“President Joe Biden has now joined the ranks of Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush as a president whose Middle East policy crashed and burned spectacularly. Unlike Carter, who was stymied by the Iranian hostage crisis, or Bush, who faced a popular Iraqi resistance movement, Biden’s woes weren’t inflicted by an enemy. Quite the opposite, it was this country’s putative partner, the Israeli government, that implicated the president in its still ongoing genocide in Gaza, as well as its disproportionate attacks on Lebanon and Iran, for which Biden steadfastly declined to impose the slightest penalties. Instead, he’s continued to arm the Israelis to the teeth. Israel’s total war on Palestinian civilians, in turn, significantly reduced enthusiasm for Biden among youth and minorities at home, helping usher him out of office. It also created electoral obstacles for Kamala Harris’s presidential bid.” (11/11/24)
“Democratic norms alert! The Associated Press and others have called the hotly contested Pennsylvania Senate race for GOP candidate David McCormick, since the outstanding votes give no hope for Sen. Bob Casey to close the gap — but Casey won’t concede as Democratic operatives try to overturn the will of the voters. Casey is even fundraising off his hopeless efforts to stay in power. This from the party that spent the entirety of the Biden term screeching about the threat such refusals posed to the Republic. And, like a rat jumping onto a sinking ship, perennial election villain and Dem superlawyer Marc Elias has entered the fray. Elias (the man behind cooking up the utterly bogus Steele dossier, and thus the whole two years of toxic Russiagate nonsense) is angling to force Pennsylvania into a recount.” (11/11/24)
“The planet Uranus and its five biggest moons may not be the dead sterile worlds that scientists have long thought. Instead, they may have oceans, and the moons may even be capable of supporting life, scientists say. Much of what we know about them was gathered by Nasa’s Voyager 2 spacecraft which visited nearly 40 years ago. But a new analysis shows that Voyager’s visit coincided with a powerful solar storm, which led to a misleading idea of what the Uranian system is really like.” (11/11/24)
“Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s program to screen asylum seekers outside of European Union borders in Albania hit another snag on Monday when a court in Rome refused to rule on a formal request to detain seven migrants transferred to the Balkan nation last week. The decision means the seven migrants, hailing from Bangladesh and Egypt, will be brought to Italy by naval ship, just days after their arrival in Albania. It is a repeat of what happened with the first 12 migrants in the program, who also were returned to Italy by another court decision last month shortly after the opening of two migrant screening centers in Albania operated by Italy. In both cases, courts referred the cases to the EU court of justice in Luxembourg to rule if the countries of origin for the migrants are considered safe countries for repatriation.” (11/11/24)
“Many progressives remained silent about ending the genocide in Gaza because they were afraid speaking out would both harm Kamala Harris’[s] chances and propel Donald Trump back into The White House. If those organizations and leaders don’t want to be on the wrong side of history, it’s time to get off the sidelines and join the fight to stop the genocide. The election is over. Trump won. While many in the United States are justifiably filled with fear and dread about another Trump presidency, our Palestinian and Lebanese neighbors are also filled with fear and dread about the U.S.-made bombs falling on their families. ” (11/11/24)
“Qatar has suspended its work as a mediator in ceasefire and hostage release talks between Israel and Hamas, officials say. The country said it would resume its work when Hamas and Israel ‘show their willingness’ to negotiate. It comes after senior US officials reportedly said Washington would no longer accept the presence of Hamas representatives in Qatar, accusing the Palestinian group of rejecting fresh proposals for an end to the war in Gaza. … ‘Qatar notified the parties 10 days ago during the last attempts to reach an agreement, that it would stall its efforts to mediate between Hamas and Israel if an agreement was not reached in that round,’ a statement from the Qatari foreign ministry said. ‘Qatar will resume those efforts… when the parties show their willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war.'” (11/10/24)
“Republicans on Saturday were close to clinching control of the U.S. House of Representatives, a critical element for President-elect Donald Trump to advance his agenda when he returns to the White House in January. With votes still being counted from the Nov. 5 general election, Republicans had won 213 seats in the 435-member House, according to Edison Research, which projected on Saturday night that Representative Dan Newhouse had enough votes to keep Republican control of Colorado’s 3rd congressional district.” (11/09/24)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Israel is really struggling with how difficult its present circumstances make playing the victim. It keeps having to invent new abuses to be victimized by like the imaginary Amsterdam ‘pogrom’ and the fake mass rape narrative that surfaced months after October 7, because it can’t sit comfortably in the role of victimizer while on trial for genocide in international courts. Playing victim is too deeply ingrained in the narrative control strategies of Israel and its apologists, so they have to keep coming up with new and innovative ways for Israel to be victimized even when it is very clearly the last state on earth who has any business being viewed as such. … We keep seeing the word ‘pogrom’ used to refer to Israeli hooligans getting their asses kicked for obnoxious behavior in Amsterdam even as Israeli settlers keep committing textbook pogroms in the occupied West Bank.” (11/10/24)
“U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris lost the election, but when all the votes are tallied, she may have won the senior vote. If so, she would be the first Democrat to do so since Al Gore did in 2000. As of September 29, CNN reported that the average poll had Kamala Harris up with seniors by three points. Harris’ strong ratings continued to hold in a poll of likely voters by ABC/Ipsos, released a week later, showed Harris up 51-46%. CNN Exit polling has the two candidates tied with voters over 65, a group Trump won by 7%, and 5%, in 2016 and 2020 respectively.” [editor’s note: I love how these folks are trying to find a new demographic to exploit, especially since a chunk of that one might not be voting next time except from a gravestone – SAT] [additional editor’s note: It’s a GROWING demographic – TLK] (11/09/24)
“Conventional wisdom has it that Trump 2.0 will be a disaster for Palestinians, because Trump 1.0 all but buried the Palestinian national cause. And it is indeed true that under Donald Trump’s first term as president, the U.S.. was wholly guided by the Zionist religious right — the real voice in his ear, either as donors or policymakers. Under Trump and his son-in-law adviser, Jared Kushner, Washington became a policy playground for the settler movement …. Trump upended decades of policy by recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moving the U.S. embassy there; he disenfranchised the Palestinian Authority by closing down the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) office in Washington; he allowed Israel to annex the Golan Heights; he pulled out of the nuclear accords with Iran; and he assassinated Qassem Soleimani, the most powerful Iranian general and diplomat in the region.” (11/09/24)
