Welcome to The Now

 

From CNN : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday offered $5 million and safe passage out of Gaza to anyone returning a hostage. “To those who want to leave this entanglement I say: Whoever brings us a hostage will find a safe way out for himself and his family. We will also give $5 million for every hostage,” Netanyahu said. “Choose, the choice is yours, but the result will be the same. We will bring them all back.” Speaking at the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza alongside Defense Minister Israel Katz, Netanyahu added that whoever harmed a hostage would “pay the price.” His announcement was met with outrage from the mother of Matan Zangauker, one of the hostages still held in Gaza. “The prime minister is trading the hostages’ lives,” said Einav Zangauker. She criticized Netanyahu for “offering money to Hamas” and said his attempt to “divide and rule in Gaza through bribes to the captors” would put the hostages at risk. “It’s unbelievable that the man who funded Hamas i

 

Attacking YouTube hosts like Salvati and Gray and doing after-the-fact complaining about the Democratic Party's leadership structure and strategies will not change the fact that his gatekeeping and sheepherding did not help Kamala Harris win:

 

 You'd think video/audio evidence of "the most horrific attack" in decades would be secured and readily available to debunk any skeptics, but...

 

 

 

 

 Greg Stoker spoke on this, but here's the text from Jason Hickel's post : The problem with liberalism is that it rests on a fundamental contradiction that cannot be resolved. It will always fail, it will always collapse, and this explains everything about our current moment. Liberals try to hold two commitments at once: on the one hand, they are firmly committed to capitalism; on the other, they express support for principles like human rights, democracy, equality, freedom of speech, environment and the rule of law.  This duality is the core of liberalism. But there's a problem. Capital accumulation requires cheapening labour and nature. This eventually comes into direct conflict with principles like rights and equality. And whenever this conflict appears, the liberal ruling class sides with capital, abandons their lofty principles, and throws workers and nature under the bus.  Every. Single. Time. This results in flagrant displays of hypocrisy. They run on nice-sounding

 

 I think the biggest takeaway is that the World has moved on since Trump's last term, and his Administration will have to deal with that reality.

Interesting to learn from Bowman that his district was not that focused on foreign policy issues before his last election. Speaks to how Congresspeople (especially new ones) are educated, and what party leaders consider a priority.

 Nick From RBN explains:

 

 

 

 Wild:

 

 Al Jazeera explains: :  

 What a difference an election makes; the party the America media liked is leaving and the party (or more honestly, the person leading said party) is coming back into power, so things once ignored are now highlighted. Like calling the genocide in Gaza "genocide." Interestingly enough, Scheerpost covered not one , but two of these instances: an opinion piece for the Guardian and a story about the Saudi Crown Prince in the Middle East Monitor : Even pro-Israeli news outlet Haaretz is coming around a bit . At this pace, Mainstream media could be outright adversarial in a year, two tops. Then again: AIPAC. 

 

 

 

If I were to sum up in one word: "capitalism." The voters responded to capitalism. Capitalism is what got Barack Obama into office. Capitalism is what made voters decide to give Donald Trump a change in 2016. Capitalism is what ultimately undermined Trump in 2020, allowing Joe Biden to slip in, and capitalism made voters give Trump another another chance for 2024. Wall Street was behind Obama, as was most of the people because of what Obama promised (albeit vaguely). After Obama was found to be less-than trustworthy ( in particular to black Americans ) on the economic front, Hillary Clinton appeared to be an extension of those policies which was unappealing to voters. Trump gets in, but gives tax breaks to rich (while also raising taxes on non-rich voters) and fumbles handling the pandemic (which costs businesses money). Biden promised to fix things, and while the pandemic greatly eased (yet not been completely eradicated) Biden also said that "nothing will fundamentall

“ I’m tired of hearing this is the biggest election in your lifetime. The reality is over time it doesn’t matter . It really doesn’t matter .” - BlackRock chief Larry Fink .

 

Via CNN : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant after months of clashes over domestic politics and Israel’s war efforts. In a recorded statement Tuesday evening, Netanyahu said that “trust between me and the minister of defense has cracked.” Israel Katz, currently the foreign minister, will become defense minister. Gideon Sa’ar will replace Katz as foreign minister, the prime minister’s office said Tuesday. Neither has extensive military experience, though Katz has served in the cabinet throughout the war. The move came as voters in the United States, Israel’s most important ally, voted for their next president. Gallant is a close interlocutor for the US administration, and has been said to have daily conversations with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The reshuffle happened at a crucial moment for Israel, which is fighting bloody wars in Gaza and Lebanon while awaiting a potential retaliatory attack from Iran. Gallant responded to the deci

 Via Black Agenda Report .

 

Did you know that in response to the West's 2022 sanctions, Russia seized around 400 foreign-leased aircraft , causing a battle between the aircraft companies and the insurance companies ? One of the many actions that have contributed to America's current economic state:

 

 Status Coup's Jason Peters investigates:

 Did you know that pollsters use poll questions to influence news stories, and then the public? For example: Step One - Poll Question: "What crime would Country X half to do to convince you that the Us should get the military involved?' Step Two - Media Story: Mainstream news covers story that Country X may be guilty of committing the same crime, repeats story ad nauseum. Step Three - Politicians and pundits repeat claim as fact, rousing public sentiment.   

 Gee, wonder why: As DD points out, Tlaib was still at a pro-Democrat event.

  Bonus: For the Green Party in New York, it's just as bad . 

 From the Way Back Machine (New York Times): Chronology of Crisis About 6 A.M. (midnight Wednesday, New York time) - Israelis begin bombing west Beirut. As raids continue, Lebanon's Prime Minister, Shafik al-Wazzan, tells Philip C. Habib, the special American envoy, that the talks cannot continue. 2 P.M. (8 A.M., New York time) -The Israeli Cabinet meets. A message from President Reagan arrives, expressing ''outrage'' and, reportedly threatening to halt the Habib mission. The Cabinet decides to end the raids and order new ones only if they are ''essential.'' 4 P.M. (10 A.M., New York time) -President Reagan tries for hour to call Mr. Begin but cannot get through. 4:50 P.M. (10:50 A.M., New York time) - King Fahd of Saudi Arabia calls Mr. Reagan. 5 P.M. (11 A.M., New York time) -A new cease-fire goes into effect in west Beirut. 5:10 P.M. (11:10 A.M., New York time) - Mr. Reagan reaches Mr. Begin for 10-minute telephone call. 5:40 P.M. (11:40 A.M., Ne

 

 MP Nabil Boukil does not hold back: 

 

 

  According to CNN , no one knows where they came from or who's behind it. Maybe they should talk to their journalistic counterparts over at NPR, because they did some actual research : The National Park Service originally granted a permit to a group called Civic Crafted LLC to display the statue until Wednesday evening, but later extended it an extra week through the evening of Nov. 6 — the day after Election Day. NPR has reached out to the woman named in the permit. According to the permit shared with NPR, the statue is called The Resolute Desk and is meant to represent the heart of democracy. "Here, the power of the people finds its expression through the diligent efforts of those who serve the public good," it says. "When rioters broke in to destroy these ideals, this desk stands firm, so too must the principles of equality, justice and freedom that it represents." For the record: Washington, DC has " nearly 28,00 private security cameras ," inclu

 Black Agenda Report's Margaret Kimberly and Dr. Anthony Monteiro discuss .

  For those who don't know, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy is the person who doesn't believe that Gaza is experiencing a genocide . 

 So it started with this: Sadly for Mr. Amos Schocken, calling for sanctions, advocating for a Palestinian state (or even being perceived as doing so) and using words like "apartheid" when referring to Israel is a big "no-no." Within hours , Israeli minsters announce that they will sever ties with Haaretz, and even a boycott is being discussed . Schocken must have gotten the message because Haaretz came back with revised statements like "Hamas are not freedom fighters."

 

 

 Link here .

Via CNN : With just days until Election Day, hundreds of ballots were destroyed by fires this week at two ballot drop boxes in the Pacific Northwest, and investigators are searching for a culprit they say is responsible for both. Many of the ballots in a drop box in Portland were unaffected, but hundreds of ballots were destroyed in a second ballot box fire in nearby Vancouver, Washington, election officials said. The incidents are believed to be related to a third incident earlier this month in Vancouver. The incidents come as a US Department of Homeland Security bulletin from September obtained by the watchdog group Property of the People warned, “Some social media users are discussing and encouraging various methods of sabotaging ballot drop boxes and avoiding detection, likely heightening the potential for targeting of this election infrastructure through the 2024 election cycle. “Election infrastructure remains an attractive target for some domestic violent extremists and other th

 The "Israeli Genocide Tracker" which basically collects the information that IDF soldier have made public about themselves, has made some of the soldiers a bit nervous:

We can at least say that an attempt was made: Sadly, "Trump is worse" is not sufficient enough when the alternative to "opening supporting genocide" is, "passively endorsing genocide." And on the issue of Gaza, the West Bank and the Palestinian people that's the difference between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.  Never mind that Harris's latest response to American voters who are concerned about genocide is basically: " You should worry more about being able to afford groceries ." Here's Sanders' "plan" for dealing with PM Benjamin Netanyahu (either by coercing him or replacing him): An immediate ceasefire;  The return of all hostages;  A surge of massive humanitarian aid;  The stopping of settler attacks on the West Bank;  The rebuilding of Gaza for the Palestinian people. So let's address these points, shall we? Neither Netanyahu nor his political party wish for a ceasefire . The return of hostages is not as impo

 

 

 

Via Black Agenda Report : All eyes have quite rightly been on Palestine for the past year. Joe Biden’s maniacal pact with Israel has killed an estimated 200,000 people, and Israel is poised to ethnically cleanse northern Gaza and Lebanon. Their war crimes range from starvation, destruction of hospitals, shooting children in the head, rape and torture, attacking United Nations peacekeeping forces, assassinating Palestinian leaders, and burning hospital patients to death. All the atrocities have been documented, often by the perpetrators themselves, and have been defended vociferously. The genocide is a joint project with the U.S. and has more bipartisan support than any initiative which directly impacts people in this country. The horror makes it easy to forget that U.S. crimes continue unabated around the world even when we don’t have to look very far to find them. Just 90 miles away from Florida, the people of Cuba are suffering in darkness, denied the ability to access electricity, a

 

 From CNN : Nearly 50 locations of TGI Fridays abruptly closed within the past week, an ominous sign for the chain as a reported bankruptcy looms. According to TGI Fridays’ store locator, the chain has 164 restaurants remaining as of Monday — a sharp decline from the 213 that were open last week. It’s the largest number of closures since January, when 36 “underperforming” locations were closed. TGI Fridays didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the closures, and a list of the affected locations was not released. However, reports from local media reveals that restaurants across several US states were affected, including California, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Florida and Missouri. Some closures even marked a complete exit from a city, notably in Columbus, Ohio; and Buffalo, New York. At the beginning of the year, TGI Fridays had 270 US locations. The closures come amid reports that TGI Fridays is about to file for bankruptcy. A few weeks ago, Bloomberg reported that t

 

 

Story here . They call it the "Mosquito Protocol."   

Know any ex-Russian or ex-Chinese intelligence agents working for mainstream American news or Google? How about from a country who's conveniently getting billions of dollars in military aid?

Was he hiding in tunnels, dressed as a woman, amongst children? Did the Israelis seek him out or find him by luck? 

 

  From CNN : Everybody knows it’s not Halloween without candy, but trick-or-treaters might find less chocolate filling their buckets this year. That’s because cocoa prices have more than doubled since the start of the year and have remained at record highs, according to Wells Fargo data shared with CNN. The surging prices have caused grief for confectioners during prime chocolate sales seasons like Valentine’s Day and Easter. And with Halloween as the next major candy-centric holiday, companies are getting creative with their ways of coping with the lack of cocoa. This means consumers might see smaller chocolate bars in different flavors and more non-chocolate treats on grocery aisle shelves. “Cocoa is not like a normal agriculture crop where you have it grown everywhere, like other commodities. It takes a very specific site and temperature range to grow,” said David Branch, sector manager at Wells Fargo’s Agri-Food Institute. But for the past three years, a series of adverse weather e

 

George Galloway has much to say about Israel, Russia, BRICS and Hamas leader Sinwar, whose death has been seen as inspirational :  

 They say, "There's only two choices" but always fail to articulate the role they play in creating that environment:

 Glenn Greenwald didn't:

 

 

 

 

  For more about Haiti, Mint Press News has a story on it's richest person (Gilbert Bigio) and how he has used his status "to protect and enable the illegal activities of the armed criminal gangs" there, contributing to the US immigration issue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Consider it a companion piece of sorts to a previous post:

Much like African Stream, Richard Medhurst and others who cover geopolitics in a manner that is not mainstream-approved, Rachel Blevins faced the wrath off online censorship. But while African Stream has completely lost their YT channel and Medhurst is trying to keep the British authorities from arresting him (again), Blevins' channel was reinstated. However, is was not without a cost: much like Danny Haiphong, Blevins has stated that she'll be more vigilant in her videos. In other words, she's going to watch what she says and how she says it. This says a lot about the state of censorship in the US considering that Blevins, who is far from a firebrand tonally, was accused of promoting "hate speech." 

 In other words: the duopoly it terrible and third parties need more traction and coverage.

 Via Due Dissidence: It's almost like the United States has more money for war than to help it's own citizens.

I'll say this: while getting that coveted 5% will help keep the Green Party (and their messages) alive for future election cycles, if Stein can win Michigan (or even come in second) that would be a true game-changer. 

Now that a year has passed since Hamas attacked Israel for hostages to, in part, negotiate the release of Palestinian hostages and the Israeli government responded by killing Hamas, Palestinians, and even potential Israeli hostages, we can look at ways the West  has, at best, downplayed the actions of the Israeli government while amplifying the actions of Hamas (aka Palestinians), Hezbollah (aka, Lebanon), the Houthis (aka Yemen), and Iran to fit a simplistic "Good Guys vs Bad Guys" dynamic. "Success" in war/battle is determined by civilian casualties/destruction of non-military property :  Iran's recent (retaliatory) strike on Israeli military targets was called ineffective by many outlets . Meanwhile, Israeli victory has been defined by death and destruction ("[the IDF has] reduced large swaths of Gaza to rubble, made nearly two million Gazans internal refugees, and killed more than 40,000 Palestinians - about a third of them Hamas militants, according

Due Dissidence reviews:

 In fact, it's not far-fetched to say that for some, "Israel" means, "A large part of the Middle East." 

 

 Here's one attempt to find out:

Ever sense Covid-19 regulations were deemed as a detriment to capitalism and consequently loosened to maintain (and increase) profits, tracking infections has pretty much become an afterthought. CNN, however, has a story about how the Center of Disease Control and Prevention has adapted to keep an eye on things .  Considering not just the economics, but also how political Covid-19 became in the United States, one would think that high or low viral activity levels would be a reflection on the words and actions of the the two major parties. After all, if it wasn't about Trump or Biden going back and forth over vaccines, it was governors comparing "lockdowns" vs "business as usual." So imagine my surprise to learn where the states that pushed for the most controversial remedies landed: Also it is worth noting that no governor or presidential candidate advocated for "universal health care" or "Medicare for All" as a solution to this health crisis