COMMON DREAMS: Top News: Blinken Faces Calls to Resign Over Lie That Israel Not Blocking Gaza Aid

Wednesday, September 25, 2024 ■ Today's Top News  Rights Group Condemns Texas National Guard for Firing Pepper Balls at Migrants "In separate incidents this summer, witnesses saw Texas National Guard members firing pepper-spray projectiles at migrants who posed no risk to National Guard members or anyone else." By Edward Carver Rights Groups List 50+ Calls for Gaza Genocide on Israel's Channel 14 "Incitement to war crimes is part of the Channel 14 poison machine, and its aim is to create a forever war here," said one campaigner. By Brett Wilkins With All Eyes on Gaza, Israel Bulldozed 'Mile After Mile' of West Bank "We watched their bulldozers tear up streets, demolish businesses, pharmacies, schools," said one local leader. "They even bulldozed the town soccer field, and a tree in the middle of a road." By Jessica Corbett Progressive US Lawmakers Call for Arms Embargo to Halt Israeli Escalation in Lebanon "We cannot continue to stand idly by while innocent civilians are being bombarded with our tax dollars," said U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar. By Jake Johnson Landmark Declaration of Rights Safeguards Biobío River in Chile "A paradigm shift is necessary," said an advocacy group. "Let's recognize now that the Biobío River has value in itself." By Julia Conley Blinken Faces Calls to Resign Over Lie That Israel Is Not Blocking Gaza Aid "When a senior American official lies to Congress in the middle of genocide so that the government can keep funding that genocide, he is deliberately flouting the law and prolonging the suffering of millions of innocent people." By Jake Johnson JOIN THE MOVEMENT As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. JOIN WITH US TODAY ■ More News CBO: GOP Social Security Plan Would Cut Benefits by Thousands, Not Extend Solvency After Latest US Execution, Progressives Say 'Abolish the Death Penalty' Working-Class Independent Dan Osborn Giving GOP Senator Run for Her Money in Nebraska Dan Osborn, a mechanic and union leader running to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer in Nebraska, told an Omaha news station on Tuesday that recent polling showing a highly competitive race didn't come as a surprise to him. "It's what I'm seeing on the ground," he told KETV of a Survey USA poll showing 45% of respondents supporting him, compared with 44% backing Fischer. "People, I think, are ready for a change." Osborn describes himself as a "lifelong Independent," and has not sought or accepted endorsements from either major political party. He does have the backing of the United Auto Workers, which said in June, "It's time for labor to get behind candidates who look like us, talk like us, and know the issues facing working-class people." Osborn began working as an industrial mechanic for a Kellogg's plant in 2004, and eventually rose to the presidency of his union local, Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers (BCTGM) Local 50G. In that role in 2021, he led 500 of his co-workers at the cereal plant in a work stoppage that lasted 77 days, with workers protesting a two-tier hiring system that left new employees with lower pay and no pensions and demanding fair working schedules and pay. The strike forced the company to agree to cost-of-living raises, no plant closures through 2026, and no permanent two-tier system. "I've gone up against a major American corporation," Osborn told The New York Times in February. "I stood up for what I thought was right, and I won." The Fischer campaign and its supporters have taken notice of the senator's opponent as multiple polls have shown the two candidates neck-and-neck. Last month, Fischer was up by just one point, with 23% undecided. Conservative super political action committee Heartland Resurgence has spent $479,000 in a new ad campaign opposing Osborn, repeating the same false claims about his support for abortion care as those Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump made at his debate against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris earlier this month: that Osborn "supports abortion until the moment of birth." Osborn told the independent rural news outlet Barn Raiser in March that he believes "a woman's decision on whether or not to have an abortion is between her and her doctor, it's not the federal government's place to dictate those things to people. Deb Fischer believes in a complete abortion ban. I strongly disagree with that position." In an ad released this week, Osborn is seen next to a stand-in for Fischer, who wears a blazer decorated with the logos of some of her major corporate donors: Northrop Grumman, which has given her $64,827 over her career; Union Pacific Corp., which has donated $141,651; and Goldman Sachs, which has donated $18,200 this election cycle. Osborn says in the ad that the Senate is made up of "millionaires controlled by billionaires." "Deb Fischer is part of the problem," he says. "She's taken so much corporate cash she should wear patches." Columnist John Nichols said the latest poll numbers in Nebraska suggest "that a willingness to take on millionaires, billionaires, and the politicians who serve them plays well everywhere." Pro-worker media organization More Perfect Union pointed to earlier polling in July that showed Osborn and Fischer tied 42-42. "Fifty-seven percent of the state's GOP voters say they're open to voting for an Independent," the outlet reported. "Osborn, a long-time union worker, could kick a Republican out of the Senate." Deadly Flooding in Central Europe Made Twice as Likely By Climate Change: Study VIEW ALL NEWS ■ Opinion Even a Good President With a Gun Won’t Save Us VP Harris’ recent political messaging about guns has been less about curbing them and more about how she and her running mate Tim Walz possess them. But that won’t prevent mass shootings. By Will Bunch Please Vice-President Harris, Stay Away from Wall Street! Whoops, too late. By Les Leopold It’s Time for the US to Kick Its War Habit and Get Mad at MAD Using the vernacular of the day, perhaps it’s particularly on target to say that our whole country suffers from Militarism Abuse Disorder or (all too appropriately) MAD. By Frida Berrigan VIEW ALL OPINION Call 207.775.0488 to donate by phone or mail a check to: Common Dreams · PO Box 443 · Portland, ME 04112-0443 · USA Common Dreams is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Your contribution is tax-deductible. EIN: 20-3368194

Informed Comment daily updates (09/04/2024)

 

MUST READ!  THIS DEFINES THE MAGA GOP DISINFORMATION & HATE!

Digital Deception: Disinformation, Elections, and Islamophobia: Juan Cole et al. Middle East Council on Global Affairs | Webinar on “Digital Deception: Disinformation, Elections, and Islamophobia,” September 2, 2024, featuring Juan Cole, Marc Owen Jones, Sohan Dsouza, and Sahar Aziz. Middle East Council on Global Affairs: “Digital Deception: Disinformation, Elections, and Islamophobia In 2007, the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. established the Brookings Doha Center (BDC). […]

Israeli Incursions into the West Bank risk Fuelling Palestinian Resistance rather than Quelling It By Leonie Fleischmann, City, University of London | – (The Conversation) – As the war in Gaza rages on, the situation in the West Bank has deteriorated. On August 28, Israeli forces began carrying out raids on the cities of Jenin and Tulkarm in the north of the territory, as well as the Al-Far’a refugee […]

Trumptopia and Beyond: Is Reality the Biggest Fiction of All Today? ( Tomdispatch.com ) Yes, long ago, I dreamt of being a novelist. Two ancient manuscripts packed away in a distant corner of my closet attest to that (ir)reality, as does one novel focused on the world of publishing (in which I’d been an editor) that made it into print, even if it was barely noticed. […]

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