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Trump has long been an authoritarian. Anne Gearan and Josh Dawsey report that “Trump has been fixated on overturning the [2020] election for weeks, making hundreds of calls to allies, lawyers, state legislators, governors and other officials and regularly huddling with outside lawyers Rudolph W. Giuliani and Sidney Powell, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and others” (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-election-capitol-building).

According to The January 6 Report of The House January 6th Committee,

“the Trump complaint about a rigged election involved ‘62 separate lawsuits between November 4, 2020 and January 6, 2021, calling into question or seeking to overturn the elections results. Out of 62 cases, only one case results in victory for the President Trump or his allies, which affected relatively few votes, did not vindicate any underlying claims of fraud, and would not have changed the outcome in Pennsylvania” (p. 210).  

Yunseo Chung is a 21-year-old South Korean student who has been living in the US since she was 7 years old. Chung is an academically gifted student and was the valedictorian at her high school. Suddenly Chung has gone into hiding from the government Gestapo-style ICE agents who are hunting her down in an unmarked van for exercising her right to free speech by taking part in the campus demonstrations calling for ceasefire and an end to the genocide in Gaza.

Explaining Arab political failure to challenge Israel through traditional analysis—such as disunity, general weakness, and a failure to prioritize Palestine—does not capture the full picture.

 The idea that Israel is brutalizing Palestinians simply because the Arabs are too weak to challenge the Benjamin Netanyahu government—or any government—implies that, in theory, Arab regimes could unite around Palestine. However, this view oversimplifies the matter.

 Many well-meaning pro-Palestine commentators have long urged Arab nations to unite, pressure Washington to reassess its unwavering support for Israel, and take decisive actions to lift the siege on Gaza, among other crucial steps.

Young woman holding sign

University students are making their voices heard at The Ohio State University, amidst conversations surrounding the Trump administration’s dismantling of the Department of Education, and Ohio Senate Bill 1 which would overhaul higher education policies.

On Tuesday afternoon, OSU students took to the Oval, speaking out against the university’s preemptive compliance with both federal and state initiatives to rollback public education. They demanded that their right to a holistic and quality education not be infringed upon nor politicized, and that their constitutionally-protected civil liberties be respected. 

We start this monumental legal exposition with the great hero-attorney STEVE DONZIGER & the high-profile corporate attack on Greenpeace & the Indigenous community.

Greenpeace has been sued by Energy Transfer in a North Dakota court with a jury dominated by fossil-fuel workers and a pro-corporate judge.

Hawaii-based attorney NATALI SEGOVIA gives us detail on the particulars of this rigged indictment in a case meant to “target the environmental movement as a whole.”

Natali emphasizes that the land devastated by the contested pipeline is, by treaty rights, still Indigenous land.

Much-revered long-time campaigner CHARLIE CRAY explains that Greenpeace’s role in the Standing Rock demonstrations was to train people in non-violence, and that the corporate attack on the Greenpeace organizational structure has been misguided.

Steve Donziger then explains where the next legal battles will go amidst the long-standing campaign to weaponize the law against the human attempt to preserve our ability to live on this planet.

Janis Ian

Janis Ian was only 14 when she wrote one of the most influential—and controversial—songs of a generation. The story behind the anthem is told in Varda Bar-Kar’s new biographical documentary, Janis Ian: Breaking Silence.

A Jewish girl growing up in a mostly Black New Jersey neighborhood, the then-Janis Fink was inspired after seeing a young interracial couple cuddling on a bus despite the disapproving glares of those around them. The result was “Society’s Child,” about a White girl whose romance with a Black boy sets her up for harassment and demands to “stick to your own kind.”

Recorded in 1965, the song touched on such a raw nerve that it almost didn’t get released. Ian’s producer, Shadow Morton, had anticipated the problem and suggested that she play it safe by changing its first line: “Pick me up from school, baby, face is clean and shining black as night.” When Ian refused, Morton was forced to pitch the song to more than 20 record labels before finding one that was willing to take a chance on it.

Target store

More than 150,000 people have signed a petition begun by a Black church to boycott Target department and multi-purpose stores, because of their abandonment of their diversity, equity, and inclusion or DEI program. I haven’t been in a Target for years, and I’m definitely not going in there now.

Chuck Schumer

After Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced his intention to help break a potential filibuster of the Republican spending bill, America’s fascist president, Donald Trump, took to Truth Social to praise his old friend: “Congratulations to Chuck Schumer for doing the right thing,” he wrote. “This could lead to something big for the USA, a whole new direction and beginning.”

Schumer’s stance justifiably angered the Democratic base, as it gave away all leverage the anti-fascist coalition has for the foreseeable future to stop Trump’s illegal power grab. The minority leader defended himself from progressive criticism, saying he had the overwhelming support of his caucus, which I actually don’t doubt, despite the fact only nine other Democratic senators voted with him.

Movie poster

For half a decade, Basel Adra, a Palestinian activist, films his community of Masafer Yatta being destroyed by Israel's occupation, as he builds an unlikely alliance with an Israeli journalist who wants to join his fight. No Other Land is an unflinching account of a community's mass expulsion and acts as a creative resistance to Apartheid and a search for a path towards equality and justice.

About the filmmaker:

Basel Adraisa Palestinian lawyer, journalist, and filmmaker from Masafer Yatta. He has been an activist and documentarian since 2015, fighting against Israel’s mass expulsion of his community.

Rachel Szor is an Israeli cinematographer, editor, and director from Jerusalem. 

Hamdan Ballalisa Palestinian photographer, filmmaker, and farmer from Susya, and has worked as a researcher for several anti-occupation human rights groups.

Yuval Abraham is an Israeli filmmaker and investigative journalist from Jerusalem.

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