Global

On Friday December 1st active Israeli combat operations resumed directed against Gaza after a one week “pause” to exchange hostages and prisoners. It should surprise no one to learn that Israel’s ultimate objective in its sustained war crime directed against Gaza is to kill and/or drive out its 2.3 million Palestinian inhabitants. The adopted policy, which has been revealed through a top level Israeli intelligence document relating to options for operations in Gaza that was leaked to the media, “…recommends a full population transfer as its preferred course of action. …” to include “the evacuation of the civilian population from Gaza to Sinai.” And Israel should “Make It Clear [to the refugees that] there Is No Hope of Returning [home]” with the final objective being “wiping Gaza off the map.”

Producer Sam Goldwyn supposedly once said: “If you want to send a message, use Western Union.” The movie mogul presumably believed that motion pictures are not the appropriate medium for artists to impart a philosophical or political perspective in. In fact, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s motto, which appeared superimposed around the head of a roaring lion, was “Ars gratia artis,” which translated from Latin is: “Art for art’s sake.”

Audra McDonald seems to disagree with Goldwyn’s dictum, that implies talents should not express their worldview through an art form. “I pick songs based on their messages,” the soprano unabashedly proclaimed to the rapt throng at L.A.’s sold-out Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Apparently, the audience agrees with McDonald’s POV, and not Goldwyn’s verdict.

Posted at: http://duluthreader.com/articles/2012/12/07/1236_pearl_harbor_the_day_of_infamy_and_fdr_if_work

This is the week that the corporate media, careful to not upset the uber-patriots and nationalists among us, will be featuring reports about the December 7, 1941 Japanese “sneak attack” on Pearl Harbor. In addition to hearing stories about those beginnings of WWII (at least for the US), we may also be hearing reports about the endings, including the myths about the necessity of killing hundreds of thousands of innocent and unarmed non-combatants - women, children and old men - in the infamous Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb attacks when all indications were that the Japanese were on their knees and looking for ways to surrender with honor.

This article was originally published by The Nation.

The whole thing may appear to be an exercise in futility, but there is a point why Palestinians are keen on releasing their prisoners, despite the heavy price they continue to pay for their freedom. 

 It may seem rational to ask the question: what is the point of releasing a few Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons, if the price of doing so is the death of over 15,000 Palestinians in Gaza?

In most media coverage of war — including the hell in the Middle East, where World War III looms —the unexamined assumption is that we, the readers, are spectators, looking on as the missiles fly (mostly in one direction) and Good dukes it out with Evil yet again,

Paradoxically, Good and Evil are in complete agreement at least about one thing: The only way to deal with conflict is through violence.

The last thing either side wants is for this to be questioned — no matter this is the nuclear age and the future of life itself is up for grabs.

The USA dominates the COP28 summit in UAE (28th year of "talking" about
climate change) . The US ($23 trillion economy/GDP - the biggest
contributor to climate change causing greenhouse gases) pledged a tokenism
of $17 million (!) to help developing countries "adapt" and "mitigate"
climate change while pledging $14.3 billion in weapons to Israel (in
addition to billions more already given) and hundreds of billions to the US
military. Note that the US and Israeli militaries are the biggest polluters
of the environment which is producing millions of climate refugees. This is
HYPOCRISY. The problem with COP28 is the problem of the previous 27 COPs:
they are meetings of government officials beholden to lobbies and lobbyists
for the biggest polluters (2400 lobbyists attending this year'*). If
anything the quality of these participating officials (environmental
ministers etc) has gotten worse. As Greta Thunberg said, they go 'bla bla
bla" while our world is being destroyed. While there were attempts to
challenge the US hegemony with groups like BRICS and ASEAN, the Us still