The Common Ills: 2024

Friday, July 26, 2024

Friday, July 26, 2024. Very long, very edited (hope you can follow after the drastic cuts made between dictation and publishing) snapshot today covering the racism behind the attacks on Cornel and Kamala and covering Gaza and a many other things. Transitions are probably completely stripped out of this and if you can't follow blame the editing and not yourselves.

Apparently, it's time to come for the head of Cornel West. And no one's supposed to notice or notice that this same 'left' crowd is coming for Kamala Harris. It's nothing to do with skin color, they insist.

They lie.

I'm not in the mood for the garbage and, yes, racism is garbage. There's no excuse for it. So the radical White 'left' that thinks it's so supportive is actually not that different from the right wing.

Racism is systemic in the United States.

And if you doubt that, watch THE VANGAURD, watch Kyle, watch all the people -- excuse me, watch all the White people on the left -- and especially read their White viewers comments -- to grasp that racism is systemic.

Disclosures before we go any further. I know Cornel through Tavis Smiley. I consider Tavis a friend. I do not think that people did enough to defend Tavis and I include Cornel in that group -- those who could have done more. I am not now nor have I ever been friends with Cornel. I know Kamala through Wille Brown, former Mayor of San Francisco. Trina noted last night:

Grossly obese Tara Reade remains in Russia where she "defected" (that's the term she used, take it up with her). Tara the non-feminist is posting on Twitter all about Kamala having an affair before she was married with a man who was separated from his wife well before the affair started. The two never tried to hide the relationship but you know Trashy Tara. I did check, by the way, before writing what I just wrote. C.I. knows Kamala because C.I. is friends with Willie Brown. That's the man that Kamala had a relationship with. Yes, Mr. and Ms. Brown were separated and, no, the relationship was not hidden, they went out publicly, they attended functions together.

So let's all grasp just how disgusting Tara The Grifter has gotten. Remember, this was just an overweight Democrat who wanted to share her story and was a feminist and . . .

Now the psycho's in Russia and she platforms and reTweets convicted pedophiles like Scott Ritter (a registered sex offender). Now she's slamming an adult woman for being single and having a relationship? Does it ever end for that nut job?

That is the truth. Willie and his wife were separated long before Kamala came into the picture. She did not break up a home, she did not sleep with a man who was living with his wife. Willie and Kamala did not hide their relationship. There was no reason to hide it.

I've noted here that I've known Kamala -- noted since she was running for US senator. I don't think I noted it when she ran for Attorney General of the state of California. I believe I did note it after she was elected Attorney General. Joan Walsh -- no surprise -- hadn't gotten it wrong in her reporting for SALON (that's where she was then) and Ava and I had advised a correction was needed to the post Kamala had just been elected to and when that wasn't done promptly I noted it here and for that reason I noted that I knew Kamala. We didn't cover her during her AG campaign.

`When she ran for the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nomination, we did cover her and I did note that I knew her. I also noted I didn't like her. And very often I would post here that Willie had told me I wasn't being fair about this or that issue to Kamala.

I tried to disclose and make everything as transparent as possible.

I am supporting Kamala for president and I'm very happy to do so. I'm donating cash, I will speak, I will do anything for her campaign. I think she will make a great president.

You've never read me saying that before about any presidential candidate. You probably never will again.

Mike wrote recently:

Videos. I often note YOUTUBE videos here. I'm not talking about music videos. We're months away from the election (I think it's November 5th). I will be voting for Kamala Harris. I think she would be a very strong US president. I have no hesitation about voting for her.

I do have hesitation about putting up videos by people who trash her. So when you come here and you think, "Mike hasn't noted X in a while, I wonder why?" That's your answer.

I think Donald Trump will destroy the country if he's back in the White House. This needs to be a win for Kamala. I'm not interested in people making fun of her.

They're stupid asses. Especially if they're supporting the racist Jill Stein. Cornel West is a real candidate. You want a third party or independent candidate, great, go for Cornel who is genuine.

I'm with Mike on the video issue. I have no control over what lunatics on YOUTUBE say. But I do have control over what gets posted here.

I'm not interested in your garbage attacks on Kamala Harris. They're not going to be posted here. You don't like her. Boo-hoo, you weren't going to vote Democrat anyway. Let's come back to the toy 'radicals' -- they're not radical in reality -- in a bit.

So Kamala and Cornel are being trashed -- by Jill Stein and her supporters.

And when you read the comments you realize that these people doing the trashing have constructed their own worlds where people of color are shut out.

I'm here as a critic, not an activist. If I was activist -- and we can talk about activism in a bit here -- I'd be worried about swaying opinion and getting everyone on board. No, I'm here to call out what needs calling out.

These toy 'radicals' that are White have created a White world online. No great shocker The Great Satan of the Left (DAILY KOS) imposed the White frame throughout the '00s. And so the toy 'radicals' have been White bread from White bread sources.

So when a person of color -- Cornel, Kamala, anyone -- speaks their truth, they have already been 'othered' by these outlets.

I can't control that 'feminist' Katie Halper doesn't want to create a better world for women. But she doesn't. She'd rather use her programs to promote a convicted pedophile than bring on female guests. Grasp that. The 'feminist' grifter is more likely to bring on a registered sex offender -- and fawn over him, than to bring on a female guest.

Free speech gives me the right to question Katie Halper's nonsense. Analytical skills provide me the basis for the critique.

I do not shy from calling out anyone nor do I encourage anyone else to. Earlier this week, I was calling out an outlet for using the term "White trash" to describe JD Vance noting that the term is racist because the implication is that people of color are trash and that it's so novel and different for White people to be trash that is requires the use of "White" in front of "trash." Again, people don't say "Black trash." "White trash" is a racist term. Use "trash" to describe anyone you want, I don't care. I'm not the tone police. But when you put "White" in front of it, it is racist. You're saying that the norm is people of color are trash.

When we came online, I wasn't going to recreate the canon that I'd seen created. Musically, for example. The sixties were boiled down to Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin and Diana Ross. And about 85 White men plus Jimi Hendrix. That's what the racist and systemic system had created. All women and all people of color were the tokens.

That didn't change as the decades passed, it only got worse. Ty wrote many years ago -- 2006? -- filling in for someone at a community site (I think Trina's but it feels like I've got a hole being drilled into my head above the right eyebrow -- it's my glaucoma -- so I'm struggling pull it up in my head) about helping me one summer clean my bedroom closet and teasing me about a magazine in there because I was on the cover. It was a 1998 magazine and I did save it. And I did save it for me. Not for the cover but because of what mattered to me in the interview. That wasn't the project I was promoting. It was Lauryn Hill's THE MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL. It is a great album. It was not getting anywhere near the praise it deserved. A couple of years ago. ROLLING STONE named it one of the top ten albums of all time. That is what it deserves. But in real time, ROLLING STONE picked that awful Beastie Boys' album as the rap album of 1998. And they weren't alone. The Beastie Boys were at their best as a party rap group. After trying to 'deepen,' they never again made a cohesive statement on an album -- no, not even PAUL'S BOUTIQUE.

Lauryn had done something unique, alive and wonderful. And she had created art but was being downgraded to promote garbage like the Beastie Boys' HELLO NASTY. No one gives a damn about that album today and no one should have in real time -- not when held up against Lauryn's work.

Because some of us have called this crap out, Lauryn gets the kind of credit she deserves decades later. But at least she gets it. There are many who still get excluded.

I can rail against it in interviews -- and do to this day -- and I can pick up the phone -- and do to this day -- and get an editor or a producer on the phone to say, "You are othering this artist."

I know Jann Wenner. He made some hideous statements. I didn't dog pile and the reasons were that I don't like to be part of a dog pile and because Jann really wasn't the problem. I could -- and did -- confront Jann on his sexism and racism. And I mean loudly. We had yelling conversations over Lauryn and the way his magazine was mistreating her. Ahead of Carly's COMING AROUND AGAIN release, we had a screaming match over the way, post-1982, the rag had rewritten history on her and served her up repeatedly for attacks.

And here's the thing, Jann was in his bubble. Jann was in his White and Male bubble. And people fawned over him and told him he was right. We both love music, which is probably why we remained friends. But the reason that he would listen to me rage -- and I mean we raged over these issues -- is because I was the only one presenting this view point to him. He was surrounded by people -- a lot were yes men, absolutely, but most were just part of the same bubble. Everyone outside the bubble was an "other."

(I also didn't dog pile on Jann because I begged for Lt Ehren Watada coverage from everyone I knew at any media outlet and Jann put him in a year-end issue. I was and remain grateful for that. Thank you, Jann.)

So this site, what we do here, exists for that reason. That's why on Saturdays, we post all those music videos of female artists. It's why I had a problem with PUMA because at their sites on the weekend they would have women who wanted fun posts about movies and music and I'd think "Great!" but then I'd read them. Posts about movies starring men. Posts about albums from men.

Alice Walker's statement about we're responsible for the world we create is absolutely correct.

I couldn't change The Great Satan's website or anyone else's but I could make sure that we did not other here and that we weren't the 98th million website this week quoting Bob Dylan, the Doors, and eight hundred other White men that a White bubble insisted were the canon.

Jill Stein is a useless piece of garbage who has never helped anyone but Jill Stein.

If that's difficult for you to understand, please ask yourself why she sat a table with Vladimir Putin?

Here's NBC's report on that:

Also at the head table were three western politicians. Willy Wimmer, a former member of the German Bundestag who is often critical of U.S. foreign policy; Cyril Svoboda, former deputy prime minister, minister of foreign affairs, and interior minister of the Czech Republic, and two-time U.S. Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, the only American besides Flynn at the head table.

Stein's 2016 campaign was heavily promoted by RT. She hasn't spoken much about the RT dinner, but in an interview with NBC News last fall, she deflected questions about her appearance, instead chastising the U.S. media for not paying attention to her campaign while RT gave it a lot more attention.

"And my own connection to RT, you know ironically, it takes a Russian television station to actually be open to independent candidates in this country and that is a shame. A shameful commentary on our own media," she told NBC's Alex Seitz-Wald.

(Stein did well enough to help Russia achieve its aims. Her vote totals in the crucial states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan were all greater than Clinton's margin of defeat, and arguably denied Clinton an Electoral College victory.)

I do not hate Russia. I do not call for war on Russia or war with Russia. I've stated that Putin is abusive ruler and that he's not reflective of the Russian people anymore than Bully Boy Bush reflected the American people. We are rarely represented by leaders who genuinely reflect us, we -- worldwide -- deserve much better leaders than what we have.

A serial killer tomorrow could post a selfie with me because people ask for selfies all the time and I willing do them. I'm not attacking Jill Stein for a selfie.

I am attacking her for choosing to fly to Moscow and sit at a table with Vladimir Putin.

He's a despot and he's disgusting. Had he come up to me for a selfie, I would've walked away like I did on Russell Brand or when I shook hands with Elon Musk and just touching his skin had me walking away from him -- he's disgusting.

But I certainly wouldn't travel across the world to sit with Putin for a dinner.

That's disgusting and shameful and it would have been in 2013 (when he started his anti-gay war) or in 2010 or any year that the overlord has been in power.

She should be ashamed of herself. But she's not and White YOUTUBERS don't think there's anything wrong with traveling around the world to celebrate the birthday of a butcher. In power since 1999, his record -- his crimes -- are well known. But Jill had a hankering for some birthday cake and off she flew to Moscow.

Zac and Cody of THE VANGUARD are idiots. That's why they support Jill. They're idiots who know nothing about the Green Party and know nothing about Jill. Yes, I do know the son of her former v.p. running mate so, yes, I do know a great deal about what a bitch Jill really is. That said, talk to most Greens and you'll find out just how unpopular Jill actually is.

Cornel West was the 'toy' radicals' puppy this time a year ago. They loved him and fussed over him and couldn't stop testifying about him to the world -- that includes Zac and Cody (yes, I know it's Gavin and not Cody -- but aren't they really just a DISNEY CHANNEL version of a political show). The short hair of the two would rave about how Cornel's books had impacted him and I'd listen and I'd think, "WTF?"

Then, the more he spoke, it would become obvious that he'd heard about Cornel's writing -- but not actually read it. And that's probably true for most of them.

But Cornel's noted that Jill's a racist -- which she is -- and now the Zac and Cody descend because Jill is sweetness and light. White light?

Considering the history of this country, I think the best that White men that Zac and Cody can do is to shut their mouths for a minute and think before they fall into the trope of BAD BLACK MAN ATTACK INNOCENT WHITE WOMAN.

Did Cornel whistle at her, Zac? Is that what has you enraged?

Come on, there's a long, long history of African-American males being attacked to protect the 'purity' of White women.

For that reason alone, you'd think these smug assholes like Zac and Cody would refrain from launching into an attack on a person of color. Take a moment, at least one, to think about what's going on and what's actually being said. But that's a moment more than impulsive and uneducated Zac and Cody have time for.

Zac and Cody's audience is furious with Cornel -- after being egged on by Zac and Cody -- because he said Jill was a racist. Where are the receipts!!!!!!!

You're not going to find the receipts on your White White YOUTUBE programs.

Cornel is right, Jill's a racist. Most Greens know that and it's not news.

But again, we have the world you create. In the end, we judge you by what you do.

We noted that awful interview Jill did earlier this week.

What do you see in that interview?

You see her stumble and fumble as badly as Joe Biden -- but remember she's 74. It's funny when Zac and Cody and others want to whine about how this politician or that politician is too old -- but they only do that about people they don't like.

In the interview, you hear her declare that Kamala and Donald Trump are the same. (You also hear her twice forget that Joe Biden has dropped out of the race -- but let's not note the cognitive issues that implies for Jill Stein.) You hear her talk about reaching out to Junior.

She savages Cornel and she savages Kamala.

But there is a level of (White) respect for Junior and Donald. She doesn't hold them to the same standard.

Cornel says she's a racist because she is one and that's clear in that interview. It's clear elsewhere as well.

But systemic racism allows so many toy 'radicals' to watch the video and, from their bubble perspective, never grasp what's actually going on or see what any non-White would immediately see.

Your points of reference are screwed and you're not picking up on what's right there in front of you.

Equally true, you're not picking up on what Jill's done to Cornel.

Cornel started as the People's Party's nominee. A huge, huge mistake.

We called it out in real time.

We also told the truth about it when it emerged.

Zac and Cody didn't. Kyle didn't.

BLACK POWER MEDIA is now BLACK LIBERATION MEDIA but before the change, they did interview Cornel about what happened.

From Ava and my "TV: Trusting the audience versus attempting to manage it:"

Last Friday, BLACK POWER MEDIA offered a segment entitled "A Green Party Response to Cornel West." It was entertaining -- as BPM usually is -- and it was informative -- again, as BPM usually is. However, it was also groundbreaking. Reality is not allowed on YOUTUBE. But somehow, we got some.

It was served up by Kamilah Harris and Renee Johnston as they spoke with Dr Jared Ball about the Green Party. Jill Stein? Not liked. Not liked in the rank-in-file. And people are asking about the 2016 bill she left the Green Party with and why she continues to receive funds.

In fact, tea was getting spilled left and right. A long code of silence was exposed. Bri-Bri? She got name checked. The Medicare For All campaign that Jimmy Dore was promoting. People jumped on it and Bri-Bri was one of them. Renee pointed out that there was the whole issue of why are they just focused on The Squad as opposed to pushing all Democrats in the House to support Medicare For All: "Why are we only trying to force a few people to support this? Why aren't we going after all the people who claimed they would sign on to Force The Vote?" That is a good point. We learned that this 'spontaneous' movement wasn't so spontaneous -- and that Jimmy Dore pocketed money -- money raised for that cause but not spend on it. "Nothing came of it," Kamilah noted, except a tiny march in DC with Jackson Hinkle.

This group was previously activated with regards to The People's Party -- Jimmy, Bri-Bri, Cindy Sheehan, serial plagiarist Chris Hedges . . .

The People's Party was not accountable to the people and refused to be answerable to their so-called membership. "Nobody was elected to this top board, by the way," Kamilah explained. "Nick Brana appointed everyone to this board." Pressuring for accountability led to scripting on what could be said at the meeting with the top board. Another response? Appointing Cornel West and Jimmy Dore to the board. No, there was no input from members. Nick just made another decision yet again.

Listen and note how the same group of people keep popping up -- behind the scenes -- Bri-Bri, Jimmy Dore, Jill Stein, Cornel West, serial plagiarist Chris Hedges, Medea Benjamin, etc etc. As Jared pointed out, "the same people caught up in it. You've got Chris Hedges, you've got Cornel West, you've got Jimmy Dore, you've got talented microphoned, you know, spokespeople. You got somewhat celebrity -- football players, who ever."

Darryl LC Moch (chair of the Green Party's Black Caucus) joined the discussion briefly and he noted how the MPP tried to meet up with the Green Party and Peace & Justice and other third parties -- "In terms of trying to build a national front and to move the conversation and to work better together in some ways without tearing each other apart." Why, Darryl, asked were they trying to build a new party when they had the Green Party already with ballot access.

Darryl was the one who came up with the notion of the Green Party doing a shadow government and it was noted that when Jill Stein later ran with the idea (we'll note she did so without crediting Darryl for it), that she couldn't even do that correctly. She created a shadow government or announced she had but failed to follow through -- the plan was to present what the Green Party would be doing so that you could show the differences between the Democratic Party and the Green Party. And no one's being gifted with the nomination, not Cornel, not anyone, "We not handing you s**t. You've got to do the work. .. . You've still got to earn it. "

Jill Stein, Chris Hedges and Ajamu Baraka were called out for their underhanded maneuvers. "Just be real with the public," Kamilah Harris said with exasperation. "There's a whole lot of this that should be discussed, that should be part of the process," Renee Johnston noted.

Reality, Cornel is not even a candidate for the Green Party's presidential nomination. Not only is he not the nominee, he's not really even a candidate. He has filed no papers, no one has yet. Which is what Darryl tried to walk viewers through as he said point blank, "We have no recognized candidates at this time." And then, "We are nowhere near the nomination yet."

The sainted Jill Stein. When did that happen by the way? She was a lousy campaigner in 2012 and in 2016. Oh, that's right. This same group embraced her because they need to take on Russia-gate but couldn't without her because they are that pathetic. And that's why they can't -- and won't -- tell you -- whether it's Katie Insipid Halper or whomever -- that Jill's not popular in the Green Party. A two-time loser, she's not popular. Kamilah noted all the rumors currently swirling around her (including that she's trying to get on the Green Party ticket again but this time as the vice presidential nominee). These things come up because she is so hated and because her actions are so questionable.

"After 2016, the campaign she ran with Ajamu Baraka ended up in debt, " Kamilah explained. And "she's still collecting money from her principal campaign committee through the FEC. Like they just had a report that she had just brought in, already in the first quarter, over $14,000." And, as Renee pointed out, she's involved to this day in a lawsuit with the FEC. But let's not talk about that, let's ignore real issues and all be whores like Katie Halper.

Again, in your White bubble, you miss a great deal.

How did Cornel end up on that ticket?

Chris Hedges. Chris was supposed to be his running mate and went to Cornel with the plan. Cornel didn't realize Chris wasn't telling the E-TRUE HOLLYWOOD STORY when he went on BLACK POWER MEDIA. Cornel told it. Chris came to him and they were going to be a ticket. They agreed to it. At the last minute, Chris' wife asked Chris not to be on the ticket.

That's not what the liar and plagiarist Chris Hedges told the world. He did an interview with Cornel early on about Cornel's decision to take the People's Party's nomination and Chris left out all of this -- which, for the record, isn't ethical journalism but when you're a known serial plagiarist, what do ethics matter.

From the June 16th snapshot:

Or they don't matter as much as your need to fan-boy Chrissy Lynn? "Friend of the show," Katie Halper calls him. Do journalism ethics not matter to Katie Halper?

His lies are not to be overlooked.

For example, look at the following which he wrote last week:

I have known Cornel for many years. We drove together, leaving at 3:00 am from our homes in Princeton, New Jersey, to attend the trial at Fort Meade of U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning. I was in the visitors room at the prison in Frackville, Pennsylvania, as Cornel gripped the shoulders of the political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal and told him “You have Frederick Douglass in you, brother!” Tears streamed down Mumia’s face. Cornel and I held a People’s Hearing of Goldman Sachs in Zuccotti Park during the Occupy movement where those who were evicted and bankrupted by big banks testified against the heartlessness and greed of corporate capitalism. We have spoken together at rallies in support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against the Israeli-apartheid state. We walked three miles on a sweltering July day in Philadelphia with thousands of homeless people to the Wells Fargo Center during the 2016 Democratic National Convention, because housing is a human right.

I was with Cornel when Bernie Sanders delegates, disgusted by the machinations of the Democratic National Committee against their candidate and his endorsement of Hillary Clinton, walked out of the convention. Cornel turned to me and said presciently, “Bernie lost his political moment.”

We have taught classes together in East Jersey State Prison. We have spoken on stages at universities where Cornel has demanded reparations for Black people and called for a guaranteed income for all citizens. I have heard him denounce the prison industrial complex as “a crime against humanity.” I have listened to him call for universal health care, canceling student debt, free university education, freedom for Julian Assange and heard him thunder against those who deny women access to abortion.

Cornel officiated, along with the theologian Dr. James Cone, at my ordination as a Presbyterian minister. We spoke, and wept, at James’ funeral in 2018 at Riverside Church. James wrote that we must stand, no matter the cost, with the crucified of the earth.

Check my math but I believe the column that's from is 30 paragraphs long. Those are the only paragraphs in the column -- about Cornel West being the People's Party's presidential nominee where Chris talks about knowing Cornel. And the comments are from "when we spoke about his decision" on that car ride he mentioned in the above excerpt.

Do you see the problem?

Maybe not. But it's a lie. It's a full on lie. When Chrissy published his lies, he thought he could get away with it. I mean the garbage we just quoted from SCHEER POST -- but actually, he thought he could get away with it at THE NEW YORK TIMES as well. He got away with it at THE TIMES. It was years before Jack Fairweather at MOTHER JONES and FAIR's COUNTERSPIN noted Chrissy's Iraq lies. Then it was circle the wagon and protect the creep.

Which is why everyone knows Judith Miller's name today but no one knows Chris Hedges in regards to pimping a war on Iraq. Judith Miller wasn't the co-author of the piece Dick Cheney waved around on MEET THE PRESS -- Chrissy was.

Chrissy lies. It's a pattern he cannot break.

And he lied at SCHEER POST. Oh, he shared how they were friends and all the times they did this and that.

So people think he told the truth about Cornel and about the nomination. They think he did. But he lied.

And he might have gotten away with it if the nomination from The People's Party hadn't blown up in Cornel's face.

We noted it yesterday, refer to that interview with BLACK POWER MEDIA. Stream it.

[Video added below for those who had trouble finding it on their own.]

Then go back and read Chrissy Lynn's lies. Grasp that Chrissy is just a detached observer in his 'report' on the news.

But the reality is that it's Chris who recruited Cornel for that nomination.

It's Chris who planned to be his running mate -- but Chris' wife said no at the last minute.

That's not in the 'report,' is it?

A backroom deal took place and Chrissy, in 'reporting' on the news, leaves all that out.

Again, he didn't expect to get caught or, rather, outed. He thought he'd get away with lying yet again. What happened though was Cornel made a huge mistake -- huge -- and wasn't ready to sink with the ship by himself. Or, if we're being charitable, maybe he just saw Chrissy as a life preserver.

Floatation device or not, Chrissy lied. If he'd done that at THE NEW YORK TIMES, he would have been fired on the spot. If this column had been published by THE NEW YORK TIMES when he worked there, he would be fired. Not warned. Not written up. Fired.

You do not get away, as a journalist, with writing about a campaign that you instigated when you're not revealing that detail.

Why didn't he?

Is it somehow damaging?

Doesn't let him present himself as just an observer, no, but he flat out lied.

Robert Scheer is a huge disappointment and has been to most on the left since at least the mid-seventies -- which is why when THE LOS ANGELES TIMES dumped him, no other paper came forward. Then he had TRUTH DIG until he didn't. Now he has SCHEER POST -- however much longer that lasts. It shouldn't last a day more since it won't correct Chrissy's lies -- there will be no needed note such as :"We were disappointed to learn -- after publishing this column -- that Mr. Hedges was actually active in seeking and securing the presidential nomination for Cornel West. At SCHEER POST, we take disclosure seriously and would never knowingly attempt to deceive our readers."

Oh, well, Chris survived his plagiarism scandal, he'll probably survive this as well.

My favorite quote in that article about Chris plagiarized for a piece on poverty that he submitted to HARPER'S? The HARPER'S fact checker explaining, "Hedges not only used another journalist’s quotes, but he used them in first-person scenes, claiming he himself gathered the quotes. It was one of the worst things I’d ever seen as a fact-checker at the magazine. And it was endemic throughout the piece."

Cornel was a pawn.

He received so much backlash for taking that nomination but to this day, Chris -- the mastermind behind this -- hasn't received any backlash.

What's the obvious difference between Chris and Cornel?

Skin color.

Well there's another big difference, Cornel never wrote a false connection between 9/11 and Iraq. Chris did though. It was the article that Dick Cheney waved around on TV with his "Even THE NEW YORK TIMES . . ." That article wasn't by Judith Miller. Those lies were under the byline of Chris Hedges. But he skated on that too. White men get away with a lot.

So Chris created the problem.

At this point, Cornel can't run on that ticket because it's got too many problems and it's not even really a party.

Enter Jill to assist Chris.

They lied to Cornel. And we called it out in real time. They told him he could be the Green Party nominee.

Immediately, they called their YOUTUBER friends and all of them -- including Katie Halper -- began presenting Cornel as the Green Party's presidential nominee.

And we were here telling you that wasn't the case. We were here reporting on the reality that this nonsense was enraging members of the Green Party.

Had Cornel not been backed by Jill and not been promoted as the nominee, he might have gotten the nomination next month.

I spoke to his friends and told them to tell him that he was not the nominee and that Jill and Chris were lying to him.

When Cornel grasped that and grasped that he was being not just lied to but manipulated, that's when he decided to run as an independent.

At this point, this is all public record.

And if you don't know it, that's because you've lived in a bubble.

It's time for you to burst that bubble.

Your first clue is we're talking about Cornel West and Jill Stein and you're siding with Jill Stein.

Jill Stein's done nothing but create debt for the Green Party. She's done nothing with her life but sit at the table with Putin.

Cornel has an actual history of activism. Cornel has an academic history. Cornel is one of the great thinkers of our country.

He was not a good politician. But he was persuaded to run. And then he was betrayed.

Jimmy Dore said what he said to Cornel's face. It's a shame others were too busy behind Cornel stabbing him in the back, but Jimmy said it to his face and he awakened Cornel.

That interview is the turning point for Cornel. The gloves come off and he becomes a politician. SInce then, he's run a real campaign and he's fighting for his candidacy the same way he has fought for his beliefs throughout the years.

This is Cornel's first run for the presidency. Jill's going for her third time. Excuse me, but which one is talking about issues and about how to address them?

Jill can sometimes play the critic -- she can stop her bitchery for a moment or two to list some generic issue and offer a bromide or two about it.

Cornel is speaking passionately about the issues that effect the country.

So if you're feeling the need to weigh in on Cornel versus Jill and you're automatically siding with the do-nothing Jill, you might want to stretch your hands out just a little and see if the bubble you're living in can burst allowing you to join the real world.

By the way, "Iraq snapshot." I don't know how much longer this site will continue -- I'm tired of it -- but I'll be here until one person is out of the US Congress next year. On the day that person's out, we'll do the last "Iraq snapshot" as a title and it will be just "snapshot" after that.

Let's move to Gaza to wrap this up. FRANCE 24 reports:

Kamala Harris signaled a major shift on US Gaza policy Thursday, with the presidential hopeful telling Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to seal a peace deal and insisting she would not be "silent" on the suffering in the Palestinian enclave.

Ripping up outgoing President Joe Biden's playbook of mostly behind-the-scenes pressure on Israel, the vice president said after meeting Netanyahu that it was time to end the "devastating" war.

"What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating. The images of dead children and desperate hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time," Harris told reporters.

"We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering and I will not be silent."

NPR covers Kamala's statements on MORNING EDITION -- link is currently just audio but transcript will go up shortly. Before any Jill Stein idiot whines, this is not going to Putin's birthday party. As vice president -- and hopefully soon as president -- Kamala is required to meet with world leaders. It's also not everything some of you want to hear. Then press her on it. That's up to you. I called out The Cult of St Barack repeatedly but I did try to note that Barack himself had told them to hold him accountable. They chose not to. If Kamala's elected -- and I hope and pray she is -- it's your job to hold her accountable.

Continuing with the topic of public servants, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office issued the following:

Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel.

The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.

We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of Hamas for the atrocities of October 7 and ongoing acts of terror. Hamas must lay down its arms and release all hostages. We see no role for Hamas in the future governance of Gaza.

Israel must listen to the concerns of the international community. The protection of civilians is paramount and a requirement under international humanitarian law. Palestinian civilians cannot be made to pay the price of defeating Hamas. It must end.

An immediate ceasefire is needed desperately. Civilians must be protected, and a sustained increase in the flow of assistance throughout Gaza is needed to address the humanitarian situation.

We fully stand behind the comprehensive ceasefire deal, outlined by President Biden and endorsed by the UN Security Council. We call on parties to the conflict to agree to the deal. Any delay will only see more lives lost.

We are committed to working towards an irreversible path to achieving a two-state solution, where Israelis and Palestinians can live securely within internationally recognised borders. This is the only realistic option to achieve a just and enduring peace.

We call on Israel to respond substantively to the ICJ’s advisory opinion, and ensure accountability for ongoing acts of violence against Palestinians by extremist settlers, reverse the record expansion of settlements in the West Bank which are illegal under international law, and work towards a two-state solution.

We are gravely concerned about the prospect of further escalation across the region. We condemn Iran’s attack against Israel of April 13-14, call on Iran to refrain from further destabilizing actions in the Middle East, and demand that Iran and its affiliated groups, including Hizballah, cease their attacks. We also condemn the Houthis’ ongoing reckless acts, including their indiscriminate drone attack in Tel Aviv and ongoing attacks on international shipping.

We are particularly concerned by the situation along the Blue Line, including the escalation of hostilities and rhetoric between the terror group Hizballah and Israel. It has led to the displacement of thousands of Israelis along the northern border and thousands of Lebanese along the southern border. Further hostilities put tens of thousands of civilians in Lebanon and Israel at risk.

This escalation in hostilities only makes a ceasefire in Gaza more urgent. We urge all involved actors to exercise restraint and de-escalate. We support diplomatic efforts to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701. A wider scale war would have disastrous consequences for Israel and Lebanon, and for civilians across the region.

In other news, ALJAZEERA reports:

The World Health Organization chief says vaccines will be administered over the coming weeks to prevent children being infected after the virus was detected in sewage samples.

“While no cases of polio have been recorded yet, without immediate action, it is just a matter of time before it reaches the thousands of children who have been left unprotected,” Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an opinion piece for the UK’s The Guardian newspaper.

He wrote that children under five were most at risk from the viral disease, and especially infants under two since normal vaccination campaigns have been disrupted by more than nine months of conflict.

Poliomyelitis, which is spread mainly through the fecal-oral route, is a highly infectious virus that can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis.

Cases of polio have declined by 99 percent worldwide since 1988 thanks to mass vaccination campaigns and efforts continue to eradicate it completely.

No word yet on whether vanity candidates and anti-vaxers Robert Kennedy Junior and Jill Stein have called out the World Health Organization for this move.

Let's drop back to yesterday's DEMOCRACY NOW! for this segment.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: We’re continuing to look at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the U.S. Congress and the protest outside the Capitol. We’re joined by two peace activists — one Israeli, one Palestinian — who are working together to end the war in Gaza and build a lasting peace.

Maoz Inon’s parents were killed during the Hamas attack on October 7th. Aziz Abu Sarah’s 19-year-old brother died in 1991 after being tortured in an Israeli prison. At the time, Aziz was just 9 years old.

Inon and Abu Sarah recently organized what’s been described as the biggest peace conference in Israel in 30 years. They also recently met Pope Francis.

On Wednesday, they took part in an event in Washington titled “Peace Is Possible: An Alternative Vision for Israel and Palestine.” Other speakers included Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, who boycotted Netanyahu’s speech to Congress.

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL: Speaking for myself only, the deep horrors of what is happening on the ground are not external to us, because the United States does remain the largest backer of military assistance to Israel, assistance that has been used to perpetrate these offensive attacks on a civilian population that’s been denied even the most basic of humanitarian assistance.

AMY GOODMAN: Maoz Inon and Aziz Abu Sarah join us now in Washington, D.C. Maoz, if you can start off by talking about what happened to your parents?

MAOZ INON: Hi, Amy. Good morning from D.C.

I was born in about a mile away from Gaza. And when I was 14, we moved to even nearest community to the Gaza border. And we lost contact with my parents on October the 7th, early morning. And in the afternoon, we learned from one of the neighbors that their house was burned into ashes, and he found two bodies inside. And on that day, I lost many of my childhood friends, their parents, their children, and it was the most dark time in my life.

And two days after, my young brother asked the family to send a universal message from our own tragedy, and he wanted this message to be that we are seeking no revenge. And in the same day, Aziz contacted me on Facebook. And I lost my parents, but I won a friend, I won a partner, and I won a brother, a brother to peace. And since that day, we’ve been working very hard to create and bring a new vision, a vision of hope, a vision of reconciliation, a vision of peace. And this is what we came here to do and say in D.C., that the future cannot and should not look like the present. The future must be a better future, and we are ready and eager to make it this way.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Aziz, could you explain what happened to your brother when you were 9 years old and why you reached out to Maoz after October 7th?

AZIZ ABU SARAH: Sure. Thank you, Amy, and good morning.

Yeah, my brother was arrested from home. We lived in the same — actually slept in the same room, me and him. He’s the one just older than me, Tayseer. And he was taken, on suspicion of throwing rocks, to detention. He refused to confess to the charges, and he was beaten up, tortured, until he eventually did. And by the time he was released from prison, he had internal injuries, and, soon after, he ended up dying from those injuries.

And unlike Maoz, I actually didn’t believe in peace right away. It took me quite a while to come to that conclusion, took me eight years, where I was very active, I was very angry, was very bitter, and I thought vengeance is the only way. I thought I had no choice. Honestly, only when I realized that regardless of what others do to you, you always have the agency and the ability to make your own choices. I was being a slave to the person who killed my brother. He killed my brother first and ruined my life second, because hate is very destructive, destructive thing.

And so, when Maoz’s parents were killed, I understood the pain he was going through. I understood that loss. I understood what it feels like to be subjected to this crazy reality that we live in, where death and killing is a reality. And I reached out and just told him that I care and love him and stand with him and that we are together into this, that it’s not Israelis versus Palestinians, that we are on the same side for justice, for equality, for dignity, and we shouldn’t be seeing it only as Israelis versus Palestinians. It’s those of us who fight for a future that is better, for a future that guarantees equality, ends the occupation, and those who don’t yet. And our message is trying to make sure that others can join us.

AMY GOODMAN: Maoz, if you can talk about what Netanyahu didn’t talk about? Yes, he brought with him, sitting next to his wife Sara, one of the hostages who the Israeli military freed. But he didn’t call for a hostage deal, as so many thousands in Israel have demanded, as hostage families demanded in the streets of Washington, D.C., this week in protest of Netanyahu’s address. Talk about what you feel needs to happen right now and how unusual or not unusual you are in this demand that the war end, that Israel’s assault on Gaza end now, as an Israeli hostage family member.

MAOZ INON: Yeah, I can definitely tell you what he has never done. He never called any of the bereaved families of October 7th, not him or not anyone from his government or his coalition. They didn’t come the shiva, the Jewish way of mourning. They didn’t send us a condolence letter or a call. They didn’t come. They didn’t show, like they didn’t show on October 7th.

Netanyahu and his government are accountable and responsible to my parents’ death. They are responsible and accountable to October 7th. And he never accepted this and took this accountability. And I was surprised and shocked from the members of the Congress that they are not forcing him to take responsibility and accountability to his failure leadership.

And this is what we came here to offer, a new vision. And Netanyahu lost the people of Israel. Before October 7th, the protests were: Should Netanyahu resign or not? But now there is a growing protest that Netanyahu — should Netanyahu resign before the war ends or after the war ends? And Netanyahu thrives and prospers on war, on bloodshed, on revenge. And we are here to say to the representatives and to the American people that Netanyahu lost the people of Israel. Seventy-two percent of the Jewish Israelis want Netanyahu to resign. Sixty-four percent of the Jewish Israelis believe in a conflict resolution that will be supported and championed by the U.S., a resolution that would lead to establishment of a Palestinian state and a normalization with the Arab world. And this is where the people of Israel are.

And we are here to say and to represent a growing movement, a peace movement, Palestinian-Israeli movement, that believes the war must end and conflict resolution must start now. We cannot wait, because the sorrow, the pain, the casualties, it’s — we cannot take it anymore. We cannot suffer more. And we deserve a better life, a normal life and a better future.

AMY GOODMAN: So, Aziz, if you could speak a little bit more about what you think could bring about this kind of peace, how at least to grow this peace movement, Israeli and Palestinian? And describe the day, which you’ve spoken about, in Jerusalem when suddenly you saw that everybody was standing still and you were the only person moving, and what that explained to you, what you saw in that moment.

AZIZ ABU SARAH: Right, yeah. So, I grew up, lived in Jerusalem all my life. And I want to just say it’s amazing how little we know about each other. I mean, I lived in East Jerusalem. Walking distance from my house is West Jerusalem. And Palestinians and Israelis really never get to meet, never get to talk to each other. And when I went to study Hebrew, I studied in West Jerusalem. It was my first interaction with Israelis and Jews who are not soldiers and who are not settlers.

And going to that classroom, there was a siren, and everybody just stood still, and I was the only person moving. Cars had stopped. People got out of the cars and just stood literally still with the siren going on. And I honestly thought this was like a sci-fi movie, a sci-fi book, like it’s just aliens controlling humans. And I ran away, because nobody would talk to me. And later, my teacher, my Hebrew teacher, explained to me that was the memorial for the Holocaust. That’s how people remember those who were killed in the Holocaust. I had no idea what she was talking about. And that’s how little we know about each other.

And honestly, this is how little we know about each other even now. I talk to people in Israel who have no idea what’s going on in Gaza, despite all the images and all the stuff on social media, actually not being able to see it. We don’t know the suffering. We don’t know the pain that is happening. And that is a key element of what keeps wars, what keeps conflicts, what keeps killing going on, because if you cannot humanize who’s on the other side, if you do not see them as normal people, you don’t see them as people with dreams, you don’t see them as people who want to live, then you don’t care if they’re alive or not. You don’t care what’s going on with them. And that’s — Martin Luther King had a saying where he says people hate each other because they don’t know each other. They don’t know each other because they are separated, because they don’t communicate.

And that’s an important element of what Maoz and I are trying to do, is saying: Don’t hear what corrupt leaders, who want to sell us this language of only through bombs, only through killing — as Netanyahu said yesterday, “If I only have a little bit more weapons, I’ll finish the job.” Don’t believe that. Instead, talk to us. He also said, “Oh, we’ll need a new generation of peaceful Palestinians.” Guess what: We are here. Peaceful Palestinians do exist. I’m here with Maoz because we are working together. We are showing what Netanyahu says is impossible. We are showing that there is an alternative to the language of bombs and to the language of killing. We are showing that we are not doomed to live in this cycle where we keep losing our loved ones. And our existence, in itself, the fact that Maoz and I together, is an answer to those who say, “Only through killing, we can achieve peace.” Well, no, that doesn’t happen. And we can see in reality where we are today, a century later, that we haven’t achieved peace through that. Israel hasn’t achieved peace with any country through war. It hasn’t achieved peace through bombs. The only peace it actually has achieved, by sitting down and saying, “OK, I’m willing to negotiate.” And that’s what Netanyahu doesn’t offer.

So, Maoz and I are showing that an alternative exists. The event you mentioned earlier, where thousands of people, Palestinians and Israelis, gathered together in Tel Aviv, saying it is time now to make a difference — we are telling people we can’t remain indifferent. We can’t remain silent. We have to come together. We have to build coalition together. We have to have values that we agree on, that equality and dignity is the most important. Safety and security for both Palestinians and Israelis is essential. We cannot leave that out 'til later, and that we can't wait anymore. It is now that peace is needed. It is now that the occupation needs to end. It’s not in 20 years. It’s not in the next generation. It must happen now.

And we need to organize. We need to organize in Israel and Palestine, and we need to organize here in the United States. As we heard before, Americans are very involved in this. They are very much part of this. And we need Americans’ not only thoughts and prayers, not only saying, “Oh, we’re not happy with Congress doing this and doing that,” and sending us tools of destruction and war machines instead of ways to come together and have peace. We need Americans to join this, because you are, Americans, we are a part of this, of what’s happening, and we are responsible and should be accountable.

AMY GOODMAN: Maoz Inon, you have said we have to go back to the overall deal that was on the table. Prisoners can play a significant role in reconciliation and peacemaking. If you can address the issue. I mean, you lost your parents in the Hamas attack on October 7th. Since that time, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military, and thousands of Palestinians imprisoned, like Aziz’s brother decades ago, but those thousands of Palestinians. Explain what you mean by “all for all.”

MAOZ INON: All for all, it’s the deal that was on the table already on October 7th evening: all the Palestinian prisoners kept in the Israeli jails in return to the all hostages that are kept by the hands of Hamas. So, this deal was on the table from day one.

And I also said earlier — I think it was in October — that the difference between Benjamin Netanyahu and his brother, Yoni, is that Yoni sacrificed his life to save the hostages in Entebbe, while Benjamin Netanyahu is sacrificing the hostages in order to save his position as the prime minister. And we must stop it. And it’s already too late for too many Palestinians, for too many Israelis.

And we are calling that, again, the only answer is peace. And the only way to bring security and safety, like Aziz said, is through equality. And those who believe that bombs will bring safety and war will bring security, they are naive, because it failed again and again. Again and again, it just brings more bloodshed, more revenge and more hate. And —

AMY GOODMAN: Israeli peace activist — we have to end now — Maoz Inon, who lost his parents on October 7th, and Palestinian peace activist Aziz Abu Sarah, who lost his brother decades ago in an Israeli prison. He came out after being tortured and died of his internal injuries. I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh. Thanks so much for joining us.

That was a good segment. Not every segment is. With DEMOCRACY NOW!, I try to take what is useful. Noted because Rebecca and Marcia have enraged drive-bys who are e-mailing the public account. They didn't care for a segment on yesterday's program and because they wrote about that, I'm supposed to attack them -- according to the e-mails.

Here's Rebecca:

on the issue of politics .. i've asked c.i. to please ignore a 'democracy now' segment today. i don't want it up at 'the common ills.'

i'm not posting it here. (c.i. and are friends going back to college, for any who don't know, this is not an extreme request by me, it's a request from 1 friend to another.)

the segment has two guests. 1 is phyllis bennis. i didn't have a problem with phyllis' remarks.

the other guest needs to be pulled off the circuit.

i am a staunch supporter of palestinians and that started long before i got online but you can certainly check my archives - since 2005 - and you will see that i support the palestinian people and their right to self-determination, equality, justice and all.

but?

i don't support a palestinian-american going on an american t.v. show caterwauling about how genocide is the biggest issue in the u.s. election.

no, idiot, it's not.

the american people have to protect the united states. donald trump - as the 2025 project makes clear - wants to destroy this country. i will pressure any u.s. politician to act to protect the palestinians. i will not, however, listen to your stupid and hateful rant that tries to tell the american people that the palestinians are the biggest issue in this 2024 u.s. election. f**k you. we need to take care of our country 1st and that means protecting it from donald trump.

you sound like an idiot - a raving lunatic - when you start insisting that the american people need to make their top priority another country. i don't know who let you out of the nut house, but they made a mistake. i would further add that if donald gets in office, the palestinians are not helped 1 bit. we cannot pressure a madman. i found that segment to be an embarrassment and that woman to be the worst speaker possible for the cause.

and, yes, i have seen that video (as has c.i.) of that idiot palestinian cleric who launched a verbal attack of hatred on u.s. lgbtq-ers. with that, the man was clearly demonic and evil. and he posted his insanity to 'youtube' all by himself. but this woman was brought onto a public affairs program and her lunatic ravings given credence instead of her being told to pump the brakes.

Here's Marcia:

A very stupid woman was on Democracy Now! yesterday spewing nonsense:

Stupid woman, my first priority is not Palestine. I live in the US, my family lives in the US. My first priority at this time in history is to my country. For me, Nazi Germany is what MAGA wants to turn us into. I don't think I'm inflating the threat that we are facing. And I'm sorry, my first priority is that Donald Trump does not get back in the White House. Project 2025 tells us just how much worse he wants to make it.

And, stupid woman, we are losing rule of law -- with every verdict handed up by the corrupt Supreme Court, we are losing rule of law.

These are not minor things, you stupid stupid woman.

I'm sorry for what's going on in Palestine. I will gladly call it out.

But I need the US to remain a democracy. I need us not to completely lose the Supreme Court. As awful and as corrupt as it is, can you imagine the six crooked justices increasing to seven? Or eight? Or nine?

It's possible.

They show no respect for the rule of law. They show 100% allegiance to Donald Trump which is how we got the immunity decision that goes against everything we've ever been taught about our country. And I don't mean anything obscure. This is stuff I was taught in elementary school. Now I was in school in 1976 which was the bicentennial so maybe it was different for me. But it was stressed that we did not have a king and it was stressed why. Noura Saleh Erakat, you are a deeply stupid woman. And you do not help your cause with your lunatic raving.

Equally true, I don't want to hear you talk about campus protests without mentioning the non-Palestinian students across the US who risked to speak out and to protest.

Did you not notice that you left them out?

Americans have been calling out the slaughter in Gaza. I don't hear any appreciation for that. I just hear you attacking those of us trying to save our own country.

I hope you grasp just how toxic your attitude and statements are. If not . . .

I buy groceries for my family. You live next door. I'm happy to share my groceries with you if you are in need. Except if I have a health scare in my family that increases my bills. If that happens, my first need is to feed my immediate family. Let's say there's no such need. Then I'll continue to help you out, neighbor, up until I hear you telling me that your needs and wants are more important than the needs of my family and me. At that point, I'm going to tell you to let the screen door hit you where the good Lord slit you and to handle your problems yourself.

I don't owe you s**t. And when you go on TV and radio acting the fool, my response is: B**ch, I don't owe you s**t.

I agree with both of them. Maybe that woman defines herself as a critic and not an activist. Then we can all just shrug our shoulders and move on. But that's not the case.

And here's some hard reality: Much more of that bulls**t and you're going to lose support in the US. Gaza is important, the lives of Palestinians are important. But the saying is: Politics are local.

Going back to college, Rebecca has been a loud and fierce voice for the Palestinians. She can tell you that this year has seen the strongest support ever among the US population for them. You're going to ruin it if you keep pimping crap like this.

You need to be building support. Instead you create walls and divisions.

You're asking for help for the Palestinians. Stop your bulls**t or you're going to leave people with the false impression that it's one way or the other. You try that with Americans in an election year and you're going to find out just how quickly popularity on an issue can fade.

You are now doing real damage to the cause that you support. You need to check yourself and think about how you present yourself because that appearance yesterday was a disaster and, if you can't offer better than that, you need to shut your mouth. It did not help anyone in Gaza. Instead, the debate is now about you.

Again, my role here is a critic. Equally true, I'm not a nice person and don't pretend to be -- and as Beth noted in last night's roundtable for the gina & krista round-robin, she counted and I've said here 167 different times: I'm not a nice person.

I'm not. I'm a real bitch. Don't pretend otherwise. I want US troops out of Iraq, I want the killing in Gaza to stop, I want to see a real push for Civil Rights, for equal rights, I want LGBTQIA+ people welcomed, celebrated and embraced. I'm a bitch. The things I stand for are needed and are good, but I'm not a nice person and I don't pretend otherwise. But if I'm on TV advocating for the Palestinians, I'm not going to be making statements that run people off when we need all the support here and around the world to end the slaughter.

[This section had originally included a personal story about how an actor told me our director didn't know a thing about directing. I focus on my own work and don't need a director, others are different. But the point of the story was about how I don't care if I have to be a bitch to get something done. The actor was right. The director had written a great screenplay and, based on that, he was going be allowed to direct it. But, as the actor pointed out, he couldn't interact with actors -- again, I don't need interaction nor do I need to be liked on a set -- and when the producer and I then spoke to him, the man had no idea about visuals, etc. So two producers, the actor and I met with the writer. They pussy footed around and I don't have time for that. I stopped the conversation and said that I would not work with him because he didn't have the skill required. Wrote a great script but he didn't have the skills or knowledge to bring it off on the big screen. What are you saying? I'm saying you're fired, that's what this meeting's about. The story was shared -- in much more detail -- because I do not suffer under the mistaken belief that I'm a nice person. I do what needs to be done. When the narrative attached to Joe Biden, he had to go. That's the only way the narrative would shift before the election.]

Gaza remains under assault. Day 294 of the assault in the wave that began in October. Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) points out, "Bloodletting as form; murder as fashion. The ongoing campaign in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces continues without stalling and restriction. But the burgeoning number of corpses is starting to become a challenge for the propaganda outlets: How to justify it? Fortunately for Israel, the United States, its unqualified defender, is happy to provide cover for murder covered in the sheath of self-defence." CNN has explained, "The Gaza Strip is 'the most dangerous place' in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund." ABC NEWS quotes UNICEF's December 9th statement, ""The Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. Scores of children are reportedly being killed and injured on a daily basis. Entire neighborhoods, where children used to play and go to school have been turned into stacks of rubble, with no life in them." NBC NEWS notes, "Strong majorities of all voters in the U.S. disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war, according to the latest national NBC News poll. The erosion is most pronounced among Democrats, a majority of whom believe Israel has gone too far in its military action in Gaza." The slaughter continues. It has displaced over 1 million people per the US Congressional Research Service. Jessica Corbett (COMMON DREAMS) points out, "Academics and legal experts around the world, including Holocaust scholars, have condemned the six-week Israeli assault of Gaza as genocide." The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza is grows higher and higher. United Nations Women noted, "More than 1.9 million people -- 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza -- have been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be nearly 1 million women and girls. The entire population of Gaza -- roughly 2.2 million people -- are in crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse." THE NATIONAL notes, "Gaza death toll rises to 39,145 with 90,257 wounded." Months ago, AP noted, "About 4,000 people are reported missing." February 7th, Jeremy Scahill explained on DEMOCRACY NOW! that "there’s an estimated 7,000 or 8,000 Palestinians missing, many of them in graves that are the rubble of their former home." February 5th, the United Nations' Phillipe Lazzarini Tweeted:

April 11th, Sharon Zhang (TRUTHOUT) reported, "In addition to the over 34,000 Palestinians who have been counted as killed in Israel’s genocidal assault so far, there are 13,000 Palestinians in Gaza who are missing, a humanitarian aid group has estimated, either buried in rubble or mass graves or disappeared into Israeli prisons. In a report released Thursday, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said that the estimate is based on initial reports and that the actual number of people missing is likely even higher."

As for the area itself? Isabele Debre (AP) reveals, "Israel’s military offensive has turned much of northern Gaza into an uninhabitable moonscape. Whole neighborhoods have been erased. Homes, schools and hospitals have been blasted by airstrikes and scorched by tank fire. Some buildings are still standing, but most are battered shells." Kieron Monks (I NEWS) reports, "More than 40 per cent of the buildings in northern Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, according to a new study of satellite imagery by US researchers Jamon Van Den Hoek from Oregon State University and Corey Scher at the City University of New York. The UN gave a figure of 45 per cent of housing destroyed or damaged across the strip in less than six weeks. The rate of destruction is among the highest of any conflict since the Second World War."

The following sites updated: