth Social, and said he would be filing an appeal.

“I fully disagree with both verdicts, and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party,” Trump wrote. “Our Legal System is out of control, and being used as a Political Weapon. They have taken away all First Amendment Rights. THIS IS NOT AMERICA!”

The Manhattan federal court decision comes less than one year after Carroll won $5m in her sexual abuse and defamation trial against Trump.

RFK JR. Still Considering Libertarian Party RUN, Trump Team Offered Trump/RFK Ticket

Mark Maslin x Jo Brand | Climate Science Translated

Constant clouds over US Great Lakes area could hurt residents’ mental health

For the 34 million people who call the US’s Great Lakes region home, last winter was a particularly gloomy one due to a dearth of sunlight – a reality that could afflict residents’ mental health in years to come.

Grand Rapids, Michigan, saw just five minutes of sun during the first eight days of January 2023. The same month was the cloudiest January in Chicago in 129 years. At one stage, the 6.3 million people living in the greater Toronto area didn’t see the sun for more than three weeks.

These observations aren’t just anecdotes. Research by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts found that January 2023 was one of the cloudiest for a number of Great Lakes cities since 1950.

While experts say it’s difficult to establish a direct link between climate change and wintertime cloud cover, unfrozen lakes allow moisture to be absorbed from the water into the atmosphere, which can then fuel clouds and lake-effect snow. “[Last winter] clouds were extreme over much of the Great Lakes states, coinciding with extremely low ice cover over the Great Lakes,” says Steve Vavrus, the Wisconsin state climatologist and director of the state’s climatology office. “We know that open lakes favor more snowfall because more evaporation occurs over ice-free waters.”

The five Great Lakes have been experiencing less ice formation for decades. While the average ice cover at the turn of the year was 9%, there was just 0.4% observed on 1 January this year, the lowest since records began in 1973.

MASSIVE Lithium Deposit Off California Coast, Biden COURTS Environmental Activists on GAS

Also of Interest

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

The War On Journalism In Belmarsh, The War On Journalism In Gaza

War On UN - West Retaliates Against ICJ Order By Defunding Humanitarian Mission For Palestine

The ICJ ruling on Gaza is a wake-up call for Washington – Biden has to take note

Israel Accuses The ICJ Of (You Guessed It) Antisemitism

UN Security Council to discuss ICJ ruling in Israel genocide case

Russia And Iran Finalize 20-Year Deal That Will Change The Middle East Forever

Illegal US Yemen Bombing Intensifies Risk of Regional War

An Anniversary the West Would Rather Forget

Macron mobilizes 15,000 cops as protesting farmers threaten to blockade Paris

A North Carolina PFAS factory claims its emissions fell by 99.99%. A Guardian test reveals otherwise | PFAS | The Guardian

Lions making fewer zebra kills due to ‘chain reaction’ involving invasive ants

American Soldiers KILLED in Jordan; Carlson Calls Lindsey Graham ‘F-ing Insane’ for Wanting Iran War

RIP:

Melanie obituary

A Little Night Music

Pink Anderson - I Got Mine

Pink Anderson - Thousand Woman Blues

Pink Anderson - Crow Jane

Pink Anderson - I Got A Woman

Pink Anderson - I Will Fly Away

Pink Anderson - Travelin' Man

Pink Anderson - Meet Me In The Bottom

Pink Anderson - Greasy Greens

Pink Anderson & Simmie Dooley - C.C. and O. Blues