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Thursday, April 21, 2022
CC Newsletter 21 April - Earth Day: Enemies and Opportunities
Dear Friend,
We assess people’s choices and understand that those with a disproportionate share of the world’s wealth and power are more of an enemy than the “us” who lack such status. Those judgments are necessary, but not sufficient to deal with the multiple cascading ecological crises we face. Whatever our individual contributions to an unsustainable society, collectively we have to embrace down-powering in a dramatically different world, like it or not.
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In Solidarity
Binu Mathew
Editor
Countercurrents.org
Earth Day: Enemies and Opportunities
by Wes Jackson and Robert Jensen
We assess people’s choices and understand that those with a disproportionate share of the world’s wealth and power are more of an enemy than the “us” who lack such status. Those judgments are necessary, but not sufficient to deal with the multiple cascading ecological crises we face. Whatever our individual contributions to an unsustainable society, collectively we have to embrace down-powering in a dramatically different world, like it or not.
To the Home Office We Go: The Extradition of Julian Assange
by Dr Binoy Kampmark
It was a dastardly formality. On April 20, at a hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court, Julian Assange, beamed in via video link from Belmarsh Prison, his carceral home for three years, is to be extradited to the United States to face 18 charges, 17 based on the US Espionage Act of
1917.
Horrific Homicidal Ukraine Invasion Has Entrapped Russia in a Wider War Long Sought by USA Deep State
by Jay Janson
An Alert and Warning! NATO Secretary-general calls for “transformation” of NATO into a fighting force against Russia and China. Noam Chomsky, 93, issues warning: ‘We’re approaching the most dangerous point in human history’
Palestine Needs Immediate Attention to Stave off Major Food Crisis
by Dr Ramzy Baroud
A friend, a young journalist in Gaza, Mohammed Rafik Mhawesh, told me that food prices in the besieged Strip have skyrocketed in recent weeks and that many already impoverished families are struggling to put food on the table.
The day I witnessed the Zionist massacre against the Palestinian
civilians – Part Three
by Dr Salim Nazzal
I continue writing about the massacres that took place in the Burj Shimali camp due to the savage bombing of the Israeli planes in June 1982. I think of all those who lost their lives at the hands of the criminal Zionists. They are not numbers, but people I knew, lived with and knew their hopes and aspirations.
I continue writing about the massacres that took place in the Burj Shimali camp due to the savage bombing of the Israeli planes in June 1982. I think of all those who lost their lives at the hands of the criminal Zionists. They are not numbers, but people I knew, lived with and knew their hopes and aspirations.
Most of the residents were agricultural workers, men and women, who worked for a daily wage without any rights or protection. Some of them were carpenters, blacksmiths, shoemakers, or children in school whose lives were kidnapped early. In short, an entire community was destroyed.
I was in the camp these days, witnessing the horrible massacre in the camp, whose area does not exceed a square kilometer. After seven days, the camp was literally in ruins and scattered rubble. The camp’s road disappeared entirely. And some people were trying to save what could be saved from their destroyed homes.
Our house was destroyed, and all my childhood pictures were lost. The camp look like Guernica paint made by Picasso about a Spanish town bombed by the Nazis and Italian fascists in 1937.and here it’s the same fascist mindset.
The entire camp was destroyed by the American Phantom planes supplied by America to the criminal Zionist state.
Does America, which claims its focus on human rights, know that the aircraft it gave to the Zionist state is to murder civilians?
Of course, they know but prefer to close their eyes because they are partners in the crime.
The camp residents had started leaving the camp on the fifth day to save their lives and their children’s lives. At this time, the bodies of the dead residents were under the rubble of shelters or houses. My cousin was one of them. He was a young man studying car mechanics, I remember him now with a pain in my heart. Later on, his other brother was killed.
It was a tragedy for my uncle, who was strong, but after losing two young men, became like a burning candle day after day. Indeed, my uncle only lived two years after the massacre. He used to repeat the names of his sons. And when I visit him, I try to tell him that they could be in a better world. He would remain silent and look at me and say nothing.
I left the camp with a group of people heading toward the Lebanese villages. The weather was scorching, and we were drinking from the water of the lemon orchards canals scattered in the area. There were men and woman and children of all ages. I felt that it was like the doomsday.
On the road, there was an unbearable smell. Some closed their noses to see a car trampled by an Israeli tank, and in the car was a family who trying to escape from this hell.
The smell of death was horrible. The stench emanating from the bodies was several meters from the car.
My father was one of those who approached the car. When he came back, his face was yellow, and he started shouting they are Nazis.
Many years later, when I moved to Europe, I was once in a debate with one of the Zionists who said to me (you hate us)!!! I told him you are shameless criminals. What do you expect when you occupy my country and murder my people?
I’m confident to say that every Palestinian’s most precious dream is to see Zionist criminals in the criminal courts. I know that the matter is far away now, but I am sure that this day will come.
We walked among the orchards while we hear the planes bombing around. We also heard the roar of tanks. And there we arrived at a Lebanese village. We were exhausted after all we had suffered the past days.
We slept in a small room, men, women, and children, and I put my shoes under my head to sleep. I slept like a stone.
Salim Nazzal is a Palestinian Norwegian researcher, lecturer playwright and poet, wrote more than 17 books such as Perspectives on thought, culture and political sociology, in thought, culture and ideology, the road to Baghdad. Palestine in heart
Israel Adds Yuan To Its Reserves And Cuts Dollar Holdings
by Countercurrents Collective
Israel’s central bank has made the biggest changes to its allocation of reserves in over a decade, adding the Chinese yuan alongside three other currencies to a stockpile that last year exceeded $200 billion for the first time ever.
Book Review : A guide to freedom through Marxist education
by Dr. Dilnaz Boga and
Rohit Ranjan
The encyclopaedia not only provides a thorough critique of the effects of neoliberal policies on education but also unravels a myriad of reasons for the condition of our world, which is marked by super-exploitation and intensification of labour, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This work had tried to grasp the full extent of the manner in which neoliberal policies shape our daily life, including our socio-economic, political and economic values.
CUET Adds Further to the Tyranny of Imposing Over-Centralized, Exam-Centered ‘Education’
by Bharat Dogra
A more recent manifestation of following the western model has been to introduce CUET which actually is not such a cute idea at all. CUET ( Common University Entrance Test), following in the
footsteps of more technically oriented NEET and JEE, adds further to the burden of never-ending exams in an examination-oriented exams, at the same time devaluing the school and board exams.
Apple Orchards Should Avoid Hurried Displacement of Traditional Varieties
by Bharat Dogra
Apple orchards have become a leading livelihood source in Jammu and Kashmir as well as in Himachal Pradesh. However orchard owners have been troubled from time to time by several problems including competition from indiscriminate imports and reducing margins. In such a situation sometimes they are tempted to go in for technologies which offer a quick way to increasing yields but may be harmful in the longer term, and it is important to guard against this.
POLITICO NIGHTLY: Jan. 6 committee’s bombshells hiding in plain sight
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RSN: FOCUS: Bess Levin | Further Evidence Emerges the Saudis Did Not Pay Jared Kushner Billions Because They Thought He Was an Investing Genius
21 April 22
Live on the homepage now!
Reader Supported News
His firm’s very embarrassing pitch deck suggests it was more about the whole letting-them-get-away-with-murder business.
Why else do we suspect the $2 billion was more of a reward (and a downpayment should Trump return to the White House) than it was about Kushner being an actually worthwhile investment? In addition to the due diligence panel’s reservations, there’s also the matter of Affinity’s pitch deck, which was recently obtained by The Intercept. The pitch deck manages to simultaneously demonstrate almost no investment expertise or thesis while brazenly suggesting would-be investors would benefit from the firm’s influence peddling after writing Jared a check. “Affinity carries out a thorough and in-depth assessment of potential investments and examines a range of quantitative and qualitative factors,” reads one slide, while hilariously noting that “weekly investment discussions” are one of the key parts of the “Affinity Investment System.” On the barely concealed promise to leverage Kushner’s domestic and foreign connections, the firm writes: "We approach opportunities creatively based on the concept that aligned economic interests can solve intractable problems and create previously unrealized value,” and “Affinity’s unique network and experience makes us a differentiated partner for companies navigating the rapidly evolving global political and economic environment.” As The Intercept writes, “The slides make repeated reference to Affinity’s ‘network,’ which includes a bevy of Trump administration appointees depicted in a ‘Team Members’ section,” and describes Kushner as “leading the negotiations on the historic OPEC+ oil agreement in April 2020 among the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Russia,” a not-so-subtle hint that the former senior White House adviser holds sway “with the oil-rich Saudi kingdom.”
Not surprisingly, a source told The Intercept that numerous investors approached by Affinity were not impressed by the pitch and were shocked at “how cavalierly it seemed to suggest influence peddling.” These investors reportedly said, as the source recalled, “they’d never seen such a joke of a deck, openly talking about ‘networking’ and ‘networks’—i.e., our corrupt insider contacts. ...They’re bragging about ‘networks,’ they’re using cliches, with no serious investment discussion.”
A spokesperson for Kushner insisted that there was nothing inappropriate about the deck, telling The Intercept: “Jared was very successful in the private sector before he entered government, achieved great success in government, and many are confident he will enjoy continued success in his new venture. Jared’s track record in government was unprecedented. His leadership and efforts led to the historic Abraham Accords, the [U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement] which was the largest trade deal in history, life changing criminal justice reform, Operation Warp Speed among many other achievements.” The spokesperson did not mention that Kushner’s private sector work was strictly for companies owned by his father, or ones he bought with his father’s money. Or that his most famous deal was the one in which he spent billions to acquire an aging midtown skyscraper on the eve of the financial crisis that became an albatross around the family business’s neck, before being conveniently bailed out by Qatar.
Last week Senator Elizabeth Warren said the Department of Justice should investigate the $2 billion Saudi investment. On Monday, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics wrote on Twitter: “If people actually cared about corruption by the president’s family members, Saudi Arabia giving Jared Kushner $2 billion would be the biggest story in America right now.” A day prior, MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan tweeted that the investment represents a “huge story of both corruption and human rights abuses” that the media and others shouldn‘t just “move on” from. So yeah, it seems worth looking into!
Special Coverage: Ukraine, A Historic Resistance
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Watch Rachel Maddow Highlights: April 20 CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER PLANT ZAPORIZHZHIA
Watch highlights of Wednesday's The Rachel Maddow Show, airing weeknights at 9 p.m. on MSNBC.
Marjorie Taylor Greene LOSES IT on air, panics over her court appearance
BREAKING: Marjorie Taylor Greene just MELTED DOWN live on air over her court hearing. To call for Marjorie Taylor Greene to be expelled from Congress, sign here 👉 http://odaction.com/expel-greene
WATCH LIVE: Marjorie Taylor Greene Faces Questions Under Oath for Role in January 6th Insurrection
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