Welcome to The Now

 

 So there's not one but two stories about how Representative Cori Bush (and then Senator Bernie Sanders ) are reviving Medicare for All legislatively.  While the usual response to this would be, "Why now, instead of when Force The Vote would have put the issue in the national spotlight?" I can't help but notice that C-SPAN doesn't seem to have any videos or clips of the hearing at all. According to them, there are only five clips/videos of note involving Cori Bush for March 2022 (3/2, 3/8, 3/11 and two on 3/18). The hearing was presumably on 3/29/22.  It's almost like they're fighting for something a majority of Americans want at a time when people are barely paying attention, with the knowledge that the leaders of their own party have dismissed implementing even the smallest of significant changes. 

 It owns the press through the Washington Post, has a stake in what people eat via Whole Foods, and now will have a stronger foothold in entertainment via their merger with MGM Studios . And let's not forget Amazon Prime, their answer to Netflix and Disney Plus as well as the fact that about 50% of online purchases go through them. Amazon's MO has been about market share first, profits as a side effect. And they are at the point now where not only can they sell you practically anything, they have the means to entice you to buy what they want you to buy.

 So apparently Ukraine has claimed to destroyed a Russian ship , but that hasn't stopped Ukraine's leader from begging NATO for just 1% of their weapons . Anyway; here's a pretty decent interview the Grayzone did with Scott Ritter:

 Even a 15-year-old knows the answer to that one. 

  Very interesting : Israel halted an attempt by the US to transfer several batteries of the Iron Dome defense system to Ukraine over worries it would damage its relations with Russia, the Ynet news site reported on Tuesday. According to the report, the defense system’s capabilities — especially during the 2021 Gaza war — piqued the interest of Ukrainian officials. The country’s representatives began working vigorously in Washington last year to persuade US lawmakers to initiate a transfer of the rocket and mortar defense system to them. The Ukrainian government officially asked the Biden administration to transfer Patriot and Iron Dome missiles to Ukraine last spring. At the time, when then there were no worries of a possible Russian invasion, both Democratic and Republican lawmakers supported the transfer. However, due to Iron Dome being a joint Israeli-American project, a sale to a third party cannot take place without the approval of both developer countries. According to the repor

 Notwithstanding the examples that Katie Halper and Status Coup bring up, here's a real CNN headline :  The message here is clear: a Holocaust victim died in a Russian airstrike. Putin is in charge of Russia and the Russian military. Hitler conducted the Holocaust. Therefore, Putin > Hitler.  Let's not mention that Ukraine's leader has no problem with the elderly and children fighting a conflict in the streets with Russia, a nation that could turn Ukraine into a parking lot on a whim. Or that Ukraine is being advised to not make any deals for peace at the moment. Because focusing in issues like these would highlight the fact that many of the deaths in Ukraine (including the Holocaust survivor) could have been avoided.  

CNN's analysis of why some leaders on African countries aren't on the "hate Russia" train that most of the West is driving spearheading barely acknowledges some key historical context. But before we get into that, let's see what they had to say. Strongman Leadership : "Many of the countries that abstained from the UN vote are authoritarian regimes. They see Putin's unilateral decision to invade Ukraine as a show of power and ego that they can appreciate and align with, Yetunde Odugbesan-Omede, a political analyst and professor at New York's Farmingdale State College, told CNN." Establishing Stronger Ties : "In recent years, Russia has established itself as one of Africa's most valuable trading partners -- becoming a major supplier of military hardware with key alliances in Nigeria, Libya, Ethiopia and Mali...Some analysts say the support or non-censure of Russia speaks to a wider sentiment in parts of Africa that Western policy positio

 So much so that Israel has pushed back on his Holocaust comparisons , and Germany was bearing witness to calls from Zelensky to return to their militaristic roots .  Oh and he's banning political parties in Ukraine:

Russell Brand : It's Happening...  Jimmy Dore : The Media is getting bored with Ukraine; asks White House to start WW3. Sabby Sabs : Is Left Media ignoring Third Parties? Status Coup : Joe Manchin strikes again! Democracy @ Work : The Origins of Racism (you won't find this on Google). The Left Lens : Are Democrats really left? Secular Talk : Amazon's $15 min wage is a trick.

 From CNN : New York (CNN Business)The White House considered sending gas cards to families to cushion the blow from record-high gas prices before eventually deciding it is not feasible. A White House spokesperson told CNN that gas cards are not seriously under consideration, confirming a report in Axios. The Biden administration is worried that gas cards won't work because of execution issues and fraud concerns. In the past, cards have been stolen from mailboxes, a source familiar with the administration's thinking told CNN, adding that they are studying the pros and cons of various proposals. [SNIP] "The President is very concerned about the impact that gas prices are having on families and wants to do everything possible and sensible to mitigate that," the spokesperson said. "We know there are a number of ideas being suggested by our allies in Congress and the President is looking forward to hearing them." Oh thanks! I mean, it's not like the presiden

 In light of America's " Russian ban on oil ," the Biden Administration has decided to reach out to two other countries: Venezuela (whose leader was previously not recognized by either Trump or Biden) and Saudi Arabia (who America is so dependent on journalists can get chopped up without a peep). Neither the Venezuela nor the Saudi Arabia ventures have gone as Biden may have hoped. It's the cost of labeling virtually every non-white, oil-rich nation an enemy .

  "I think there’s a deep phoniness at the center of his schtick. It’s built on the perception that he is the character he plays; he is everyman. He’s not right-wing, he’s a populist fighting for you against the powers that be… And that’s great as a schtick. But I’m just saying that the moment it is revealed not to be true, it’s over!.. Because the whole thing is predicated on the fact that he is who he says he is. And nobody is that person. Especially not somebody who makes many millions a year." -- Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson, criticizing Bill O'Reilly in 2003. Which goes to show that irony knows no bounds.  

 If Joe Biden is working with China , and Donald Trump is/was working with Russia , but Russia and China are working with each other , than aren't Biden and Trump (secret) allies ? (The answer is: "there's little daylight between the leadership of the two major parties, and that space decreases each election cycle.")

 The Texas Democrat who couldn't beat Ted Cruz and ran for president on a platform of taking everyone's guns away has come out against Critical Race Theory (CRT) being taught in schools, even though he knows that it's not happening right now . For those who don't know, CRT is basically about analyzing and discussing the intersection of race and (US) law. Opponents believe it's about teaching white children that white people are evil, but that argument neglects the fact that CRT has roots in the Civil Rights Era.  Anyway, O'Rourke has at least partially embraced the belief that CRT is bad, most presumably because he (or his consultants) believe that this can help him win the election for governor in Texas and perhaps another shot at the White House. Considering that Joe Biden, with his record on race, is the current POTUS, is that really a stretch?  Critics joked that O'Rourke was the "Vanilla Obama" because of his cadence during the 2020 election.

  In 2021 , The US imported around 8.47 million barrels barrels per day of petroleum from 73 countries, and exported about 8.63 millions barrels per day of petroleum to 176 countries (and 4 US territories. In other words, American was a net exporter of 0.16 million barrels per day.  President Biden's ban on petroleum gases from Russia is " largely symbolic ," mostly because the US doesn't import that much gas from Russia.  In light of the rising price of gas-at-the-pump, these two facts raise the question of what Biden and the Democratic Party plan to do going forward. Should that much petroleum be exported in light of current events? Why imposed a ban that doesn't matter? How would continuing either help people who need affordable gas in order to " get back to the office ," as Biden has requested/suggested?

 So much so that unless there's a new diverting element in the story or something else happens to sway eyeballs, mainstream media will need to admit that their sugarcoating and/or ignoring is intentional.  Whether it's refugees being denied from leaving  or coverage from the media itself , we need to answer the question that RBN posed recently: " What is a civilized country? "  

 Secular Talk goes over some of the over-reaction to the fact that the Russian government/military is flexing on Ukraine: Is some of this a result on Putin calling NATO's (aka, America) bluff and attacking Ukraine? Probably. But this is also the result of years of priming Americans with stories of Russian hacks and stolen elections. 

 When everyone and their grandmother's already done so? Status Coup Revolutionary Blackout Network (RBN) Convo Couch Katie Halper Breaking Points Now I can't say I agree with every single  take, but in most cases it's better than watching mainstream media. Maybe I'll do a breakdown later...maybe.  Also, if you didn't watch the speech on C-SPAN , why not?

  The propaganda is in full force . See, this is why the American media needs a robustly financed foreign element.