Global
It has been another exciting week here in the Land of Oz, formerly known as the United States of America, which is currently going through an apparently overdue purging that will replace the rule of law with a whimsical process whereby the Chief Executive is empowered to decide everything in a new nation that will likely be renamed Trumpland. The transition has not been pretty, as part of the process is to deport all undesirables. As a result, countries that have been reckoned to be friends to the American people and government including Britain and Germany are now warning their citizens that they might want to reconsider plans to travel to the US as they might be detained by one or more of America’s law enforcement authorities even if their travel status is fully legal and they have not committed anything that might be considered a crime in the real world.
If Not Now protesters take the streets in support of Palestine. Photo credit: forward.com A few days ago, over 1,000 Jews and allies rallied outside of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices in New York to demand freedom for Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student activist who was kidnapped by ICE agents at his apartment at Columbia University on March 8, 2025. Khalil, 30, is a legal U.S. resident with no criminal record, his wife is a US citizen, and they are expecting the arrival of their first child next month.
It is crucial for any American administration to recognize that, regardless of political agendas, the views of the American public regarding the situation in Palestine and Israel are undergoing a significant shift. A critical mass of opinion is rapidly forming, and this change is becoming undeniable.
Paradoxically, while Islamophobia continues to rise across the US, sentiments supporting Palestinians and opposing Israeli occupation are steadily increasing.
In theory, this means that the pro-Israeli media's success in linking Israel’s actions against the Palestinian people to the so-called "war on terror" — a narrative that has demonized Islam and Muslims for many years — is faltering.
Freedom of speech is kind of like eggs nowadays – too expensive! For Columbia University, the cost imposed on it by the Trump administration was suddenly $400 million in rescinded federal funding, at least if the speech was pro-Palestinian and critical of Israel.
What choice did the school have, except, as Jennifer Scarlott writes, “to appease the Trump administration by expelling, suspending, and revoking the degrees of a growing number of students accused of peaceful protest and exercising their constitutional rights to free speech and assembly . . .?
Israel’s renewed assault on Gaza comes several months after both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch issued reports concluding without equivocation that Israel was engaged in genocide. But very few members of Congress dare to acknowledge that reality, while their silence and denials scream out complicity.
We open GREEP Zoom #216 with a deep dive into the horrors of our border patrols targeting tourists with horrendous torture and mistreatment.
We then explore health impacts of nuclear power reactors on nearby downwind communities.
The great JOE MANGANO of the Radiation & Public Health Project updates us on the multi-decade attempts to construct a data base on cancer rates & trends near nuclear power plants.
Three Mile Island film-maker JILL MURPHY LONG reports on her horrifying experiences with cancer survivors from around the notoriously stricken nuke.
Safe energy pioneer KARL GROSSMAN tells of his ground-breaking media contacts on the radiation issue.
Moss Landing resident BRIAN ROEDER gives us a terrifying reports on the lethal fallout from the lithium fire that “clobbered” downwind victims.
With a report from SARAH AMINOFF we hear of the devastating impact on food production from the Moss Landing lithium fire.
From scientist MADELAINE ADAMCZESKI raises core issues about the lack of regulation & safety standards at lithium battery centers.