Educate!
Education is the foundation of political change. In this section we provide news and analyses of current events that you won’t likely read or hear in the corporate media. Our sources are from organizations and independent media outlets free of corporate and government propaganda. We strongly encourage you to share these articles by email and social media so that together we create an echo chamber that overcomes the influence of the oligarchy. You will find large social media sharing buttons on the left side of each article when you open the article to read.
Earlier on Wednesday, January 8th, I saw a prominent Zionist commentator and Twitter/X User post, “Has Greta Thunberg taken her keffiyeh off to address the fires in LA yet or are there too many Jews living here for her to be concerned?” The weird implications about a mythical antisemitic malice that climate activist Greta Thunberg has to supposedly fuel her anti-genocide and ecocide beliefs aside, the post is equally embarrassing in its lack of understanding about the exacerbators of Los Angeles’ most destructive fires in the metropolitan area’s history.
What Will Trump’s Iran Policy Look Like?
January 11, 2025
Michael Arria, Mondoweiss.
Educate!
Donald Trump, Iran, Iran Nuclear Deal, US Foreign Policy
Incoming U.S. President Donald Trump adopted an aggressive Iran policy in his first term. He withdrew from the Obama administration’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), adopted harsh sanctions on the country, and assassinated Iranian military commander Qassem Suleimani.
Should we expect more of the same this time around? Does he actually want a deal with the country? Who might end up pushing him on the issue behind the scenes? Is there any reason to take his non-interventionist seriously or does neocon ideology still prevail within the Republican party? Is the Iranian government actually vulnerable right now? What role does Israel play in all of this?
Biden To Keep Terrorist Designation On ‘Rebels’ Controlling Syria
January 11, 2025
News Desk, The Cradle.
Educate!
Hayat Tahrir al-sham (HTS), Joe Biden, Syria, Terrorists
Outgoing US President Joe Biden will not lift the terrorist designation of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) US officials revealed on 8 January, leaving the decision to the government of President-elect Donald Trump.
Senior officials who spoke with the Washington Post said HTS “must demonstrate they have made a clean break with extremist groups, in particular Al-Qaeda before the label can be lifted.” “Actions will speak louder than words,” an unnamed official told the US daily.
According to the reports, Washington has “lingering concerns” after Syria's de facto new ruler Ahmad al-Sharaa – the former deputy commander of ISIS and founder of Al-Qaeda in Syria – green-lighted the promotion of foreign extremists to the ranks of officers in the newly formed armed forces.
Judge Orders CPS To Come Clean On Deleted Assange Documents
January 11, 2025
Joe Lauria, Consortium News.
Educate!
Journalism, Julian Assange, Press Freedom, Transparency, United Kingdom (UK)
Italian journalist Stefania Maurizi has been waging a legal battle for seven years against the Crown Prosecution Service to discover the truth about a CPS claim that it deleted a number of documents Maurizi has sought in a Freedom of Information request about the case of Julian Assange.
Now a judge on the London First-tier Tribunal has ruled that the CPS must explain to Maurizi what it knows about when, why and how the documents were allegedly destroyed. The Jan. 2 ruling was first reported by Maurizi’s newspaper il Fatto Quotidiano on Friday.
Negligent Landlords Strike Again In The Bronx
January 11, 2025
Natalia Marques, People's Dispatch.
Educate!
Fires, Landlords, New York City (NYC), Tenant Rights
A massive, five-alarm fire broke out in the Bronx on Friday morning, displacing over 200 people out in the below freezing temperatures, and injuring seven people. At the time of publication, New York City firefighters are still battling the massive blaze that engulfed the top floor of a six-story residential building. Over 81 displaced families are sheltering in a nearby school, and all the apartments on the top floor have been destroyed.
For the short term, displaced residents will be placed in hotels, then will meet with caseworkers who will help move them into one of the city’s shelters.
The Militia And The Mole
January 11, 2025
Joshua Kaplan, Pro Publica.
Educate!
Donald Trump, Militias, Right wing extremism, Surveillance
John Williams kept a backpack filled with everything he’d need to go on the run: three pairs of socks; a few hundred dollars cash; makeshift disguises and lock-picking gear; medical supplies, vitamins and high-calorie energy gels; and thumb drives that each held more than 100 gigabytes of encrypted documents, which he would quickly distribute if he were about to be arrested or killed.
On April 1, 2023, Williams retrieved the bag from his closet and rushed to his car. He had no time to clean the dishes that had accumulated in his apartment.
Dr Victor Frankenstein Disavows His Monster
January 10, 2025
Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research.
Educate!
Donald Trump, History, US Imperialism, Working Class
Very few humans have had the good fortune to descend into the depths of the world’s oceans. The deepest such place – 11 kilometres below sea level at its deepest point – is the Mariana Trench, which is located just north of the 607 islands of the Federated States of Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean (by comparison, Mount Everest is nearly nine kilometres above sea level). Down there, in the depths below six kilometres in what is called the hadal zone, there is no light. It is called the hadal zone after Hades, the ancient Greek god of the underworld.
Blinken’s Disturbing Exit Interview
January 10, 2025
Michael Arria, Mondoweiss.
Educate!
Anthony Blinken, Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden administration, Gaza, Genocide, Hamas, Humanitarian Aid, Israel, Joe Biden, Palestine, US Aid To Israel, Zionism
Biden’s time in office is coming to an end, but not before a parting gift for Israel.
The State Department recently announced that it would notify Congress about another massive arms deal, this one worth $8 billion. It includes medium-range air-to-air missiles, Hellfire missiles, 500-pound bombs, and more.
The announcement comes amid a deluge of dire news out of Gaza. Flood. Famine. Extreme cold. Israel killed more than 234 Palestinians during the first 4 days of 2025. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International recently published reports saying Israel is committing genocide.
Israel, US, UK Launch First Joint Attack On Houthi Targets
January 10, 2025
Ikrame Imane Kouachi, Anadolu Ajansı.
Educate!
Israel, Palestine Solidarity, United Kingdom (UK), United States, US Imperialism, Wars and Militarism, Yemen
Sanaa, Yemen - Israel, the US, and Britain on Friday carried out their first coordinated attack on Houthi targets in Yemen, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation reported.
Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah TV also reported that a series of airstrikes targeted the vicinity of the Al-Sabeen Square in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.
The attack coincided with a rally in support of Palestine amid Israel’s 16-month-old continuing genocidal war on Gaza.
Additionally, the Houthis reported six airstrikes on the port city of Al-Hudaydah in western Yemen.
Al-Masirah later reported: “An American-British assault targeted the Harf Sufyan district in the governorate of Amran with 12 airstrikes.”
LA Fires: The Santa Ana Blowback of Capitalist Climate Change Neglect
January 10, 2025
The Black Alliance for Peace.
Educate!
California, Capitalism, climate crisis, Los Angeles, Public Health
The incendiary cataclysms in Los Angeles, California remind us that the root cause of the climate crisis exacerbating the fires spreading throughout that city and surrounding areas is fossil fuel production emblematic of runaway capitalism fueled by white “supremacy” ideology, patriarchy, and colonization. And while it’s easy to focus solely on the fires, it’s important to note that the associated smoke will be the main culprit in the loss of life due to environmental racism that has assaulted the public health of Black, Brown, Indigenous and all poor and working class people in Los Angeles and throughout the country.
The Ghost Of Jimmy Carter
January 10, 2025
Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report.
Educate!
History, Jimmy Carter, US Imperialism
The late Jimmy Carter lived longer than any other U.S. president, passing away at the age of 100 on December 30, 2024. Like all presidents who only serve one term, Carter is generally considered to have been a failure after being defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1980. What is less well known is that ample evidence indicates Reagan and his associates planned what is known as the “October Surprise ,” which kept U.S. hostages in Iran and sealed Carter’s electoral defeat.
Carter’s hapless ending was largely forgotten because of his good works with Habitat for Humanity and his eschewing of the typical post-presidential cashing in with corporate speeches and other forms of money grubbing among the elite.
‘Weather Whiplash’ Is Fueling The Los Angeles Fires
January 10, 2025
Kate Yoder, Grist.
Educate!
California, climate crisis, Extreme weather, Fires, Los Angeles
It’s supposed to be the rainy season in Southern California, but the last time Los Angeles measured more than a tenth-inch of rain was eight months ago, after the city logged one of the soggiest periods in its recorded history. Since then, bone-dry conditions have set the stage for the catastrophic wildfires now descending upon the metropolis from multiple directions.
This quick cycling between very wet and very dry periods — one example of what scientists have come to call “weather whiplash” — creates prime conditions for wildfires: The rain encourages an abundance of brush and grass, and once all that vegetation dries out, it only takes a spark and a gust of wind to fuel a deadly fire.
Biden’s Offshore Drilling ‘Ban’ Won’t Protect Gulf of Mexico
January 10, 2025
Mike Ludwig, Truthout.
Educate!
climate crisis, Fossil Fuels, Gulf of Mexico, Joe Biden, Oil Drilling, Oil Spill
Democrats in Congress cheered as President Joe Biden moved on January 6 to withdraw 625 million acres federal ocean waters off United States coastlines from consideration for future offshore oil and gas drilling. Democratic lawmakers say the waters are “permanently” protected, although Republicans could use their majority in Congress to force the government to lease underwater drilling rights to the industry.
However, Biden’s last-minute effort to secure his climate legacy before Donald Trump takes office does nothing to prevent offshore drilling in the central and western Gulf of Mexico, where intense fossil fuel exploitation already causes pollution and oil spills as climate change brings intensifying floods and storms to coastal communities.
Israel Blocks UN Probe On ‘Hamas Rape’ Claims
January 9, 2025
News Desk, The Cradle.
Educate!
Accountability, Human Rights, Israel, Palestine, Rape, Sexual Abuse, United Nations
Israeli officials have obstructed a UN investigation into alleged sexual crimes committed by Hamas fighters during the 7 October 2023 Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, fearing this would open the door to a probe into the rampant allegations of sexual violence against Palestinians inside Israeli torture camps.
According to a report by Israeli daily Haaretz, Tel Aviv rejected a request from Pramila Patten, the UN special representative of the secretary-general on sexual violence in conflict, to investigate the allegations against Hamas after she established that a necessary condition would be access to Israeli detention centers to probe claims against Israeli soldiers.
The Undeclared Objectives Of Edmundo González’s Tour
January 9, 2025
Misión Verdad, Orinoco Tribune.
Educate!
Donald Trump, Edmundo González, Inauguration, Nicolas Maduro, US Intervention, Venezuela
On January 3, the former presidential candidate from the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), Edmundo González, began a tour of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Panama, and the United States.
Last September, he asked for asylum from the Spanish government and subsequently fled there after a negotiation with the Venezuelan government that completely dynamited his credibility. His visit to these countries, where he has been received as a supposed “president-elect,” has as its fundamental objective to position, once again, the Venezuelan question on the regional scene, in view of the imminent rise of Donald Trump to the White House, relying on the governments most aligned with Washington’s foreign policy on the continent.