[Peace-discuss] NfN notes

Fri Apr 19 07:59:29 UTC 2019

It's late but here are some additional notes to spur discussion on News 
from Neptune. Have a good show, guys.

Mueller's redacted report is out

The report is almost 400 pages with some pages blacked out entirely. It 
will take time to go through all of the readable pages in this report but 
so far as I've read there's nothing that changes what we already knew and 
nothing that legitimately resurrects the Russiagate narrative -- that 
Donald Trump became US President as a result of Russian collusion in the 
2016 US election.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt_ls3vYrvo -- RT's coverage (RT is still 
one of the few networks to give coverage of Russiagate based in published 
facts).
https://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2019/images/04/18/mueller-report-searchable.pdf

Assange

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj6xzDeJcJs -- Assange won an EU journalism 
award (while he was in prison) Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mairead Maguire 
received his prize on his behalf and spoke at the awarding ceremony:

> Julian Assange will be remembered long after many of us have faded
> because people will tell the story of Assange, the whistleblower, the
> publisher, who called and spoke out against killing and war and
> government policies which were destroying children and families in their
> home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7oRtfNxKLU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ou4hOH4Fpw -- After Assange's arrest, the 
IMF gives Ecuador a $4.2 billion loan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEdyajZghgc -- Another hypocrisy in the 
Assange indictment: taking action to protect the identity of a source is 
illegal, according to the indictment? This piece is a good review of extant 
American law concerning freedom of speech.

 From the indictment:

> It was part of the conspiracy that Assange and Manning took measures to
> conceal Manning as the source of the disclosure of classified records to
> WikiLeaks, including by removing user names from the disclosed
> information and deleting chat logs between Manning and Assange.

If protecting the identity of sources is illegal, why is only Assange being 
held to this?

Cuba: new US sanctions against Cuba are on the way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdGI4iWuzJw -- John Bolton announced new 
anti-Cuban sanctions. Remember that sanctions are war against the populace, 
particularly the poor. Elites in the targeted country are generally not 
affected by sanctions.

The wealthy prefer an investment in themselves to an investment in the poor?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NfxL6rpLYI -- Grenfell Towers, the UK 
residence for poor people which burned down on June 14, 2017 killing 72 and 
injuring over 70, gets no billionaire support. There are still former 
Grenfell residents not in proper housing today. But Notre Dame restoration 
is being privately funded immediately after its fire (over 700 million 
Euros so far) in which no one died. Could this be because Notre Dame held 
many valuable works and could generate money for investors whereas building 
a new Grenfell (this time with proper materials and building to code) would 
house more poor people?

https://twitter.com/andyecono/status/1117890855447056385
@andyecono asked:

> Imagine if Grenfell had some really important stained glass windows and
> examples of gothic architecture, instead of just human beings.

Coverage by the media: Fox News misstep with Sanders?

Fox News may have miscalculated when it decided to host a "town hall" forum 
with Bernie Sanders. Sanders commanded the crowd for the entire event and 
the Fox News newsreaders were not able to break Sanders' stride. Here's an 
example from the event -- Fox News' Bret Baier said the audience had "a lot 
of Democrats in it, it has Republicans, Independents, Democratic 
Socialists, Conservatives" and Baier asked if the crowd got their 
healthcare from their job via private healthcare (most of the crowd raised 
their hands) and then Baier asked:

> Of those [with their hands up], how many are willing to transition to
> what the Senator says -- a government-run system?

and the crowd kept their hands up and added approving "yeahs", hoots, and 
hollers. This is consistent with high support for Medicare for All 
nationwide. Medicare for All is a majoritarian issue.

Jimmy Dore covered the event in 4 segments of his show:

"Bernie's Glorious Victory Moment On Fox News"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVeXom6HzIQ

"Bernie Addresses DNC Cheating In 2016 Primary"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN9HzjlGTXI -- interesting to note how 
docile Sanders is to the DLC that cheated him (and stands to cheat him again).

"Bernie Explains Socialism To Fox News Viewers"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzL9wCnoA8o

"Bernie Explains How To Beat Trump"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNA0lZPYVqA

Related: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxZIFHRFXAQ -- a DLC propaganda 
piece on "reforms" that party undertook to "rebuild trust" and "make 2020 
the most transparent election ever". Yes, the DLC is transparent -- we can 
see right through you. They wouldn't have to "rebuild trust" if they hadn't 
cheated Sanders in 2016 and hadn't hidden the details of what they did in 
emails they hoped to keep secret from the public.

The DLC's 3-point plan to accomplish this:

Point 1: "Reduce the influence of the superdelegates" by letting 
superdelegates vote only in round 2.
Point 2: "Encourage more states to hold primaries"
Point 3: "Recommend that all states have same-day voter registration"

(Quotes come from the DLC corporation piece shown.)

Jimmy Dore rightly points out that of their 3 points, only point one is not 
merely a suggestion. And that point still keeps the superdelegates in 
power: in a 2-round voting scheme, the superdelegates vote in round 2. But 
there will almost certainly be a need for a 2nd round of voting because 
there will be multiple candidates who are more or less comparable -- such 
as Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren -- 
competing for the progressive vote (or what passes for progressivism among 
Democrats). Thus it's unlikely there will be a clear majority winner in 
round 1. This allows a DLC-preferred establishment candidate (like Joe 
Biden, Sen. Cory Booker, or Sen. Kamala Harris) to win after the 
superdelegates have their say in round 2.

Exploitation: Alibaba Group founder and billionaire Jack Ma defends 
Alibaba's so-called "996" grueling work schedule (work 9AM-9PM 6 days a 
week). There is no overtime compensation for 996 workers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJFqSyz7DC8 -- a description of workers 
objecting to 996 including objecting to worker's deaths due to being 
overworked.

https://github.com/996icu -- Alibaba programmers working 996 have shared 
their objections online on github.com in a project called "996icu" meaning 
"Work by '996', sick in ICU" (Intensive Care Unit). There is more press at 
https://github.com/996icu/996.ICU/blob/master/externals/news_EN.md

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbaFdwq_4M8 -- a slideshow with a few Jack 
Ma quotes including:

> I personally think that being able to work 996 is a huge blessing.
> 
> Many companies and many people don't have the opportunity to work 996.
> 
> If you don't work 996 when you are young, when can you ever work 996?
-J