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"Most arts have produced miracles, while the art of government has produced nothing but monsters."

-- Louis Antoine de Saint-Just

News and Opinion

Chris Hedges: My Thoughts on Biden Dropping Out

Joe Biden was discarded by the same billionaire class he assiduously served throughout his political career. Barely able to stumble his way through the words on a TelePrompter and not always cognizant of what is happening around him, his billionaire supporters pulled the plug. He was their creature – he has been in federal office for 47 years – from start to finish. He was used as a foil to defeat Bernie Sanders in the 2020 primaries and was anointed as the candidate in 2024 in a Soviet-style primary campaign. The billionaire class will now anoint someone else. Democratic Party voters are stage props in this political farce. Donald Trump, unlike Kamala Harris or any other apparatchik the billionaire class selects as a presidential candidate, has a genuine and committed base, however fascistic. ...

The Democratic Party refuses to accept its responsibility for the capture of democratic institutions by a rapacious oligarchy, the grotesque social inequality, the cruelty of predatory corporations and an unchecked militarism. The Democrats will anoint another amoral politician, probably Harris, to use as a mask for outsized corporate greed, the folly of endless war, the facilitation of genocide and the assault on our most basic civil liberties. The Democrats, tools of Wall Street, gave us Trump, and the 74 million people who voted for him in 2020. They look set to give us Trump again. God help us.

Blinken talks escalation with Iran

Scores killed in Israeli attacks, medics say, after IDF orders evacuation of Gaza humanitarian zone

The Israeli military has launched a fresh attack on the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, killing at least 70 people according to medics, after ordering Palestinians to leave several neighbourhoods including areas that had been designated by the military as part of a humanitarian zone.

Palestinian civil defence in the territory estimated that 400,000 people sheltering in the city were affected by the order, which included the eastern part of Al-Mawasi, a sandy strip of land without infrastructure where Palestinians have sought shelter in tent encampments in recent months.

The military claimed Hamas militants in Khan Younis and part of Al-Mawasi were using the area to launch rockets at Israel.

“We were displaced from the eastern regions, they called us to evacuate, we took our children and left,” Osama Qudeih told the Associated Press (AP). “There was no safe place left in the Gaza Strip … We went out walking in the streets, not knowing where to go.”

Another woman collapsed in exhaustion after saying it was her seventh or eighth displacement. “Every day we are displaced,” Kholoud al-Dadas told AP as she clutched her children. “Where are the countries? Where is the world, where are the presidents, where are they? Come and see how we are, our children, and what is happening to us.”

Israel's West Bank Assault Sparks 250% Surge in Killings of Palestinian Kids

Three days after the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion stating that Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza is unlawful, the United Nations children's rights agency said that after decades of being "exposed to horrific violence," the number of children who have been killed in the West Bank since last October has skyrocketed.

Since Israel began its bombardment of the Palestinian territories nearly 10 months ago—with Gaza the primary target of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attacks, but with West Bank communities also subjected to raids and other violence—143 Palestinian children have been killed in the West Bank, according to the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF).

The number represents a 250% increase compared to the nine months preceding the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, after which the IDF began retaliating in the occupied territories.

"The situation has deteriorated significantly, coinciding with the escalation of hostilities inside Gaza," said Catherine Russell, executive director of UNICEF. "We are seeing frequent allegations of Palestinian children being detained on their way home from school, or shot while walking on the streets. The violence needs to stop now."

More than half of the killings have been reported in the cities of Nablus, Tulkarm, and Jenin, the latter of which was the site of a major raid by Israeli forces earlier this month, in which 12 Palestinians were killed. All three cities have seen a rise in "militarized law enforcement operations" over the last two years, said UNICEF, as Israeli soldiers and settlers have stormed parts of the territory " to scare Palestinians out of" their homes, as the International Crisis Group reported last year.

Netanyahu to arrive in Washington as fears grow of wider war in Middle East

Benjamin Netanyahu is due to arrive in Washington on Monday at a moment of historic political tumult, as he is scheduled to meet the outgoing US president, Joe Biden, and address a divided Congress amid fears of a growing regional war in the Middle East.

The Israeli prime minister’s arrival will come just a day after Biden bowed out of the presidential race, and will be a major test of Biden’s ability to project US influence and restraint on Israel in the lame duck period of his presidency. Netanyahu will be forced to walk a tightrope as he balances between the Donald Trump-led Republican party and a reinvigorated Democratic campaign that may unite behind the vice-president, Kamala Harris.

Speaking to reporters from the tarmac at Ben Gurion airport in Israel, Netanyahu said he was due in the US as “Israel is fighting on seven fronts and when there’s great political uncertainty in Washington” He added: “I will seek to anchor the bipartisan support that is so important for Israel.”

Netanyahu is expected to meet Biden, and Harris, as he is under pressure from the highest echelons of the Israeli military and much of the Israeli public to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza. He is scheduled to address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, where he has been invited by the House speaker, Mike Johnson.

The two leaders have a strained relationship and Netanyahu had been seen as waiting out the Biden administration in favour of a second Trump term. But Biden’s exit from the campaign creates new uncertainty for the elections, and could embolden him during talks with Netanyahu, according to analysts and insiders in Washington.

US Rights Group Urges Genocide Probe of Netanyahu

With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about to arrive in Washington, an American legal group is pressuring the U.S. Department of Justice to open a criminal investigation into Netanyahu and other officials for committing or authorizing genocide, war crimes, and torturing Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Since Israel launched its retaliation for a Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, Israeli forces partly armed by the U.S. government have killed at least 38,848 people and wounded another 89,459 — according to Gaza officials — while destroying civilian infrastructure and restricting the flow of humanitarian aid into the Palestinian enclave.

“We believe ample credible evidence exists to sufficiently establish that serious crimes falling within U.S. criminal jurisdiction are systematically being perpetrated in Gaza,” says the Center for Constitutional Rights’ (CCR) 23-page letter to Hope Olds, who leads the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) of the DOJ’s Criminal Division.

The letter says:

“Given the frequent travel of Israeli officials and citizens to the United States resulting in their presence within U.S. jurisdiction, and recalling that HRSP is part of a coordinated, interagency effort to deny safe haven in the United States to human rights violators, the Department of Justice must urgently investigate and hold accountable those responsible for war crimes and other serious crimes being committed on a wide-scale basis in the occupied Gaza Strip, including potentially U.S. and U.S.-dual citizens.”

The Israeli prime minister is expected to be in the United States from at least Monday to Wednesday for a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden and to address a joint session of Congress, despite objections from critics of Israel’s war including some lawmakers.

“Netanyahu has killed more than 14,000 precious Palestinian children with U.S. weapons and support and is starving all of Gaza — and now sycophants in the White House and Congress are rolling out the red carpet for him,” Maria LaHood, CCR’s deputy legal director, said on Friday in a statement.

“DOJ’s Human Rights and Special Prosecution Section must exercise its mandate to investigate Netanyahu and hold him to account for his heinous crimes, just as it would an international criminal from any other country.”

The group’s letter says that “in light of Netanyahu’s … visit, HRSP should prioritize investigating him… There is overwhelming evidence that under Netanyahu, Israeli forces and authorities are committing genocide, war crimes, and torture against Palestinians in Gaza, acts that are proscribed under federal criminal statutes and prosecutable by HRSP.”

The letter says:

“As the most powerful political figure in Israel, Netanyahu also leads the Security Cabinet, as well as the recently dissolved War Cabinet — the two bodies responsible for setting the strategy for and directing the military assault on Gaza since October 7, 2023. He therefore bears criminal responsibility for the serious international crimes committed against the Palestinian population over the past nine months.”

Various developments last week elevated concerns for the people of Gaza. The World Health Organization said Friday that poliovirus has been detected in sewage samples at six locations in the strip, and Amnesty International on Thursday published interviews with 27 former detainees who described being tortured by Israeli forces.

A Wednesday report from Oxfam detailed what the group called Israel’s “water war crimes” in Gaza. That same day, Israeli lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a resolution opposing “the establishment of a Palestinian state” west of the Jordan River — widely seen as an effort to send a message to Netanyahu ahead of his trip to D.C.

International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan is seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders, and Israel faces a South Africa-led genocide case at the International Court of Justice — which on Friday issued a non-binding advisory opinion that Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is unlawful and must end “as rapidly as possible.”

So far, legal efforts to hold the Biden administration accountable for enabling Israel’s genocidal violence against Palestinians have been unsuccessful. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit against the president, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

CCR attorney Katherine Gallagher, who represented plaintiffs in the case, said that “this stunning abdication of the court’s role to serve as a check on the executive even in the face of its support for genocide should set off alarm bells for all.”

US criticizes ICJ opinion that Israeli occupation of Palestine is illegal

The United States criticized “the breadth” of the top UN court’s opinion in which the International Court of Justice said Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal, with Washington saying it will complicate efforts to resolve the conflict.

“We have been clear that Israel’s program of government support for settlements is both inconsistent with international law and obstructs the cause of peace,” a US State Department spokesperson said on Saturday in an email.

“However, we are concerned that the breadth of the court’s opinion will complicate efforts to resolve the conflict and bring about an urgently needed just and lasting peace, with two states living side-by-side in peace and security,” the State Department added.

The State Department said the ICJ opinion that Israel must withdraw as soon as possible from the Palestinian territories was “inconsistent with the established framework” for resolving the conflict.

"The Prescription Is Ceasefire": Israeli Public Health Leaders Sound Alarm over Polio in Gaza

Houthi Leader Says Yemen ‘Pleased To Be in Direct Confrontation’ With Israel

On Sunday, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said Yemenis were “pleased to be in a direct confrontation” with Israel and vowed to hit back hard at the Israeli bombing of Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hodeidah.

“Yemeni people are pleased to be in direct confrontation with the Israeli enemy, and they are steadfast and brave people,” al-Houthi said, according to Iran’s Press TV. ...

Al-Houthi said that Israel’s attack “was aimed at Yemen’s economy” since the port of Hodeidah is a vital entry point for fuel and humanitarian aid. Since 2015, Yemen has been under a US-backed Saudi blockade, which has been eased but not fully lifted. ...

Also on Sunday, the Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said Yemen’s “response to the Israeli aggression against our country is inevitably coming and will be huge.”

Benjamin Netanyahu DESCENDS On DC To BOLSTER His Power At Home

Speaker Johnson: Supporting Israel Is One of America’s ‘Founding Principles’

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) described US support for Israel as one of America’s “founding principles” during a speech at an event hosted by the Republican Jewish Committee on July 18. ...

Since the modern state of Israel was created in 1948, it’s unclear what Johnson meant when he said the US-Israel relationship is a “founding principle.” The most well-known Founding Fathers would also disagree with Johnson since they strongly warned against permanent alliances and “attachments” to other nations.

In his farewell address in 1796, George Washington said, “A passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter, without adequate inducement or justification.”

Johnson also threatened Democratic lawmakers with possible arrest if they protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress, which is scheduled for this Thursday.

Dearborn Mayor SPEAKS OUT On Kamala Bibi Meeting

Top EU diplomat calls rival meeting in response to Hungary’s rogue diplomacy

The EU’s most senior diplomat, Josep Borrell, has called a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Brussels – in effect a boycott of a rival gathering in Budapest – to register widespread anger over Hungary’s rogue diplomacy. Borrell announced that he had decided to convene informal meetings of EU foreign affairs and defence ministers in Brussels after the summer break, meaning the same participants will not gather in Budapest as originally planned.

At Monday’s foreign ministers’ meeting “EU member states overwhelmingly criticised Hungary’s lack of sincere and loyal cooperation”, Borrell wrote on X, as he announced the decision.

Hungary, which took over the EU’s rotating presidency on 1 July, has infuriated other EU leaders, with prime minister Viktor Orbán’s self-styled “peace missions” to Moscow and Beijing and talks with the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Hungary’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, described the rival meeting as “childish”, according to a social media post by the government’s chief spokesperson, Zoltán Kovács. ... “Péter Szijjártó stated that Hungary faced aggressive war-mongering hysteria over its peace mission at the EU foreign affairs council meeting in Brussels,” Kovács said. ...

Anger with the Hungarian government deepened after Orbán wrote to the European Council last week claiming that the EU was pursuing a “pro-war policy” with its support for Ukraine.

Federal judge sides with church in unhoused shelter standoff

A federal judge has ruled that a Colorado gold rush town cannot prevent an evangelical church from providing temporary shelter to unhoused people on the church’s property. The ruling against the town of Castle Rock comes after The Rock church sued the town for attempting to block it by arguing the church could not park RVs used as residences on site under local zoning laws.

The Rock church had also claimed that the town had violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act because its religious beliefs compel it to run a makeshift homeless shelter to “restore the poor, needy and destitute”. The ruling represents at least a temporary victory for religious organizations attempting to tackle the country’s increasing rates of homelessness exacerbated by rising housing costs – but facing opposition from local authorities and law enforcement.

The Rock had claimed that under zoning laws the town attempted to prohibit it from providing shelter for “people experiencing temporary homelessness”. According to the complaint, “as of November 2021, there were two campers on the property” and that from 2019 to late 2023, recreational vehicle campers had been “used on an occasional basis to provide overnight shelter for certain temporarily shelter-challenged persons participating in the [church’s] compassionate care programs”.

In a response, the church claimed that “persons are protected from land regulations that impose substantial burden on a person’s free exercise of religion”. The town, it said, “does not have the right to tell the [church] which vehicles can be parked in its private lot, how long they can be parked there, and whether someone can sit, stand, eat, or sleep in such vehicle”.

Body-cam video shows Illinois officer fatally shooting Black woman in face

Authorities have released shocking video that shows a white police officer in Illinois shooting a Black woman – who called police in fear of a home intruder – in the face, killing her. Sonya Massey, 36, was killed early on the morning of 6 July by deputy Sean Grayson of the Sangamon county sheriff’s office in her home in Springfield, the Illinois state capitol. ...

Grayson, who is white, and his partner entered the home where they began speaking to Massey. After an initial discussion and request for Massey’s driver’s license, Grayson spotted a pot of boiling water on the stove and ordered Massey to remove it to avoid starting a fire. In doing so, Massey asks the officers – who visibly distance themselves from her as she goes to handle the pot – why they moved away from her. “Where you going?” she asks them. “Away from your hot steaming water,” Grayson answers, with a laugh, before Massey responds: “Away from the hot steaming water? Oh, I’ll rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”

With his gun drawn, Grayson closed the distance between himself and Massey, who was beginning to kneel behind a counter with her hands up. “You better fucking not, I swear to God I’ll fucking shoot you right in your fucking face,” Grayson warned. Massey can be heard saying, “I’m sorry,” as Grayson continues to advance. “I’m sorry,” she says again as Grayson fires three shots, striking her with a bullet below the eye that exited from the back of her neck.

As Massey lay dying on her kitchen floor, Grayson says he’ll go get his medical kit to render aid. “That’s a headshot. She’s done,” Grayson says before going to get the med kit. As the pair stand there with their guns still drawn, Grayson says: “I’m not taking a bullet out of her fucking head,” then points out that the water from the pot had reached his feet. “What else can we do?” Grayson asks his partner. “I’m not taking hot boiling water to the fucking face.” ...

Grayson has been arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder and is being held without bond until his trial is set to begin. It is exceedingly rare for police officers to be charged with murder in the death of a citizen, and hasn’t occurred in such a high-profile case since the killing of George Floyd in 2020.

Biden Withdrawal: What happens next?; Kamala Harris: The Reality VS The Image

RFK Jr Offered to Back Trump for Cabinet Slot

RFK Jr reportedly held Trump talks about endorsement and possible job

The independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr reportedly held recent talks with Donald Trump about endorsing his campaign for a second presidency and – if successful – taking a job in his administration.

The talks, first reported Monday by the Washington Post, come days after Kennedy publicly apologized for a video posted online that showed part of a private phone call between him and Trump. The clip included Trump sharing his thoughts about childhood vaccines and being in broad agreement with Kennedy, a noted vaccine sceptic. In the video, Trump seemingly invited Kennedy to endorse his campaign.

But the Post reported that it was Kennedy – a Democratic candidate who became independent in October last year – who later sought a post overseeing health and medical issues under any new Trump administration in exchange for his support. At a meeting in Milwaukee early last week, the outlet said, discussions between the two included possible jobs that Kennedy could be given at the cabinet level – or posts that do not require Senate confirmation. The talks also explored the possibility of Kennedy dropping out and endorsing the former president.

Trump advisers were reportedly concerned that such an agreement could be problematic – but they did not rule out the idea.

“I am willing to talk to anybody from either political party who wants to talk about children’s health and how to end the chronic disease epidemic,” Kennedy Jr said, adding that he had “a lot of respect for president Trump for reaching out”.

Pfffftttt!!! Dream on, you'll get lip service and that's all. Follow the money.

Uncommitted Movement Welcomes Biden Stepping Aside, Hoping Harris Will Change Course on Gaza

Senate Permitting Reform Bill Slammed as 'Biggest Giveaway' to Fossil Fuel Industry

Green groups on Monday blasted the introduction of an energy permitting reform bill in the U.S. Senate, warning the proposal is a massive gift to the fossil fuel industry that will reduce public input on critical decisions and exacerbate the climate emergency.

U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.)—respectively the chair and ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee—released the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, which the panel said "will strengthen American energy security by accelerating the permitting process for critical energy and mineral projects of all types in the United States."

Among other reforms, the bill "accelerates leasing and permitting decisions for all types of energy projects on federal lands" and requires the interior secretary to "hold at least one offshore wind lease sale and one offshore oil and gas lease sale per year" from 2025-29.

Manchin, a former right-wing Democrat with deep family ties to the coal industry, has been trying—and failing—to pass fossil fuel-friendly permitting reform legislation for years.

"This Frankenstein legislation is nothing less than the biggest giveaway in decades to the fossil fuel industry," said Brett Hartl, the government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity. "The insignificant crumbs thrown at renewable energy do nothing to address the climate crisis, but instead would make it game over for a livable planet."

Sierra Club Beyond Fossil Fuels policy director Mahyar Sorour said in a statement that "those who promote this kind of so-called 'permitting reform' claim that it's necessary to accelerate the deployment of clean energy, but in truth this is nothing more than yet another attempt by fossil fuel industry boosters to give handouts for polluters at the expense of our communities and the climate."

"We urge Congress to put forward real solutions to build a clean energy economy, and not pair those reforms with more attempts to pad the pockets of fossil fuel executives under the guise of reducing emissions," Sorour added.

There is widespread agreement that energy permitting reform is sorely needed. However, climate campaigners argue that reform efforts must not perpetuate or expand the use of planet-heating fossil fuels. Some advocates say the answer lies in legislation like the A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act.

The bill—which is named after the late Democratic Virginia congressman—was introduced last year by Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) in the Senate and Reps. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Barbara Lee (Calif.) in the House. The legislation aims to ensure timely and meaningful public notification for all new energy projects and adequate community review. It would require federal agencies to weigh the environmental justice impacts of proposed projects during the permitting process.

Canada wildfires drive hundreds from homes as more scorching heat forecast

Wildfires have forced hundreds from their homes in Canada’s westernmost province and officials warn weeks more of scorching temperatures will add pressure to fire crews already in the parched region.

The British Columbia wildfire service said crews were battling more than 300 blazes, with more than half of the fires are classified as out of control. Thousands of residents are under evacuation alert, readying to leave their homes at a moment’s notice.

“Fire suppression efforts continue to be challenged due to hot, dry conditions and localized winds,” the wildfire service said in an update. “A three-week heatwave continues, and more hot and dry conditions are expected to continue for most of the province.”

Over the weekend, 14 communities in the province eclipsed or matched daily high-temperature records. Lytton, a community which was completely incinerated by a 2021 wildfire, shattered a 78-year-old record when it hit 41.2C (106F) on 21 July. ...

Hot, dry conditions mean crews are trapped in a Whac-A-Mole situation, scrambling to prioritize attacks on new blazes while tending to existing fires close to towns and cities. A spate of lightning strikes have also further complicated efforts. Officials believe there have been close to 1,300 strikes in the province since last week and lightning is believe to be the culprit in nearly 90% of the current fires.

Firefighters battle blazes in Utah and California as blistering heat persists

Firefighters across the US west were battling to contain multiple blazes on Monday amid blisteringly high temperatures, including a wildfire that forced evacuations near Salt Lake City over the weekend and another that destroyed several homes in southern California.

The Sandhurst fire broke out on Saturday afternoon near the Utah capital and quickly grew to more than 200 acres (81 hectares). Authorities said more than 100 firefighters responded to the scene, with helicopters and planes dropping buckets over the flames as ground crews tried to douse the fire, which was only 10% contained as of Monday.

Meanwhile, in southern California, flames descended on a residential neighborhood in Riverside, a city about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. Fires were also burning in Colusa and Lake counties in the north of the state. And in Oregon and Washington state, more than 500,000 people were under red flag warnings over the weekend. ...

The Hawarden fire grew to more than 527 acres after it ignited on Sunday in a hilly neighborhood. Four other structures were damaged, Riverside deputy fire chief Steve McKinster said. As of Monday the fire was 20% contained. Authorities are investigating whether the fire was started by fireworks, the Press Enterprise reported.

Riverside hit 102F (38.9C) on Sunday during a heatwave that has been largely concentrated on the interior of California and is expected to last through much of the week.

Also of Interest

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

The ICJ has demolished Israel’s claims that it is not occupying Palestinian territories

Capitol Hill: Netanyahu’s Second Home

Philippines Says It Reached Deal With China To Avoid Clashes at Disputed Shoal

Gaza, abortion, immigration: where Kamala Harris stands on key issues

Did Biden Quit?

Obama Call for Open Nomination After Biden Withdrawal Assures Party Damaging “All Pay Auction” Process

Wave of the Future

German punks launch ‘invasion’ of holiday island favoured by elite

‘Dark oxygen’ in depths of Pacific Ocean could force rethink about origins of life

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle RESIGNS

“Dems Changed The Process For Kamala Harris!” – Jen Psaki

Black Activist SHREDS Kamala Harris & Refuses To Vote For Her!

A Little Night Music

Homesick James - Little And Low

Homesick James - My Home Ain't Here

Homesick James - Sugar Mama

Homesick James with Snooky Pryor - Careless Love

Homesick James - I Got To Move

Homesick James - Crossroads

Homesick James - Homesick Shuffle

Homesick James - I Ain't Doin' No Good

Homesick James - The Woman I'm Lovin'

Homesick James - Homesick's Blues