Weekend Edition: Another 'Horrific Massacre' in Gaza

 

Sunday, June 9, 2024 ■ Today's Top News  Fresh Calls to 'Reject AIPAC' After Analysis of GOP Money in Dem Primaries "George Latimer in New York and Wesley Bell in Missouri are trying to become Democratic members of Congress off millions of dollars of money from rich right-wing Republicans," said one group. By Jessica Corbett Ben-Gvir Sets Sights on Israeli War Cabinet After Gantz Quits The National Unity leader delayed his departure due to an Israeli military operation that rescued four hostages but killed at least 274 people in Gaza and wounded 698 others. By Jessica Corbett Thousands Protest Gaza Genocide in 'Red Line' White House Rally "We as the people are drawing the red line today to say enough is enough," said a protester from the Palestinian Youth Movement. "It's time for an arms embargo, and it's time to end this." By Jessica Corbett 'Horrific Massacre': IDF Kills 200+ Palestinians Rescuing 4 Hostages "It's a nightmare at Al-Aqsa," said Samuel Johann, MSF coordinator in Gaza. "How many more men, women, and children have to be killed before world leaders decide to put an end to this massacre?" By Jessica Corbett NY Gov. Hochul 'Must Sign' Climate Change Superfund Act "Gov. Hochul, fresh off a spineless congestion pricing reversal that scandalized New Yorkers, needs to get back to work and make this landmark legislation the law of the land," said one campaigner. By Jessica Corbett 'This Ain't It': Pennsylvanians Slam Jay-Z's Roc Nation for School Voucher Push "An out-of-state billionaire is pairing with a suburban Philadelphia one to try to destroy public education," said one critic. By Jessica Corbett As pro-public education groups plan a rally at the Pennsylvania State Capitol, educators and advocates on Friday criticized hip-hop icon Jay-Z's company Roc Nation over a campaign backing a proposed school voucher program in the commonwealth. The campaign's "Dine & Learn" events in Philadelphia this month are intended to share information about the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success (PASS) or "Lifelife Scholarships," as supporters also call them. If approved by state legislators in the next budget, the program would put tax dollars toward "education opportunity accounts" for certain families to send their children to K-12 private schools rather than low-performing public ones. "Just to be clear for those not in Pennsylvania, the legislation Jay-Z is supporting here is a Republican-led effort to gut public education." "We have enjoyed such a special connection with Philadelphians, so we've made it our mission to invest in the long-term success of the city's changemakers," Roc Nation managing director of philanthropy Dania Diaz said in a statement. "Impact starts with the students and with awareness. We want to empower the youth and families with the knowledge to pursue their scholastic dreams, make their voices heard, and become the leaders of tomorrow." While the campaign led to multiple headlines about "How Roc Nation Is Helping Underprivileged Students in Philadelphia Get Into Private Schools," some critics of putting tax money—in this case, potentially tens or hundreds of millions of dollars—toward private school tuition expressed disappointment and frustration on Friday, just weeks away from Pennsylvania's June 30 budget deadline. "This ain't it," said the American Federation of Teachers Pennsylvania (AFTPA) on social media, posting a photo of Jay-Z—whose given name is Shawn Carter—with suburban Philadelphia multibillionaire Jeffrey Yass, a Republican megadonor with a history of using his money to push for school vouchers and the defeat progressive political candidates. "Don't get it twisted, PASS is a Yassified school choice/school voucher bill," one social media user wrote. Other critics also mentioned Yass. Phil Gentry, an organizer with West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools, referenced reporting that the billionaire is being considered as a potential Treasury secretary if former Republican President Donald Trump beats Democratic President Joe Biden in the November election. "Just to be clear for those not in Pennsylvania," Gentry noted, "the legislation Jay-Z is supporting here is a Republican-led effort to gut public education, spearheaded by future Trump Cabinet member Jeffrey Yass." Challenging the framing of some of the news coverage about the Roc Nation campaign, Philadelphia public interest lawyer Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg said, "As Pennsylvania is on the verge of transforming the most inequitable school funding system in the nation, an out-of-state billionaire is pairing with a suburban Philadelphia one to try to destroy public education instead." The attorney highlighted that the hip-hop billionaire's company is pushing for vouchers as Democrats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives are "working to pass a $5.1 billion transformation" to help the commonwealth's poorest school districts, sharing a report from the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Urevick-Ackelsberg also circulated criticism from New York Times Magazine journalist Nicole Hannah-Jones, who said that "voucher programs have not been shown to improve results for poor Black children because most cannot get into high-quality private schools." "Read the fine print. All of the money is coming from taxpayers," she continued. Roc Nation's "involvement is to convince poor Black parents to leave the public schools." While PASS advocates argue the program will not take money from public schools because it "will be fulfilled by government funds from a separate line item and will not reduce the overall budget to public education programming," Hannah-Jones pushed back. "It is a lie that these programs do not take from public school funding. Fewer kids in the classroom means fewer dollars to the school," the journalist stressed. "This is a windfall to the city's private schools at the expense of the public ones that most kids attend." Citing research by Michigan State University professor Josh Cowen—the author of The Privateers, a forthcoming book on school vouchers—Hannah Jones added: "Stop playing with us. Not only do students who go to private schools on vouchers not perform better, 1 out of 5 [leave] the private school and actually see improved academic results by returning to the public school." Other critics referenced an award-winning sitcom created by Philadelphia-born writer and actress Quinta Brunson, with National Press Foundation fellow Bradford William Davis saying that a "new Abbott Elementary villain just dropped." Dena Driscoll, a parent in the city, said that "Jay-Z is like 'defund Abbott Elementary' and for real though my actual Philadelphian children's public school. Lifeline Scholarships mean most of our children are left to drown." The battle over including the program in Pennsylvania's 2024-25 budget follows a similar fight last year. As the Capital-Star reported in May: "The PASS program was initially supported by Gov. Josh Shapiro during partisan debates over the state budget last year, but House Democrats opposed it. While the version of the budget that passed the Senate included funding for the voucher program, House Democrats refused to pass it unless Shapiro agreed to veto the item. Ultimately, that's what happened." When the Democratic governor unveiled his budget proposal in February, he called school vouchers "unfinished business." While Roc Nation is now behind the push for PASS, people across Pennsylvania continue to organize against school voucher programs. AFTPA pointed out Friday: "We're literally holding a rally on Monday against this. Join us!" The rally, planned for noon local time on June 10, will involve "a coalition of pro-public education labor unions, organizations, and advocates," organizers said in a statement. Parents, students, retirees, and group leaders "will speak on the need for the General Assembly to fulfill its constitutional duty by funding public education and rejecting any effort to divert funds away from public schools through private school vouchers."

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■ More News Southern California Passes First US Rule to Electrify Water Heaters, Boilers Clarence Thomas Finally Reports Gifts He Says Were 'Inadvertently Omitted' From Disclosures 'Summer of Heat' to Take Aim at Wall Street for Funding Climate Chaos 'No Excuse': News Outlets Backed by Big Oil Ads Quiet After UN Chief's Call for Ban United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres was unequivocal this week in his call for a global ban on fossil fuel advertising—but while outlets like The Washington Post and The New York Times covered his remarks on Wednesday, the corporate media showed little sign of abiding by Guterres demand that they stop helping oil and gas companies to "greenwash" their climate records and their effects on the planet. The Guardianreported Friday that it received few responses when it reached out to 11 major news organizations and tech companies including Politico and Meta, with a spokesperson for Politico defending its practice of running fossil fuel advertisements alongside news coverage. "Advertisers are prominently identified, and a clear distinction between news and ads, including sponsored content, is maintained across Politico's platforms," said the spokesperson. "No advertiser or advertisement sways editorial decisions or news judgment." But as Harvard climate disinformation expert Naomi Oreskes told The Guardian, regardless of their ad policies, outlets like Politico, CNN, and others are likely clouding their audiences' understanding of the gravity of the climate emergency by reporting on the issue—only to then display ads by the companies that are responsible for heating the planet. "No one is saying this is easy," Oreskes said. "But we need to face the hard stuff." The Australian grassroots group Climate Council noted on Friday that since Guterres' speech, Channel 10 has continued airing "gas lobby ads like a news bulletin." As The Guardianreported, an Australian Senate inquiry into greenwashing found that since March, the network has aired segments sponsored by gas industry lobbyists that were "made to look exactly the same as the headlines and using the 10 News sets." "Big fossil fuel corporations in Australia have become expert greenwashers, gaslighting Australians and cashing in on the climate crisis," said Climate Council. In his comments, Guterres urged public relations and advertising firms as well as news networks to view fossil fuel advertising the same way they have come to see tobacco ads, which some publications have stopped running in recent years due to the products' human health harms. Jamie Henn, director of Fossil Free Media, pointed out that the Times said in 1999 that it would no longer display cigarette ads because editors didn't "want to expose our readers to advertising that may be harmful to their health." Henn implored the Times: "Tell me the same logic doesn't apply to fossil fuels." The Guardian, Vox, and Le Monde are among global news publications that have stopped selling ad space to oil, coal, and gas companies in recent years. Amsterdam became the first city in the world to ban fossil fuel ads, and France enacted a ban on certain ads for the industry in 2022, while the United Kingdom did the same for misleading environmental terminology in ads this year. Similar actions globally would "hit oil companies where it hurts," University of Miami professor Geoffrey Supran told The Guardian. "If Big Oil loses its ability to lobby the public," he said, "its political power to delay climate action will be severely diminished."

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■ Opinion The Perils and Promise of the Emerging Multipolar World The world economy is experiencing a deep process of economic convergence, according to which regions that once lagged the West in industrialization are now making up for lost time. By Jeffrey D. Sachs The New White House Carbon Offsetting ‘Principles’ Lack Teeth The administration should find the courage to reverse course and acknowledge that carbon offsets are a dangerous and damaging distraction. By Laurie Williams,Allan Zabel

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TOP NEWS: 'Another Terrible Failure': COP27 Ends With No Action to Cut Off Climate-Wrecking Fossil Fuels

November 21, 2022

Top News

Cease and Desist Order Called 'Massive Victory' for US Amazon Workers "Nonetheless, continuing to keep Gerald Bryson out of work at this point is a travesty of justice," two advocates said, referring to the union leader whom Amazon unlawfully fired for protesting unsafe conditions at the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island. by Kenny Stancil 'Another Terrible Failure': COP27 Ends With No Action to Cut Off Climate-Wrecking Fossil Fuels "If all fossil fuels are not rapidly phased out, no amount of money will be able to cover the cost of the resulting loss and damage," said one climate justice advocate. by Kenny Stancil 'I Will Not Stop Fighting': Omar Hits Back at McCarthy Over Committee Seat Threat "McCarthy's effort to repeatedly single me out for scorn and hatred—including threatening to strip me from my committee—does nothing to address the issues our constituents deal with." by Jake Johnson

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• UN Demands Demilitarized Zone After Latest Zaporizhzhia Shelling • LGBTQ+ Nightclub Shooting in Colorado Springs Probed as Possible Hate Crime • Rights Groups Demand Biden Close 'Inhumane' ICE Detention Centers • 225 Groups Urge Biden to Extend Student Loan Payment Pause During Court Fights • LGBTQ+ Rights Groups Denounce FIFA Ban on OneLove Armbands During World Cup in Qatar • Major Strike Looms as Largest Rail Union in US Rejects White House-Brokered Contract • Austin AFL-CIO Council Becomes Latest to Urge Biden to End Medicare Privatization Scheme

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Opinion

Swifties Are Joining the Anti-Monopoly Movement Taylor Swift fans had their time wasted and pockets emptied by Ticketmaster. Now they're calling to break up the company's live events monopoly—and joining the movement to crack down on monopolies, period. by Bella DeVaan School Vouchers Are Great If You Want to Kill Quality Education and Expand Bigotry Using taxpayer money to send your child to a private or parochial school has got nothing to do with getting a quality education. by Steven Singer If You Want to Help the Rich and Die Sooner, Vote Republican As giddy as Republicans are about "owning the libs," the citizens they govern pay a tragic price for the sport.  THOM HARTMANN November 21, 2022 If dying young appeals to you, here's a simple bit of advice: move to a state or county controlled by Republicans. At first glance, the images below appear to be political maps. And in the most real sense of the word they are: the county-by-county differences shown by the map from Jeremy Ney's brilliant American Inequality Substack newsletter and the state-by-state screen shot from the CDC's NCHS below it. Both reflect, in large part, decades of regional policy differences. Long-lived parts of America have generally embraced progressive policies dating back to FDR's New Deal; the early-death parts of our country most often reflect conservative opposition to everything from the working-class wealth that unionization and higher minimum wages bring, to the availability of healthcare through Medicaid expansion.   Source: American Inequality by Jeremy Ney on Substack 2019 Life Expectancy by State — Source: National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control To zoom out ever farther, since many conservative policies affect the entire country, consider what happened to the health of our nation in the 1980s with the Reagan Revolution. It's particularly visible when you compare the outcomes of our healthcare system with other developed countries. Our World In Data lays it out starkly, as you will see below. One of the proudest accomplishments of the neoliberal Reagan Revolution was—following a bill Nixon signed in 1973 that opened the door—overturning laws in state-after-state that required both hospitals and health insurance companies to run as non-profits. Reagan also, in 1983, ordered the DOJ, FTC, and SEC to essentially stop enforcing anti-trust laws dating back to the 1891 Sherman Act, resulting in the "Mergers & Acquisitions Mania" that characterized the 1980s and inspired the "greed is good" movie Wall Street starring Michael Douglas. Health insurance companies, hospitals, and pharmaceutical manufacturers all morphed from regional and competitive organizations into giant, monopolistic predators. Their profits exploded and our lifespans collapsed. Every year now, they spread hundreds of millions of dollars around Washington DC and state capitols to prevent regulation and maintain the status quo. We are, quite literally, the only country in the world with a corrupt Supreme Court that has legalized this kind of a vicious attack on its citizens by a bought-off political party and their morbidly rich donors. The Republicans on the Supreme Court call it "free speech" but every other nation in the world knows it's simply naked, criminal, political bribery.   Source: Our World in Data As you can see above, the average American spends more than twice as much on healthcare every year as do the citizens of any other developed country in the world. And, as the Reagan Revolution really bit hard in the 1980s and 1990s, our average lifespans collapsed while corporate healthcare profits exploded. And it's not just death by lack of healthcare that skews these statistics: if you're concerned about being murdered, it's also a good idea to avoid states run by conservatives.  As the centrist Third Way think tank noted last month: "In 2020, per capita murder rates were 40% higher in states won by Donald Trump than those won by Joe Biden. "8 of the 10 states with the highest murder rates in 2020 voted for the Republican presidential nominee in every election this century." It's true of Red cities as well. Again, from Third Way: "For example, Jacksonville, a city with a Republican mayor, had 128 more murders in 2020 than San Francisco, a city with a Democrat [sic] mayor, despite their comparable populations.  "In fact, the homicide rate in Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco was half that of House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy's Bakersfield, a city with a Republican mayor that overwhelmingly voted for Trump." And don't even think about having sex in Red states: they generally lead America in sexually transmitted diseases, presumably because most have outlawed teaching sex education in their public schools. The five states with the highest rates of Chlamydia infections are Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and New Mexico. The highest rates of Gonorrhea are in Mississippi, Alaska, South Carolina, Alabama, and Louisiana.  Speaking of schools, the states with the lowest educational attainment in the nation are entirely Red states. Ranked from terrible to absolutely worst, they are: Idaho, Indiana, Oklahoma, Alabama, Nevada, Louisiana, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi, and West Virginia. As giddy as Republicans are about "owning the libs," the citizens they govern pay a tragic price for the sport. They are literally dying as conservative politicians revel in their ability to cut taxes for the rich and suppress wages and healthcare for everybody else. Republicans are about to take over the House of Representatives and begin their "investigations" into, well, anything that will distract from these terrible statistics. In the meantime, Americans, particularly those in Red states and counties, will continue to die at rates considered obscene by the standards of every other developed nation in the world. Our next chance to put America back on track will be in two years, and we damn well better get ready. Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely. THOM HARTMANN Thom Hartmann is a talk-show host and the author of "The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed the American Dream" (2020); "The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America" (2019); and more than 25 other books in print. Comments    by Thom Hartmann

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