London Telegraph
March 16, 2019

An MP has been widely mocked for suggesting all knives sold in the UK have a GPS tracker fitted, and saying that fishermen could have a special exemption.

Scott Mann, the Member of Parliament for North Cornwall put his musings in a tweet, writing: “Every knife sold in the UK should have a GPS tracker fitted in the handle. It’s time we had a national database like we do with guns.

“If you’re carrying it around you had better have a bloody good explanation, obvious exemptions for fishing etc.”

Many pointed out that this is an unworkable plan, as there are millions of knives in the UK, mainly used for chopping food.

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This article was posted: Saturday, March 16, 2019 at 5:27 am

Supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Saturday that his support for his 2020 campaign staff’s decision to unionize demonstrated his commitment to fighting for workers’ rights. Sanders’ Friday announcement made his presidential campaign the first in history to recognize a unionized workforce.

The progressive senator has been a vocal supporter of the Fight for $15 movement; teachers in cities across the country who have staged walkouts to demand fair pay; and other labor campaigns. His support for a unionized campaign staff was presented as an extension of that work as well as a signal of the policies he will promote should he win the presidency.

“We cannot just support unions with words, we must back it up with actions,” Sanders said. “On this campaign and when we are in the White House, we are going to make it easier for people to join unions, not harder.”

I’m proud that our campaign is the first presidential campaign to unionize.

We cannot just support unions with words, we must back it up with actions. On this campaign and when we are in the White House, we are going make it easier for people to join unions, not harder. https://t.co/JNv3dpss6D

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 15, 2019

The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400 will represent the campaign staffers, according to CNN. Currently 44 staff members are eligible to join the union, but organizers say about 1,000 people working in Washington, Vermont, and across the country could eventually be represented by the bargaining unit.

“We expect [unionizing] will mean pay parity and transparency on the campaign, with no gender bias or harassment, and equal treatment for every worker,” Mark P. Federici, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400, said in a statement on Friday.

“I hope this breakthrough serves as a model for other presidential campaigns, as well as party committees and…

Photograph Source Wikipedia User:SGT141

Barrett Brown is an award-winning journalist and author who spent time in federal prison for work he did exposing various elements of the military-industrial complex, including publicizing the hacked emails of private intelligence company Stratfor. Since being released from prison, Brown has worked to establish the Pursuance Project, an initiative aimed at developing a new model of journalism based on crowdsourcing and diverse networks of collaboration using an internet-based platform.

In November 2018, Brown was the subject of a terrorist threat made against his publisher, Dallas-based D Magazine. However, unlike most such terrorist threats against journalists/media outlets elsewhere in the country, this threat was not handled in the normal manner. You might even say that Dallas PD, in collaboration with the Dallas Morning News, moved to cover it up. Was this a case of gross incompetence by the police? Hatred of a well-known local muckraking journalist seen as an enemy of Dallas police and corporate media? Or was it something else?

The following is an edited transcript of an interview between Barrett Brown and CounterPunch Radio host, Eric Draitser. The full interview can be heard at patreon.com/ericdraitser ($1 subscription required).

***

Eric Draitser: You recently had an interesting, let’s call it, series of interactions with law enforcement and local government in Dallas. And it stems from a very grisly murder that took…

Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.

We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.

Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes.

Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results.

We only think when confronted with a problem.

― John Dewey, 1938, Experience and Education (Vol. no. 10). New York: The Macmillan Company &  1933, How We Think. Boston, MA: D. C. Heath and Co

There’s a lot of magical thinking going on in the world, largely laid at the feet of the marketers, arbiters of propaganda, the flim-flam of Capitalism and Consumerism.

Finding solace in the next President’s Day sale or Black Friday.

Except every day in America is a Black Friday. Fire sale for the social services, for all the safety nets, for the bedrock of a democracy – education, power of the people to hold the commons and to control the benefits of the community’s needs over some punk like Musk or Sir Richard or Zuckerberg or Trump-Clinton-Obama, all same sides of the one-sided coin.

More and more people I engage with are lost, really, pushing their little broom and lifting their little dustbin to attempt to clean up the smashed walls and halls and schoolhouses and hallowed things of the people.

Feudalism is back in style, and for each community – city block or city…

In the latest entry of my Escape from America series, I interview an American who’s living in Russia, a country that’s been relentlessly demonized by the Western media. To a minority of Americans, however, Russia is a nationalist beacon, or even a possible refuge, as it already is to many Afrikaners.

How long have you lived overseas?

For about 8 years. But I visited home two times in those 8 years for a month or so.

And since I travel by moving somewhere for work, I have only scratched the surface of Europe and never even been to South America or Africa. :/

So in a nutshell it’s been: ≈ 2 years in Vietnam, ≈ 3 years in Japan, ≈ 3 years in Russia.

But of course, there were many smaller trips around and breaks in between in places like Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia. A brief stint in Finland, passing through Germany, Poland, Ukraine. I pride myself in getting to know the culture instead of just checking it off a list, but I’m getting a bit older so now I would love to have financial independence in order to explore other continents for shorter periods like my yuppie friends do.

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What made you decide to leave the US?

I had hitchhiked all around the U.S. and always enjoyed travel. I think it’s in my blood. All the Europeans with gypsy-esque souls were selected out of the European population they say. I pride myself in my pioneer origins / predispositions, but also see the downsides of them as I get older. Perhaps that hyper individualism is what lead to America’s degeneration? I don’t know. But I always planned on traveling the world. My mom traveled a lot and took us on road trips all the time. So that could be it. Nature vs. nurture. Chicken or the…

Washington Examiner
March 16, 2019

A 27-year-old man was reportedly attacked with a hammer and a bat Friday outside his mosque in London just hours after the New Zealand massacre.

The report filed with London Police said that a car with three men sped past the East London mosque, yelling Islamophobic slurs, calling them “terrorists,” at attendees outside the worship place. When the mosque attendees chased down the car, a man got out of the car and attacked one of the chasers with a hammer-like weapon.

Local police confirmed the filing of the police report to The Independent, saying that the victim sustained head injuries from the altercation.

“The suspects returned to their car and left the scene before police arrived,” said a representative for London’s Metropolitan Police.

“At hospital, it was established that the victim had sustained a head injury, which was not believed to be serious,” the representative said.

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This article was posted: Saturday, March 16, 2019 at 5:29 am

Mehring Books exhibits at London Book Fair

By
our reporters

16 March 2019

Mehring Books, the publishing house of the International Committee of the Fourth International, exhibited at the London Book Fair this week. Its stall in London Olympia’s Grand Hall attracted interest among visitors and exhibitors from around the world.

The London Book Fair is the leading publishing trade fair in the English-speaking world and the second-largest worldwide after the Frankfurter Buchmesse. Almost 1,000 companies exhibited from more than 60 countries, with around 29,000 visitors between March 12-14.

Mehring Books’ stand featured the newly released English-language edition of Why Are They Back? Historical falsification, political conspiracy and the return of fascism in Germany; the 30th anniversary edition of The Heritage We Defend: A contribution to the history of the Trotskyist movement; and Agents: The FBI and GPU infiltration of the Trotskyist movement.

Christoph Vandreier at the 2019 London Book Fair

On the Fair’s opening day, World Socialist Web Site international editorial board chairperson David North appeared at a “Meet the Author” event at the Mehring Books stand. Book industry professionals from Japan, India and Israel, along with visitors from China, the UK and Canada, were among those who stopped to speak with North.

Christoph Vandreier, deputy leader of the Socialist Equality Party (SGP) in Germany, spoke at a “Meet the Author” event the following day. He explained to those in attendance, “Why Are They Back? is a book dealing with how the rise of the far-right in Germany was ideologically and politically prepared.”

The far-right Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) is now the official opposition party in the Bundestag (German parliament), Vandreier…

Daily Caller
March 16, 2019

“Do you see white nationalism as a rising threat around the world?” ABC News’ Terry Moran asked the president. 

“I don’t, really,” Trump responded. “I think it’s a small group of people that have very, very serious problems. I guess, if you look at what happened in New Zealand, perhaps that’s a case. I don’t know enough about it yet, they’re just learning about the person and the people involved. But it’s certainly a terrible thing.”

The questions about white nationalism come a day after a man killed at least 49 peoplewhile opening fire inside two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

He was later asked if he had seen the New Zealand shooter’s alleged manifesto.

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This article was posted: Saturday, March 16, 2019 at 5:31 am

On Wednesday, The Washington Examiner published an op-ed by Kimberly Ross, “No sacred cows: Don’t tolerate Tucker Carlson’s indefensible words just because he’s conservative.” Ross starts off on a reasonable note:

Outrage mobs are nothing new and have grown in popularity as the country grows more politically and culturally divided.

Nearly every week, something sets off one side that is often applauded by the other. The following week, the same thing will occur, albeit with the roles reversed. It’s yet another part of this exhausting, 24-hour news cycle society that we’re immersed in.

There is much to be said about not fanning the flames of each and every little annoyance, faux spectacle, and indignation. After all, it’s bound to occur again, and probably very soon.

This is well said. Very little “outrage” is worth the trouble. Most of it is unnecessary, serving no constructive purpose but only making life more difficult.

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Ross continues:

There are times, however, when the offended majority is correct. In these moments, it does no good to fold back into tribalism and declare them wrong simply because they’re the opposition. This kind of consistency is what ultimately brings about much-needed credibility. Taking each incident as it comes, and weighing whether or not to vocally criticize, is important.

Ross is certainly right that we shouldn’t allow our perceptions and evaluations of matters to be determined by “tribalism.” For if we want to understand the truth and advance the good, it is necessary to be disinterested and try to understand things in their particular contexts.

The problem, though, is…

Zero Hedge
March 16, 2019

Less than a day after a terrorist attack at two mosques that left 49 people dead and several fighting for their lives, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she will change gun laws of the country, with the prime minister noting that the New Zealand government is now looking at banning semi-automatic weapons.

“While the nation grapples with a form of grief and anger that we have not experienced before, we are seeking answers,” Ardern said during a Saturday morning news conference in Wellington, cited by Bloomberg. “I can tell you one thing right now, our guns laws will change.”

“There were five guns used by the primary perpetrator,” she said at the news conference. “There were two semi-automatic weapons and two shotguns. The offender was in possession of a gun license. I’m advised this was acquired in November of 2017. A lever-action firearm was also found.”

She said the suspect, who has not been publicly identified, obtained a gun license in November 2017 and began purchasing guns legally in December 2017.

“While work is being done as to the chain of events that lead to both the holding of this gun license and the possession of these weapons, I can tell you one thing right now. Our gun laws will change.” Ardern said adding that

The suspected attacker was not on a government watch list in either New Zealand or Australia, and had bought five guns legally according to the PM.

The suspected gunman got a “category A” firearms license in 2017, and began stockpiling weapons legally at that point, Ardern told reporters on Saturday. The “mere fact” that this happened means people will want to see a change to gun laws, and she was committed to supporting that, she added.

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

In what Ardern described as a well-planned terrorist attack, a shooter walked into a packed mosque in the South Island city of…

49 people are confirmed dead after at least one gunman opened fire during Friday prayers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. More than 20 other people were seriously injured.

Calling Friday one of the country’s “darkest days,” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described the shootings as a “well-planned terrorist attack.” Friday’s shootings are the worst act of violence in New Zealand in three decades, Ardern said. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the attack was carried out “by an extremist right-wing violent terrorist.” A 28-year-old Australian-born man is currently in police custody. According to law enforcement officials, the man has been charged with murder and is scheduled to appear in a Christchurch court on Saturday.

The perpetrator wore a body camera and appears to have live-streamed the attack on Facebook. Police have asked social media users to stop sharing the footage but copies were still being shared on Twitter, Youtube and Facebook hours after the shootings.

“New Zealand Police alerted us to a video on Facebook shortly after the livestream commenced and we quickly removed both the shooter’s Facebook and Instagram accounts and the video,” Mia Garlick, Facebook’s director of policy for Australia and New Zealand, said in a statement. copies of the gruesome video continued to appear on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

An anti-immigrant manifesto purportedly written by the man in police custody was posted on Twitter and the online forum 8chan shortly before the shootings. Much of the manifesto outlines venomous right-wing memes and tropes about a dying Western civilization and praised Trump as “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose.”

Nihad Awad, Executive Director of The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, called on President Trump…

Drawing by Nathaniel St. Clair

Despite his own denials, anti-Muslim xenophobia underwrites the 74-page manifesto compiled by Australian mass murderer Brendan Tarrant. The title itself, The Great Replacement, references a far-right conspiracy theory holding that white genocide is being engineered by useful idiots amongst the liberal elite advocating mass migration, demographic growth and cultural diversity.

To this conspiracy theory, the failure to uphold cultural and racial supremacy is identified with the destruction of whites. The politics of the dummy spit underwrite the belief that acknowledging the existence of and respecting other cultures and ethnic groups is tantamount to the death of the Self. It reflects the mentality of the infantile ego, yet to discover the existence of others outside of the realm of the known, associated in practise with the ego.

It is not a little telling that this atrocity was carried out on the same day as the latest in a series of large-scale climate strikes by secondary students throughout Australia and the world. On the one side, those directly threatened by a very real crisis took active measures to do something positive and constructive. On the other, a small group of people preoccupied with the threat of the existence of others carried out a negative and destructive atrocity. The contrast could hardly be clearer.

What to make of the difference between the two? In an eponymous 2017 work, anthropologist Ghassan Hage enquires, is…

The media is doing exactly what the terrorist wanted

Paul Joseph Watson
PrisonPlanet.com
March 15, 2019

The media is circulating the hoax that Candace Owens is to blame for the horrific New Zealand mosque shooting when the gunman’s reference to her in his manifesto was clearly a sick joke meant to demonize the conservative commentator.

28-year-old Australian Brenton Tarrant livestreamed his bloody rampage during attacks on two mosques in Christchurch which killed at least 49 people.

Shortly after the massacre, Tarrant’s manifesto was discovered in which he posed himself the question, “Is there a particular person that radicalized you the most?”

“Yes, the person that has influenced me above all was Candace Owens. Each time she spoke I was stunned by her insights and her own views helped push me further and further into the belief of violence over meekness. Though I will have to disavow some of her beliefs, the extreme actions she calls for are too much, even for my tastes,” wrote Tarrant.

The notion that Owens is too “extreme” for a mass murderer who has just killed 49 people is patently absurd and this passage is obviously intended as a sick troll and said in the knowledge that the media would seize upon it to demonize Owens, which is exactly what happened.

The racist alt-right despises Candace Owens because she is a black woman who opposes an ethno-state. What better way to drag her through the mud than to pin the blame for a mass shooting on her?

However, because the media wilfully fails to grasp the understanding that the alt-right hates mainstream conservatives because it sees them as being “cucked,” all nuance is lost and all conservatives are collectively demonized for the attack.

In addition, if Candace Owens is to blame for the shooting, then so is Spyro the Dragon and the Fortnite video game, both of which were also mentioned as influencing the shooter in…

The media is doing exactly what the terrorist wanted

Paul Joseph Watson
PrisonPlanet.com
March 15, 2019

The media is circulating the hoax that Candace Owens is to blame for the horrific New Zealand mosque shooting when the gunman’s reference to her in his manifesto was clearly a sick joke meant to demonize the conservative commentator.

28-year-old Australian Brenton Tarrant livestreamed his bloody rampage during attacks on two mosques in Christchurch which killed at least 49 people.

Shortly after the massacre, Tarrant’s manifesto was discovered in which he posed himself the question, “Is there a particular person that radicalized you the most?”

“Yes, the person that has influenced me above all was Candace Owens. Each time she spoke I was stunned by her insights and her own views helped push me further and further into the belief of violence over meekness. Though I will have to disavow some of her beliefs, the extreme actions she calls for are too much, even for my tastes,” wrote Tarrant.

The notion that Owens is too “extreme” for a mass murderer who has just killed 49 people is patently absurd and this passage is obviously intended as a sick troll and said in the knowledge that the media would seize upon it to demonize Owens, which is exactly what happened.

The racist alt-right despises Candace Owens because she is a black woman who opposes an ethno-state. What better way to drag her through the mud than to pin the blame for a mass shooting on her?

However, because the media wilfully fails to grasp the understanding that the alt-right hates mainstream conservatives because it sees them as being “cucked,” all nuance is lost and all conservatives are collectively demonized for the attack.

In addition, if Candace Owens is to blame for the shooting, then so is Spyro the Dragon and the Fortnite video game, both of which were also mentioned as influencing the shooter in…

Socialist Workers Party seeks to derail movement against Algerian regime

By
Will Morrow and Alex Lantier

16 March 2019

As workers launch strikes against the Algerian military dictatorship, and millions of workers and youth pour into the streets in cities across the country, the petty-bourgeois Socialist Workers Party (PST) is seeking to derail the movement. While the struggle poses the need for the working class to take power, the PST is promoting illusions that Algeria’s bloodstained regime will reform itself.

The National Liberation Front (FLN) regime has announced it would suspend elections and that the figurehead president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, will only step down after the protests are over. It is a sign that the regime intends to make no concessions to the workers and youth, and intends to put in a new figurehead for the same corrupt regime. However, an article published on the web site of the New Anti-capitalist Party (NPA), the French affiliate of the PST, hails this maneuver as “a first step back by the regime, to be turned into a victory against the system.”

“The announcement of Bouteflika’s retirement is the result of the fantastic popular movement that is underway,” PST member Kader Leoni writes, adding, “But we haven’t won yet! Bouteflika has announced his retirement … but he’s still president!” Leoni demands a self-reform of the FLN regime by rewriting Algeria’s constitution:

The promise of a Second Republic and a new constitution risk being indefinitely delayed or, even worse, of serving to put the regime back together again without any democratic improvements but, on the contrary, stepped-up free market reforms demanded by key sections of the bourgeoisie and the army, together with imperialist powers, notably France. … We must…

Jagoutz’ co-authors are Francis Macdonald and Lorraine Lisiecki of UC Santa Barbara, and Nicholas Swanson-Hysell and Yuem Park of UC Berkeley.

A tropical trigger

When an oceanic plate pushes up against a continental plate, the collision typically creates a mountain range of newly exposed rock. The fault zone along which the oceanic and continental plates collide is called a “suture.” Today, certain mountain ranges such as the Himalayas contain sutures that have migrated from their original collision points, as continents have shifted over millenia.

In 2016, Jagoutz and his colleagues retraced the movements of two sutures that today make up the Himalayas. They found that both sutures stemmed from the same tectonic migration. Eighty million years ago, as the supercontinent known as Gondwana moved north, part of the landmass was crushed against Eurasia, exposing a long line of oceanic rock and creating the first suture; 50 million years ago, another collision between the supercontinents created a second suture.

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The team found that both collisions occurred in tropical zones near the equator, and both preceded global atmospheric cooling events by several million years — which is nearly instantaneous on a geologic timescale. After looking into the rates at which exposed oceanic rock, also known as ophiolites, could react with carbon dioxide in the tropics, the researchers concluded that, given their location and magnitude, both sutures could have indeed sequestered enough carbon dioxide to cool the atmosphere and trigger both ice ages.

Interestingly, they found that this process was likely responsible for ending both ice ages as…

Washington Times
March 15, 2019

More than a dozen progressive advocacy groups, including one headed by former Vice President Al Gore, are encouraging students to skip school Friday in the name of climate change.

The Climate Reality Project, founded and chaired by Mr. Gore, has thrown its support behind the Youth Climate Strike, a one-day walk-out aimed at drumming up support for “radical legislative action,” including the Green New Deal.

“They’ve had enough. And no wonder – it’s their future on the line. So if adults aren’t going to act on their own, young people will make them,” said Climate Reality Project in a Tuesday statement.

Thousands of students worldwide are expected to walk out of class for the Friday protest, much as U.S. children and teens did last year for the National School Walkout on gun control, spurred by the deadly Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

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This article was posted: Friday, March 15, 2019 at 7:29 am

American Mirror
March 15, 2019

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has only been a member of Congress for roughly three months, and she’s already tired of having to work.

The New York socialist took to her Instagram story on Wednesday night to complain about having to “work all the time” as a member of Congress.

“Okay guys, I’m just getting out of work, that’s my office behind me,” Ocasio-Cortez began.

“Um the thing they don’t tell you about working in Congress is that if you do what you’re supposed to do, you’re working all the time, which means you have no time to set up your life,” she added.

Her video was captioned: “NYC Alert: in DC things close way earlier so it’s very hard to get things when you leave work at 8:30pm, AKA I’ve been here 2 months and I don’t own a chair.”

She went on to complain about not having any furniture in her new apartment, which is so fancy and uppity that poor people are literally forbidden.

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

“So, I spent weeks sleeping on an air mattress, and I don’t own a chair. So, I’m gonna try to do that,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

Ocasio-Cortez, who makes $174,000 a year as a member of Congress, continues to complain on social media about her second place and stocking it with furniture.

Earlier this year, the New York socialist lawmaker lamented about the difficulty of affording one apartment.

Now, as a member of Congress making serious money, she’s complaining about the financial stress of “needing” a second apartment and getting furniture for it.

Ocasio-Cortez’s new building in the nation’s capital is part of a luxury complex and does not offer affordable units under Washington, D.C.’s Affordable Dwelling Units program.

This essentially means poor people are not allowed to live in this luxurious apartment complex.

In true socialist fashion, Ocasio-Cortez has gone from complaining about affording…

Rights groups celebrated a “historic rebuke” of an unconstitutional power grab Thursday after the Senate voted to terminate President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration by an overwhelming bipartisan margin.

“Today’s vote is a major blow to President Donald Trump’s autocratic ambitions,” said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen. “The American people don’t want a racist border wall, and by overwhelming numbers they oppose Trump’s emergency declaration. They rose up and made their voices clear.”

The final vote count was 59-41, with 12 Republicans joining Democrats to pass the resolution of disapproval.

BREAKING: The GOP-controlled Senate just voted to overturn Trump’s fake national emergency.

This is a major rebuke of Trump’s authoritarianism and disregard for the Constitution. pic.twitter.com/OZ77KP05n3

— Public Citizen (@Public_Citizen) March 14, 2019

Trump declared a national emergency last month following a record 35-day government shutdown over his demand for $5 billion in border wall funding from Congress.

The president’s declaration was immediately met with widespread outrage and a torrent of legal challenges.

In a joint statement, the Revoke Trump Emergency Coalition—an alliance of more than a dozen progressive advocacy groups—said Thursday’s vote in the Senate was the product of “grassroots outcry from every corner of this country.”

“From the beginning, his national emergency declaration was a racist attack on the very foundation of our democracy, and an assault on the principle of separation of powers,” the coalition said. “We’ll keep up the heat until Congress reins Trump in, and until every immigrant in our country is treated with dignity and fairness.”

The measure, which passed the House last month, will now head to Trump’s desk. On Twitter, the president said he “look[s] forward to vetoing” the resolution.

I look forward…

Socorro Rolon’s house. Photo: Stan Cox.

Abandoned by their country, residents refuse to accept the idea that they will never recover.

Nearly a year and a half after Hurricane Maria, about three-fourths of the houses in the Sierra Brava neighborhood of Salinas, Puerto Rico stand battered and empty.

Some families left because their homes were rendered uninhabitable and they had no money to fix them. Others left because they lost their jobs. In responding to Maria, federal agencies had hired some local people, but just for a few months; meanwhile, many other jobs disappeared and have not come back.

Sierra Brava lies low along the south side of PR Route 3 in the shadow of Salinas City Hall. Go for a walk through its now largely silent streets, and one residence in particular will catch your eye. On a corner along Calle Abraham Peña, the neighborhood’s four-block-long main avenue, stands a small grey house trimmed in bright blue and topped by a blue plastic tarp. It is in even worse shape than some of the abandoned houses. But Wilma Miranda Ramos still calls it home.

The hurricane shifted Wilma’s ramshackle little box on its foundation, separating the front and rear halves and giving it a distinct sideways tilt. Thanks to waters that flooded down the nearby Río Nigua from the mountains on the day of the storm, the floors now undulate wildly and give underfoot. Large portions of the ceiling are gone, and blue light streams in through the tarp above. Water pours in with…

Five weapons were said to have been used, all inscribed with symbols, numbers and insignia.  The individual charged with the shootings at two Christchurch mosques that left 49 dead was an Australian with, it is alleged, a simple purpose: inflict death, and on specific communities in worship.  Even as the carnage became clear, Christchurch was already the epicentre of twenty-four hour news television, supplying a ghoulish spectacle.  Saturation coverage followed, and continues to do so, a point that will warm the attacker’s blood (his entire effort was streamed on live video on Facebook).

The alleged perpetrator, one Brenton Harrison Tarrant, left an unstirring piece – to call it a manifesto would be far-fetched – for those interested before the attack. It is a document of banality and off target assumptions. “Who are you?” he asks himself, suggesting an inner voice in need of reassurance and clarity.  “Just an ordinary White man, 28 years old.  Born in Australia to a working class, low income family.”  Stock: “Scottish, Irish and English”; a “regular childhood without any great issues”.

He did not like education, “barely achieving a passing grade.”  Universities did not offer anything of interest.  He invested money in Bitconnect, then travelled.  A sense of cognitive dissonance follows; Tarrant had recently worked part time “as a kebab removalist”.

No criminal record, no watch list, no registry.  Nothing to suggest a…

You had to wonder why it took Nancy Pelosi so long to figure out that maybe impeachment was not the big rock-candy mountain that, for “the resistance,” marked the gateway to a Trump-free nirvana. It became obvious this week, through the release of the Bruce Ohr and Lisa Page transcripts, that RussiaGate was birthed entirely by persons in the employ of Hillary Clintion, with then CIA Director John Brennan as midwife, and the DOJ / FBI avidly assisting — all of them fully aware that the predicate was false. What’s more, the evidence timeline makes it clear that Democratic Party leadership, including Nancy Pelosi, knew it was false. Hence, the pained smile she’s been wearing these many months.

In the event of an impeachment proceeding in the House, all that would be revealed, especially if it got as far as a trial in the US Senate, where the defense is allowed to mount a case under rules of evidence. Imagine the howls of embarrassment on late-night TV when even ex-comedian Stephen Colbert would have to admit that he was gulled into acting as a shill for a seditious con.

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I suppose Ms. Pelosi also made the calculation that any impeachment ginned up by the likes of Jerrold Nadler and Maxine Waters would be superseded by a slew of actual indictments among the above-mentioned former law enforcement officialdom, including perhaps former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and persons in the Obama White House. You might even include the enigmatic Robert Mueller, who appears to be liable for the destruction of evidence in his own inquiry, as well as malicious prosecution.

All the actual evidence in the public arena indicates that any…

Weasel Zippers
March 15, 2019

Explains a lot about why she thinks as she does.

.@AOC‘s former senior aide, @_waleedshahid: “Democracy should mean taking power and wealth and making sure it belongs to everyone.” pic.twitter.com/TwkDNEtVl9

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 14, 2019

This article was posted: Friday, March 15, 2019 at 7:34 am

USA Today
March 15, 2019

Amanda Hill, 27, deals with big student loan debt by doing everything she can to keep her other bills small.

“I have cut out all the things that aren’t absolutely necessary,” Hill said.

She eats out maybe once a month. She limits her driving to control how much she spends on gas. She lives in an apartment.

She avoids getting her nails done or shopping. She buys clothes about two times a year.

Hill – who is juggling $90,000 in student loan debt after graduating in 2015 from Hampton University in Virginia – figured she didn’t need a car payment on top of her monthly student loan payments.

So she bought a 2005 Saturn Ion last year from a woman at her church.

She paid $500 for her car.

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

“And I was surprised it actually worked,” she said. “But I had to learn how to drive a stick shift.”

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This article was posted: Friday, March 15, 2019 at 7:36 am

Chicago Symphony Orchestra strike nears end of first week

By
Michael Walters and Kristina Betinis

15 March 2019

Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) musicians are continuing their strike, which began Monday morning. The contract agreed between CSO and the Chicago Federation of Musicians Local 10-208 in 2015 expired on Sunday. Negotiations had been going for more than 11 months and no new negotiations have been scheduled. CSO Director Riccardo Muti spoke at a lunch hour press conference on Tuesday, surrounded by the horn section of the CSO.

“I am here with my musicians,” Muti said, who is known worldwide for his public defenses of funding for the arts and opposition against budget cuts in his home country of Italy.

“The entire world, the entire musical world, is listening to what they do in Chicago. When the Chicago Symphony goes around the world, the musicians not only play, they are ambassadors for the culture of the country. It’s a big responsibility for the city of Chicago, for the board, to take care of this treasure.

“The collapse of the Chicago Symphony would be such a tragedy that can affect not only the musicians, but the world. The Chicago Symphony represents one of the temples of culture of this nation and of the world.”

CSO musicians picket

Muti’s defense of the musicians exhibits a significant amount of courage as his salary is partially paid by a $14 million donation by Helen Zell, the chairwoman of the CSO Board. This donation resulted in his official title being Zell Musical Director. Zell is the wife of real estate mogul Sam Zell with a net worth of $5.5 billion, making him the third richest person in Chicago. The family has made major contributions to former Republican governor Bruce Rauner and former Democratic mayoral candidate Bill…

Chicago Symphony Orchestra strike nears end of first week

By
Michael Walters and Kristina Betinis

15 March 2019

Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) musicians are continuing their strike, which began Monday morning. The contract agreed between CSO and the Chicago Federation of Musicians Local 10-208 in 2015 expired on Sunday. Negotiations had been going for more than 11 months and no new negotiations have been scheduled. CSO Director Riccardo Muti spoke at a lunch hour press conference on Tuesday, surrounded by the horn section of the CSO.

“I am here with my musicians,” Muti said, who is known worldwide for his public defenses of funding for the arts and opposition against budget cuts in his home country of Italy.

“The entire world, the entire musical world, is listening to what they do in Chicago. When the Chicago Symphony goes around the world, the musicians not only play, they are ambassadors for the culture of the country. It’s a big responsibility for the city of Chicago, for the board, to take care of this treasure.

“The collapse of the Chicago Symphony would be such a tragedy that can affect not only the musicians, but the world. The Chicago Symphony represents one of the temples of culture of this nation and of the world.”

CSO musicians picket

Muti’s defense of the musicians exhibits a significant amount of courage as his salary is partially paid by a $14 million donation by Helen Zell, the chairwoman of the CSO Board. This donation resulted in his official title being Zell Musical Director. Zell is the wife of real estate mogul Sam Zell with a net worth of $5.5 billion, making him the third richest person in Chicago. The family has made major contributions to former Republican governor Bruce Rauner and former Democratic mayoral candidate Bill…

Chicago Symphony Orchestra strike nears end of first week

By
Michael Walters and Kristina Betinis

15 March 2019

Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) musicians are continuing their strike, which began Monday morning. The contract agreed between CSO and the Chicago Federation of Musicians Local 10-208 in 2015 expired on Sunday. Negotiations had been going for more than 11 months and no new negotiations have been scheduled. CSO Director Riccardo Muti spoke at a lunch hour press conference on Tuesday, surrounded by the horn section of the CSO.

“I am here with my musicians,” Muti said, who is known worldwide for his public defenses of funding for the arts and opposition against budget cuts in his home country of Italy.

“The entire world, the entire musical world, is listening to what they do in Chicago. When the Chicago Symphony goes around the world, the musicians not only play, they are ambassadors for the culture of the country. It’s a big responsibility for the city of Chicago, for the board, to take care of this treasure.

“The collapse of the Chicago Symphony would be such a tragedy that can affect not only the musicians, but the world. The Chicago Symphony represents one of the temples of culture of this nation and of the world.”

CSO musicians picket

Muti’s defense of the musicians exhibits a significant amount of courage as his salary is partially paid by a $14 million donation by Helen Zell, the chairwoman of the CSO Board. This donation resulted in his official title being Zell Musical Director. Zell is the wife of real estate mogul Sam Zell with a net worth of $5.5 billion, making him the third richest person in Chicago. The family has made major contributions to former Republican governor Bruce Rauner and former Democratic mayoral candidate Bill…

I wrote the following to a friend who is now retired, but who worked for most of his life for the Austrian National Railroad (the ÖBB), an entity that has been strongly governed by socialist thinking. It therefore came as no surprise to me early on that my friend was completely governed by a socialist mindset (when I first got to know him about three years ago, he was reading some biography of Karl Marx!)

While this friend has never lived in luxury, his standard of living throughout his life and unto this day would most certainly be considered “luxury” by a good portion of the world population.

And, yet, my friend complains that he does not have enough (he thinks he should have more), and blames for this the evil, capitalist system.

My friend’s reason for blaming the evil, capitalist system for his allegedly „struggling-to-survive“ existence is that according to him, a bunch of greedy, rich guys have exploited „us“ by not turning over to „us“ more of their wealth (he believes that wealth should be more evenly distributed).

But my reason for why my friend is blaming capitalism is „envy“.

In all our discussions and arguments, I had thought some time back that I had finally convinced my friend that capitalism (in its classic sense) was not the problem. And that socialism was not the solution.

Ship of Fools: How a S…
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However, recently, my friend has returned to his default position which is capitalism, bad; socialism, good. After a near-falling-out in our friendship recently, I have written to my friend the following email, which I want to share here.

Here now, my email –

Real and classic capitalism = free-markets

Free markets =…

Torture, secret confessions and recantations, an ominous email, a mysterious death, a detainee found hanging in a recreation yard outside his cell in the middle of the night — this is the story of the sixth man said to have died from suicide at Guantanamo.

Up until now, his story has gone totally untold. Even the location of the camp inside Gitmo where he died was kept secret for years. What follows is an in-depth examination into what really happened.

The narrative is largely based on an Army report that is mandated after a serious event like a detainee’s death. It is known as an AR 15-6 report. The article also draws upon declassified legal documents included in the detainee’s habeas filings. The full AR 15-6 report and Naseem’s Legal Response to the government in his habeas case are embedded at the end of this article.

These and other relevant documents relating to this story are also available at GuantanamoTruth.com.

A History of Mental Illness

Guantanamo detainee number ISN 10028, Haji Naseem (aka “Inayatullah”), resident of Cell E110 at Camp 6, was hearing “noises” in his head. It was his 18th month at the U.S. Navy-based prison in southeastern Cuba.

Naseem had arrived at Guantanamo after three months imprisonment at Bagram Detention Center in Afghanistan. The date was a good one for propaganda purposes: September 11, 2007, the sixth anniversary of 9/11.

By October he had been placed in one of Guantanamo’s more obscure settings, Camp Echo….

Nafeez Ahmed
Medium.com
March 15, 2019

Meanwhile, the bulk of the NSA’s surveillance and “offensive” information warfare capabilities remain completely unknown…

On Monday 4th, the New York Times reported that the National Security Agency has “quietly” shut down a controversial phone records surveillance program revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013.

The claim was made by a senior Republican congressional aide who told the newspaper that the Trump administration had stopped using the program, which analyses the domestic call and text logs of American citizens, due to technical problems.

On Twitter Snowden hailed the news as a “victory”, while Intercept journalist Glen Greenwald, who broke the Snowden story to international acclaim, took the story at face value. Neither of them raised the obvious question  –  is the “shut down” of this program merely a smokescreen to continue spying on American phones under new or different secretive programs?

I used to take a victory lap every time one of these stories came out. It felt good to see history vindicate my decision to expose the government’s wrongdoing. Nowadays I just wish it hadn’t taken me so long to speak up. If only I hadn’t been so afraid. https://t.co/RiVl6cdwlz

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) March 5, 2019

Since then, further doubt was cast on the NYT report when NSA chief General Paul Nakasone refused to confirm or deny the story. But he did tell a major security conference on Wednesday that the agency was still “in a deliberative process” about whether to use a revamped version of the vast database of American phone records.

All of this, however, is an elaborate ruse. According to two former top NSA officials interviewed by INSURGE, there is no credible reason to believe that NSA phone surveillance has truly been shut down.

What shut down?

When the NYT story broke, I reached…

Freedom begins between the ears.

— Edward Abbey

Edward Abbey

“What do old men who don’t believe in Heaven think about?” queried Edward Abbey rhetorically in his masterpiece Desert Solitaire. “… they think about their blood pressure, their bladders, their aortas, their lower intestines, ice on the doorstep, too much sun at noon.” In other words, they think about postponing dying, though many may never have gotten around to actually living.

To die well, one must live fully, Abbey thought, and dedicated himself to the task.

Anarchist, wilderness defender, story-teller, truth-lover, industrial saboteur, sex fiend, river runner, poker lover, beer guzzler, cantankerous social critic, part-time fanatic opponent of unrestrained growth, full-time desert rat, Edward Abbey went at life full throttle, forsaking a long, half-lived, half-life for a shorter span of years indulging his hearty appetite for bourbon, bacon, cigars, and countless nights out under the stars. (Abbey died at 62, before his own father did.)

Faced with terminal illness in late middle age, he never bargained with God for more time or experienced any of the alleged “stages” of accepting death that psychiatrist Elizabeth Kubler-Ross says we all inevitably pass through. The reason? For Abbey it was not death or dying that was tragic, but rather to have “existed without fully participating in life – that is the deepest personal tragedy.” He was…

While intelligence agencies were looking in all the wrong places, a conspicuous target slipped through the cracks, writes Suzie Dawson.

 By Suzie Dawson
Special to Consortium News

Now that the bodies of 49 innocent human beings are lying in a Christchurch, New Zealand, morgue — gunned down by a heavily armed terrorist — New Zealand media are asking the obvious questions: why didn’t our intelligence agencies know there were xenophobic, murderous, white supremacists on the loose in Christchurch?

 “Questions are being asked of the nation’s security services in the wake of a mass shooting described as ‘one of New Zealand’s darkest days,” Stuff.co.nz reports and quotes a University of Waikato professor of international law, Alexander Gillespie, as saying: ‘If it’s a cell we need to ask why weren’t they detected, because that’s why we have security services and it may be that those services have been looking under the wrong rocks.’ ”

Still from video the gunman shot of his own rampage. (Twitter)

According to the same article, in response to the terrorist attack, “A crisis meeting of national security agencies was held at Police National Headquarters in Wellington after the shooting.“

In the NZ Herald, veteran intelligence reporter David Fisher asked many pertinent questions in an opinion piece titled “Christchurch massacre – what did we miss and who missed it?”
“We need answers,” says Fisher. “The NZSIS [New Zealand’s equivalent of the FBI] – and its electronic counterpart, the Government Communications Security Bureau – have more funding than ever, and almost double the staff numbers they had six years ago. They also now have the most powerful legislation they have ever had.”

We know thanks to the findings of an inquiry by the State Services Commission last December that as many as a dozen government agencies, including the NZ Police, were too busy squandering their resources spying on NGOs such as GreenpeaceNZ; political parties such as the New Zealand Green Party and then-Internet Party aligned Mana Movement, as well as on anti-TPP protesters and activists such as myself.

As if that wasn’t egregious…

Zero Hedge
March 15, 2019

Poland’s push to house a major permanent US military base dubbed last year by Polish President Andrzej Duda as “Fort Trump” is a big step closer to becoming a reality this week after top US defense officials met with Polish counterparts in Warsaw to negotiate an offer. US Defense Undersecretary for Policy John Rood led a delegation to the former Soviet satellite country and longtime east European defense ally on Wednesday to discuss the US “robust offer” to establish a permanent facility on Polish soil. 

The Poles previously vowed to pay $2 billion for a base that could host a division-sized installment of US forces, which the US has called “very generous” — though likely to fall short of the total cost for such a base. “We have come forward with what we think is a very serious robust offer and we’re working out some of the technicalities this very week, when we hope to have a solid foundation to work from having coming out of this meeting,” a spokesperson for Rood’s office informed the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday.

Though the idea of a permanent US base in Poland has been floated for years, especially after the Russian-Ukraine conflict grew hot, last September’s official visit between Presidents Duda and Trump at the White House gave it real momentum.

Duda had dropped the surprising proposal during a press briefing, suggesting it could be called “Fort Trump” — to which Trump grinned and appeared to nod in approval.

“I invite you to post more American military troops in Poland,” Duda said, describing US presence in Poland as a “guarantor of security.”

And Trump responded at the time as follows:

“We’re looking at it very seriously, I know Poland likes the idea very much, and it’s something that we are considering, yes,” Trump told reporters during the Sept. 19 press…

Reuters
March 15, 2019

The U.S. Senate on Thursday rebuked President Donald Trump by voting to end his border emergency declaration, as 12 Republicans joined Democrats to deliver a second blow in as many days to the president, who quickly pledged a veto.

The 59-41 vote was a bipartisan repudiation of Trump’s decision to circumvent Congress and take money already designated for other programs and redirect it to pay for his U.S.-Mexico border wall, which he promised to build during his 2016 campaign.

In the first two years of his term, the Republican-led Congress mostly accommodated Trump, which spared him from having to use his veto pen. With Republicans showing increased willingness to defy him, Trump promised a change.

“VETO!” he tweeted shortly after the vote.

VETO!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 14, 2019

I look forward to VETOING the just passed Democrat inspired Resolution which would OPEN BORDERS while increasing Crime, Drugs, and Trafficking in our Country. I thank all of the Strong Republicans who voted to support Border Security and our desperately needed WALL!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 14, 2019

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This article was posted: Friday, March 15, 2019 at 7:43 am

“There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.”
― Howard Zinn

How much more war is enough to appease the desires of the oligarchs ruling America? Why don’t the lives of innocents actually matter? How much more blood will stain the flag of the United States Empire?  When will the American people tire of war and killing? When will those who kill for the state rightfully be called murderers instead of heroes?

The truth hurts, but truth is the most powerful weapon against tyranny. If acceptance of truth is the savior of mankind, then apathy is its destroyer. Considering the current mentality of the U.S. population, it would seem that the end is closer than it appears.

In America, war is a constant. It is a fact of everyday existence, although the citizens don’t see it firsthand because the aggressors take the war to far away places. The victims are simply seen as meaningless strangers from another culture. It feels as if war is a normal part of life, and will never end. It is not that there are wars being waged to defend America, as this country’s mainland has never been attacked. Even the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was sought and planned, and known about in advance. The wars today are in distant lands, where the killing of innocents and the raping of countries are much removed from the minds of the ignorant and apathetic populace.

Secret Empires: How th…
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The purpose for war today boils down to power, money and geopolitical control. It is a trillion dollar a year racket that leaves in its wake death, destruction, suffering, famine, sickness, and displaced families. This breeds hatred and terrorism, and the…

Washington Examiner
March 15, 2019

President Trump said Friday the U.S. is prepared to offer any aid New Zealand might need as it copes with the worst mass shooting in the country’s history.

“My warmest sympathy and best wishes goes out to the people of New Zealand after the horrible massacre in the Mosques,” Trump tweeted. “49 innocent people have so senselessly died, with so many more seriously injured. The U.S. stands by New Zealand for anything we can do. God bless all!”

My warmest sympathy and best wishes goes out to the people of New Zealand after the horrible massacre in the Mosques. 49 innocent people have so senselessly died, with so many more seriously injured. The U.S. stands by New Zealand for anything we can do. God bless all!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 15, 2019

Police in Christchurch, New Zealand have arrested three men and one woman who are thought to be behind the plot to shoot up two mosques.

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This article was posted: Friday, March 15, 2019 at 7:45 am

US Senate votes to overturn Trump emergency decree

By
Patrick Martin

15 March 2019

In a demonstration of mounting crisis within the US political system, the Senate voted Thursday afternoon, by a margin of 59-41, for a resolution to overturn the declaration of national emergency issued by President Trump on February 15, in which he directed military resources to be used for the building of a wall along the US-Mexico border.

Twelve Republican senators broke with Trump on the issue, joining all 47 Democrats to approve the resolution adopted by the House of Representatives on February 26. Under the terms of the 1976 National Emergencies Act, the passage of a resolution by either house of Congress to overturn a presidential declaration of emergency forces the other house to vote on the issue within 18 days. No filibusters or other procedural delays are permitted, and the vote is by a simple majority.

Trump is expected to veto the resolution as soon as it is delivered to his desk. He tweeted the single word “VETO!” within minutes of the Senate vote. His twitter feed Thursday was filled with invective against the Democrats and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and he threatened political retaliation against any Republican senator who defied the White House.

That 12 Republicans defied such threats is significant. The previous day, seven Republicans broke with the White House to vote in favor of a resolution condemning US support for the military intervention by Saudi Arabia in the civil war in Yemen, enabling passage of the resolution by a 54-46 margin.

More important than these rebuffs, however, are 41 Senate Republicans who voted in support of the White House on the national emergency declaration. The vast majority of the Republican caucus thus sanctioned presidential actions…

Transcript

AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show in New Zealand, where 49 people have died after a gunman attacked two mosques in the city of Christchurch during Friday prayers. Officials said 48 others were being treated with gunshot wounds. It was the deadliest shooting in New Zealand’s history.

Police have arrested and charged a 28-year-old Australian man named Brenton Tarrant, who is described by authorities as a right-wing extremist. Tarrant live-streamed the attack and published a manifesto in which he praised President Donald Trump as “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose.” Tarrant also praised Anders Breivik, the Norwegian white supremacist who murdered 77 people in Norway in 2011. The manifesto was also rife with references to racist online memes. Three other people—two men and one woman—were detained nearby, but at least one of them has already been released.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described today as one of New Zealand’s darkest days.

PRIME MINISTER JACINDA ARDERN: It’s clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack. From what…

Transcript

AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show in New Zealand, where 49 people have died after a gunman attacked two mosques in the city of Christchurch during Friday prayers. Officials said 48 others were being treated with gunshot wounds. It was the deadliest shooting in New Zealand’s history.

Police have arrested and charged a 28-year-old Australian man named Brenton Tarrant, who is described by authorities as a right-wing extremist. Tarrant live-streamed the attack and published a manifesto in which he praised President Donald Trump as “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose.” Tarrant also praised Anders Breivik, the Norwegian white supremacist who murdered 77 people in Norway in 2011. The manifesto was also rife with references to racist online memes. Three other people—two men and one woman—were detained nearby, but at least one of them has already been released.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described today as one of New Zealand’s darkest days.

PRIME MINISTER JACINDA ARDERN: It’s clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack. From what…

The old morada at Abiquiu. Photo: Jeffrey St. Clair.

“Having a conscience now is a grief-soaked proposition”

– Stephen Jenkinson, author of Come of Age: The Case for Elderhood in a Time of Trouble

“We are the first generations to grow up surrounded by evidence that our attempt to separate ourselves from ‘nature’ has been a grim failure, proof not of our genius but our hubris.”

– Paul Kingsnorth, Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist and Other Essays

“The greatest challenge we face is a philosophical one: understanding that this civilization is already dead. The sooner we confront our situation and realize that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves, the sooner we can get down to the difficult task of adapting, with mortal humility, to our new reality.”

– Roy Scranton, Learning to Die in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the End of a Civilization

A few years ago I saw my first glacier. I was on a trip to Alaska with my family before my father died and he had always dreamed of seeing the region; so we were happy we could do this one last trip to fulfill it for him. We cruised through the Inside Passage past glimmering mountains of cerulean blue ice, drove through part of the Yukon Territory of Canada by turquoise lakes, and hiked close to a receding glacier. It was breathtaking, yet throughout the journey a specter of sorrow accompanied me.

In the West we are conditioned to chase those specters away. Grief itself is often viewed as…

Legacy media once again picking and choosing preferred narratives

Prison Planet.com
March 15, 2019

The New Zealand massacre highlights a glaring double standard in how the mainstream media treats religious attacks worldwide.

The tragic murder of 49 people, most if not all of whom were Muslim, by a gunman draws similarities to the 2017 Palm Sunday massacre in which two ISIS suicide bombers killed nearly 50 Christians in Egypt in two separate attacks, much like how the two mosques were targeted in Thursday’s attack.

Additionally, there’s been a spate of culturally- and religiously-motivated attacks over the past several years, such as the 2015’s Charlie Hebdo shooting, the Bataclan’s theater massacre and the 2016’s Berlin Christmas market “truck attack” to name a few.

And the mainstream media reported on all these instances, but not quite with the zeal they’re displaying in the coverage of the New Zealand massacre.

Case in point, CNN host John Berman actually asked if President Trump’s “language” is to blame for the New Zealand massacre. Did CNN ask such questions in response to the Palm Sunday massacre? Likely not.

Why not cover all of these attacks with the same level of seriousness and fervor as they deserve? It shouldn’t matter whether the victims were Christians or Muslims because they’re still victims of heinous crimes.

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

In 2016, London Mayor Sadiq Khan fueled a firestorm when he claimed terror attacks by Islamic extremists were “part and parcel” of living in a big city.

But you’re not hearing any such rhetoric pushed by the mainstream media in regards with the New Zealand massacre, not that you should’ve with Khan’s statement to begin with.

Watch: The Alex Jones Show

This article was posted: Friday, March 15, 2019 at 1:10 pm

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