Upcoming events are listed at: durhamspark.blogspot.com/2025/08/days-of-rage-2025-666-days-of-war-and.html , durhamspark.blogspot.com/2025/08/gpus-remembering-hiroshima-and-nagasaki.html , and durhamspark.blogspot.com/2025/07/deep-river-riverkeeper-founded-upcoming.html For more upcoming anniversaries see: durhamspark.blogspot.com/2024/08/summer-came-in-with-buzz-and-whirr-goes.html [and durhamspark.blogspot.com/2025/05/some-attempted-assassinations-killings.html , etc.] I plan to post some links here, good, bad, and neutral.
In August Google started 'offering' to add search links to posts, for 'engagement,' etc. I thought that I allowed it here as a test. MR has an article on the energy cost of searches, etc., but I avoid "AI" and the article itself is hosted online.
[I forgot to post this before; from World Beyond War: Venezuela – No War, No Overthrow, No Coup, No Sanctions / Ni Guerra, Ni Derrocamiento, Ni Golpe, Ni Sanciones Petition: worldbeyondwar.org/venezuela-no-war/ ]
The morning of August 25th: As with Palestine, NPR (in a report from the always pro-imperialist and pro-war Carrie Kahn) defended the idea of attacking Venezuela (they dragged out Corina Maria Machado or whatever her name is, interviewed on Fox; there was a quote from President Nicolas Maduro, but don't believe him, they always say; there were many quotes from two former US ambassadors to Latin American countries – don't be a tiger with fangs of paper – if a naval task force is sent to Venezuela, it needs to begin a war; why did Trump allow US oil investment in Venezuela before starting a war? ) and they minimized the ability of the defenders to extract a great deal of blood from any invaders from the US. They cover up the damage Israel has incurred, while pretending that Iran is going to 'collapse' and that Hezbollah and Hamas are done (don't bring up Ansar Allah in Yemen). The ships were to reach Venezuela around now, a week later. There was also a report on how the "new Syria" has given up on support for Palestinian liberation and wants to surrender to Israel; nothing about what Israel is still doing to Syria, even under HTS. NPR reports much of what Israel has been doing, yet they act like the prospect of Syria surrendering to Netanyahu is a great thing! I've noticed that NPR staff must not listen to NPR much. At the beginning of the year some on the pro-imperialist US "left" clamed that the fall of Syria to the "rebels" would help the cause of Palestinian liberation. What NPR doesn't like is "ideology" or an "agenda," but rule by "technocrats" and "market forces," and central bank "independence," is just neutral "expertise" and common sense, natural. Also on NPR, the sad plight of warmonger John Bolton. First they came for the war criminals and the warmongering agents of the "national security" "deep state" ... ? Laura Loomer, who apparently wants to be the 21st century McCarthy, was once banned by Uber and Lyft, for hate speech?! At 10am – we can't have voter-verified paper ballots, it is too slow and everything is just fine! "Dictator" Hugo Chavez can't get to the electronic voting machines, and was no longer alive in 2020 (on the 31st: now, under Trump, immigration judges demand evidence that Venezuela is a 'dictatorship'). Before Obama-Biden, the grassroots of the Democratic Party and leftists used to question electronic voting machines (BORDC?). A listener blames President Putin for Trump's recent election machinations. At 11am – we can't have vengeance either ("the science of revenge;" a 'deadly addiction;' the of psychological "dark triad;" Christianity, Buddhism, and liberalism; "science;" no social systems or political economy here; with Celeste Headley; that new late summer 2025 Australian liberal book on human history and the "dark triad," personified by the political triad they hate, 'psychopath' Putin, 'narcissist' Trump, and 'Machiavellian' Xi, etc. Is Biden 'Machiavellian' and are George W Bush and Netanyahu 'psychopaths?' What are Tony Bair and Keir Starmer? Can you diagnose someone you have never met?).
Israel bombed AP and Reuters reporters at a Gaza hospital and then bombed it again, killing others. The BBC host, Tim Frakes (?) didn't ask a former Israeli soldier about international law when he went on about how Israel has to get Hamas – at every hospital in Gaza, apparently. And Israel even attacked hospitals in a few countries.
NPR went heavy on anti-Trump fear- or scaremongering at the end of August, and WUNC changed its weekend schedule a lot August 30-31. Out of mind? On Saturday – I've already forgotten? – The Sam Saunders Show (?) replaced the culture show at 4pm that Sam Saunders himself founded [ remembered later, did a discussion/interview show replace Sound Opinions at 3pm?]. On Sunday, Ezra Klein's show replaced the TED Radio Hour (?) at 11am, the BBC afternoon news has returned, replacing The Reveal (now connected to Mother Jones magazine) at 4pm, Radio Lab is back, at 7pm, replacing The Moth. What else was there?
Over the top on WNYC's On the Media Saturday, August 30th. I can't believe that Romanian (young?) and Hungarian liberal journalists would think that the very TDS-afflicted (?), sarcastic, and smug (snarky?) On the Media staff are credible.
Trump is bad and threatening, and it does get to me sometimes, but think of what they omit (and the people talking about "fascism" haven't been silenced yet, even just on social media, or gone underground in preparation to fight the new Third Reich). [People make accusations along the line of "fascism denial" on CounterPunch, etc. but ignore the differences and the fact that some things often associated with fascism began under Biden and other Democrats. They talk about "fascism" but aren't acting like they are in imminent personal danger and the solution that many offered was voting for Biden/Harris and then going on with business as usual. If things are so bad that you have to vote for a Biden or Harris, doesn't that indicate that there is a problem with business as usual or even that the 'US left' has failed? The 'left' is so weak and without influence among the people that it had to back a major warmonger who was trying to silence it (and who is apparently a mentally incapacitated dotard), and then his protégé, and the 'left' couldn't make any demands in return for votes. Going back further, one or more Marxist organizations even openly endorsed Obama and working in his post-election organization. There might have been a good argument to vote for Biden, but then what? Organizations weren't calling for even symbolic protests after Biden won or for the "hard left" to vote for someone like Sanders or Williamson in the primaries, but then we have to vote for Biden to keep Trump 2.0 out of the White House, and it is our fault if Trump wins. They didn't organize to remove the rightist Senate Democrats who derailed Biden's alleged grand progressive agenda either. "Vote blue no matter who." I'm mainly talking about organizations with some amount of power, not grassroots individuals. Voting one's conscience is the right of any voter. I'm just writing here quickly and I don't have influence, unlike a well-known activist or a group of people. When people talked about defeating Trump in the streets, it sounded to me like 'vote for Biden,' without openly saying it, voting being the most direct way to 'defeat' Trump if that is your top priority. A revolution in the streets could topple Trump-Vance, but that can't be counted on if Trump is the main problem, and no one on the left seems to be capable of organizing an insurrection. Of course it would be a closely-guarded secret if someone were doing so, and a fascist government and even ordinary bourgeois democracy would try to prevent serious organization of such action, in the open. The large anti-Trump demonstrations in 2025 are being organized by the Democratic Party or connected organizations and are pro-NATO, etc. There is an argument to go where the masses and protests are, but these seem to be Democratic Party events, following that party's talking points. Grassroots Democrats were probably a major part of the anti-war movement under Bush-Cheney, but I have the impression that No Kings, etc. is much more Democratic Party-controlled, though I don't know and it might vary by location. Around the 2nd I read claims that in some places the vast majority of protesters in about June had a negative reaction to pro-Palestinian signs, while Ukrainian flags might have been very welcome. Their issues seems to be Trump and "Trumpism," defending NATO from "MAGA," etc., not the Biden-Trump warmongering, their new cold war, censorship, the bipartisan ballot access denial, climate change (wait for the return of an El Nino climate regime for it get very hot and dry here?), labor rights, etc. Maybe I have changed, but the current organizing explicitly against the 'Trump regime' doesn't motivate me to turn out, though I also haven't done enough regarding anti-war actions either (pro-Democratic Party groups condemned opposition to the US "regime change" effort in Syria and opposition to the US proxy war against Russia, keeping actions minor?). Defeatism to not do more? If I were near a 'blue' protest anyway, I might check it out.] The New Yorker Radio Hour on the 31st went on about the USSR, Stalin, and the importance of condemning both 'right' and 'left totalitarianism' – in talking about Trump, art, and the Kennedy Center. Such a comparison by Remnick, etc. ..... Liberals act like the Palestinians, Iranians, Yemenis, Venezuelans, US labor unions, etc. are powerless before a Trump (or a Biden). Meanwhile the Israel military doesn't have full control of Gaza after nearly two years of war, though they can assassinate journalists, medics, and aid workers. Captured in Gaza [in Zeitoun/Zaytoun, in Gaza City?]? –
They said that Israel assassinated non-Ansar Allah "technocrats" in the government of Yemen. The Yemeni government has arrested local UN staff (11+) in the capital Sana'a and the port of Hodeida, for spying for Israel, and some Yemeni-American woman (Fatima al Sura?) from the Washington Center for Yemeni Studies (I have never heard of this organization) is on the BBC with host Pria Rai (?) to say how Ansar Allah are just 'terrorists,' "paranoid,' doing it for power, copying and working for Iran, etc. On The Palestine Chronicle over the weekend: a plan for joint US, Israeli, and private control of post-ethnic cleansing Gaza was leaked.
September 2nd on the BBC: More anti-China fearmongering and smears with Laura Vicker – China has a big or the biggest navy in the number of ships and builds something like 200% more of whatever than the US, let alone the once formidable UK. I recognize that song from China's Maoist period. As if Japan and the US don't promote their navies with public events, ads, movies, books, videogames, etc. How dare China send ships around Australia like Australia, the US, Japan, etc. send their ships along China's coastline, though the live fire drills might be new. Aren't big, expensive, and crowded naval ships now likely to just be targets for long-range missiles and drones? The Fujian might go into service on the 3rd? Several weeks ago with Laura Vicker – criticism of rare earth mineral mining in China, as if there aren't environmental issues with mines operated by "Western" companies!
They can't let China talk about imperialism – "economic imperialism" in Africa – or a new world order. The pro-China (?) side versus host Rob Young was from SOAS. The Guyana-Venezuela border dispute again.
[September 4th update: The morning of the 2nd or 3rd NPR's Steve Inskeep voiced some skepticism regarding the Trump administration's claim that it had just assassinated 11 Venezuelan drug traffickers ("narcoterrorists") on a boat alleged to have been in international waters at the time. NPR dragged out their warmongering Venezuela correspondent John Otis to undermine "authoritarian" President Maduro while also having Democratic Party-approved disproval of Trump (with Inskeep?) the morning of 3rd. At some point (on All Things Considered on the 3rd?) they did likewise with a correspondent Manuel... [Rueda?], who twice quoted an anti-government Venezuelan immigrant [termed something like a 'human rights activist'] in Miami [?], Florida with a daily podcast; Venezuelan small business [?] people who weren't so vocally anti-government, but were also probably anti-government; [a man from the CSIS on how the naval group allows Trump to 'pressure' Venezuela, or "lob" a few missiles at the "regime;"] etc. [The story was broadcast again, on Here and Now, on the 4th (re-cut?), with the warmongering Scott Tong and softer Rachel Martin (?) [Rachel Young].] As with NPR's coverage of Ba'athist Syria and Iran, no pro-government sources were interviewed, and they rarely quote President Maduro or any other Venezuelan government officials [on NPR or the BBC, though they do seem to be quoting the Venezuelan president more often in 2025 than before, but not with very long clips.] On The World at 3pm on the 3rd they had a story on the German government and Israel, finally explaining Germany's "staatsraison" (spelling? ; they acted like I should know what prime minister Merkel was saying in German few years ago). They interviewed a random (?) Israeli Jewish woman who lives in Germany (Berlin?) and said that she had felt the support of the German authorities at first in 2023, but wouldn't talk in Hebrew on the phone or read a book in Hebrew in public now. She apparently thinks that "pro-Palestinian" equals "pro-Hamas," and I think no pro-Palestinian Germans were interviewed. She cast it as being hated for having been born in Israel, though she wants peace, (only?) for the return of the POWs held in Gaza. Apparently Germany was until recently Israel's second largest weapon supplier. Both the BBC and NPR made brief arguments around the 3rd that Taiwan (as the ROC, under the KMT), not the PRC, had defeated the Japanese and I think the BBC was skeptical about dating the beginning of WWII to before 1939 (on China in WWII, though not on the Communist forces, and the attack on the alleged Venezuelan drug trafficking boat: sonar21.com/donald-trump-authorizes-murder-and-pouts-about-china-russia-and-north-korea/ ). The post-war governments of the US, UK, and EU base themselves, in part, on having won WWII, but they accuse Russia and now China of this, and it is treated as being negative. [In 2023 or 2024 the were claims that Ukraine did more than Russia to defeat Germany in WWII, and that Ukraine was pivotal in outer space as well.]M The morning of the 4th NPR's business bureau rebroadcast a BBC report on a new Texas law banning land/office ownership or long-term renting by Chinese, Russian, Iranian, or North Korean people or entities (such as TikTok?), and it was called racist, though technically it doesn't cover authorized migrants. It does serve the government in vilifying "adversarial" governments and their citizens, though.
"Victory Day Parade in Beijing" (with many photos): cpcml.ca/ITN2025/TI55107.HTM ]
[WUNC aired a story about an anti-war mural removed at UNC only over the holiday weekend? I forget the details, but it was something like, the UNC administration forced Art Department to paint over a pro-Palestinian mural (I assume inside the Hanes Art Center, adjoining UNC's public art museum?) after less than a year, the first time the administration has taken such interest in the Department in 10 years? Free Palestine from brutal, US-NATO-backed occupation, and free UNC from the rule of administrators like Lee Roberts and the rightist Board of Governors? WUNC did not specify who ordered that the mural be removed, but Lee Roberts has ultimate responsibility for what the administration does.]
[A new interview with Lee Roberts, but nothing on the protests? – indyweek.com/news/northcarolina/lee-roberts-long-game/ ]
[On The World September 4th and in RT August 28th (I thought it was about a month ago) – the Finnish air force's controversial symbol, a swastika (Finland was an anti-Russian German ally decades ago and is again today): www.rt.com/news/623644-finland-swastika-flag-nazism/ ]
[All Things Considered or The World on the 4th cast Venezuela as isolated in its region and defenseless against a few US ships (not even including an aircraft carrier). Trinidad & Tobago welcomes Trump's brutal assassination of alleged drug traffickers and wants more bombing, NPR claimed. I read that most South American drug trafficking north is along the Pacific coastline, not through the Caribbean, and someone brought up the question of where is the US Coast Guard? Off China or Iran? NPR condemns Trump for some things, such as the military parade in June, searching John Bolton's house, the ICE raids, wanting to take control of Greenland, etc., and portrays him as a would be dictator, yet they encourage his foreign adventures and are for devoting ever more funding to the "national security state." The mainstream media liked his thrests against DPR Korea years ago, and now they cast attacking Venezuela as easy and a good idea, like their propaganda and fantasy several weeks ago that the government of Iran could be overthrown by a little Israeli bombing. It might be possible, but they acted like it was likely. They ask little if anything about what Iran's missiles did to Israel, or what years of war are doing. They still take what the Israeli government says seriously, as if the Israeli government isn't constantly covering things up. And when NPR's warmongering talk leads to bloodshed and disaster, they can pretend that they were misled and cover up their responsibility in softening up public opinion for war. They platform pacifist tactics for just about everything else, but not with the US government and NATO.]
September 12th: [The topic on NPR's On Point at 1pm on Thursday, September 11th was Trump and "Stalinism," but I didn't hear it. A few months ago both NPR and China's 21st century capitalist roaders in academia were comparing Trump to Mao. It is a big insult to compare these great figures from the history to Trump, who changes his positions constantly, can't be negotiated with reliably, and is presiding over the decline of the US, ignoring the issue of what class they each served. The morning of the 10th or 9th (?) on Morning Edition Leila Faldil (?) luridly set up her interview with a woman from the Republic of Georgia – after idle talk (from their correspondent Mainz in Germany?) about Russia's 'hybrid war tactics' against Poland, using those downtrodden immigrants the Democratic Party loves so much here (and not at all when they are still in Venezuela or in a small boat in the Caribbean – being for EU accession as soon as possible is the dividing line between "democracy" and evil, the NPR host said, but the Georgian Dream Party turned to the dark side. I turned it off. The pro-EU/US Georgian compradors were over the top, like many pro-government/pro-war Israelis, on the BBC earlier in 2025. Maybe it was on the 10th or 11th when Inskeep, speaking with Mainz, concluded that Russian drones can reach Poland from Russia (not from Belarus or a pro-western Ukraine false flag operation?), if they were found in Poland, and it was done because of Russia's evil intentions. On NPR, nothing the Russian government says can be admitted to be true. Nothing about great US ally Latvia expelling (illegally rendering stateless?) its citizens who aren't proficient enough in Latvian. Little on NPR about the suppression of pro-Palestine free speech in the UK and no coverage of the crackdowns in several EU countries, Canada, and Australia. Maybe I will have to try anti-Ba'athist Syria Democracy Now! again, many years after I dropped it. Whatever happened to the also 'soft' Free Speech Radio News, also on NCCU's 90.7 FM at the beginning of the 2000's?]
[Hear from NPR's "domestic extremism" correspondent Oudette Yousef (?) on the morning of the 12th... And some academic (Robert Pate, of the University of Chicago) on 'violent populism' (not yet) or something, on both NPR and the BBC, or is he speaking 'right now' on Morning Edition (yes)? It is about major [radical?] 'social change' or 'upheaval,' and he means racial change. Since when is the beginning of a non-white majority in the US predicted to begin in a mere 10-15 years? The last I heard it was predicted to begin later than 2040 now, and a non-white majority of voters wouldn't begin for many years beyond that (2060??). ["Shock" at Trump's immigration policies on the Democratic Party 'left;" many "liked" the decline of the "non-Hispanic white" proportion of the US population, he said, though Latinos considered white and maybe elite south of the border become "brown" here. Venezuela's rightist Juan Guaido (?)?] Not a word about "globalization," "free trade," the "Global War on Terror," the new two or more-sided cold war, climate change, "our democracy," our geriatric Congress and presidency, the crushing of labor, the Great Recession, the lockdowns, the Federal Reserve, semi-open borders, poverty, etc. [Shaming, they said.] Some academic with Fresh Air's Tanya Moseley (?) around the evening of the 10th on how safe our elections are, except for Trump and the Republicans, though they tried to seem non-partisan. The morning of the 12th the BBC gave a Brazilian rightist a long and soft interview on the allegedly unfair treatment of Bolsonaro (?), but I don't remember the BBC being so friendly to Brazilian or other Latin American leftis allegedly targeted for "lawfare." Typhus, they say, and in Texas... ]
[Inskeep blaming the left (but = "Democrats") for violence in 2025 and onward. Did Yousef even say that? She said that white supremacists were the biggest source of violence historically. It sounded a lot like a former assistant secretary of homeland security was saying that they need to catch the Utah perpetrator quickly, because his freedom gives hope to anti-government elements, which must be crushed. They crushed non-violent pro-Palestine demonstrations and free speech across the "West"... On the other hand, now the elite is talking about the real "Years of Lead" instead of "(slow) civil war." Internal and foreign elements are fomenting division, she says. The right tried to make it a felony to approve an immigrant sanctuary law in Tennessee.]
[In my area, the new Democratic Party-led Resistance, or part of it, says to leave an area if the police command. What if the police are trying to violate your free speech rights, and don't have a legal reason to order you to vacate the area? I think they tried to do that in Chapel Hill around 20 years ago.
Trump claimed on the morning of the 12th that the alleged shooter has been captured (a pastor convinced him to surrender? [NPR and the BBC disagree on whether it was voluntary]).
NPR called the two US-backed wars and Hitler (?) unrelated to the trial of the man who allegedly tried to assassinate Trump in Florida a year ago? Following a ruling??]
[A younger, American professor Peter Dalick (?) on the BBC on the 12th on the current moment.]
[Shaming 10-11 am.
I think the public comment periods regarding the SSEP, roads on Federal public lands, etc. end soon; Carolina Wetland Association and NC State Park surveys.]
[On the Global Sumud Flotilla to relieve Gaza: masarbadil.org/en/2025/09/6816/
Masar Badil salutes the port workers and labor movements in Genoa and Athens: masarbadil.org/en/2025/09/6810/
Marked in Lebanon – "On Monday, 1 September, an international day of media action and solidarity with journalists targeted for assassination by the Zionist regime as part of its genocide in Gaza" – samidoun.net/2025/09/beirut-event-stands-in-solidarity-with-assassinated-and-imprisoned-palestinian-journalists/
Political prisoner hunger striking in the UK: samidoun.net/2025/08/call-to-action-political-prisoners-for-palestine-on-hunger-strike-from-britain-to-the-u-s/
Pro-Palestinian speech in Brazil: samidoun.net/2025/08/against-the-attempt-to-silence-palestine-week-in-salvador-brazil/ ]
Upcoming protests:
Week of action in Canada this week, from September 2nd:
[Demand that the Canada Revenue Agency stop subsidizing genocide (there are events around the country September 2nd-5th, the UN International Day of Charity): bdscoalition.ca/2025/08/29/cra-registered-actions/
March to Ottawa September 15-19th "Canada is not neutral in the Gaza genocide." – www.marchtoottawa.com/
actionnetwork.org/letters/hands-off-venezuela ]
Flood the UN General Assembly for Gaza September 23rd in New York City:
Sent out the morning of August 22nd:
- Issue a statement to better inform the peoples of the Caribbean about U.S. aggression: the deployment of U.S. military resources in the southern Caribbean and the threat to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; the revocation of visas of CARICOM government ministers due to the presence of Cuban medical brigades in our countries; the intensification of the illegal and illegitimate blockade of Cuba; and the deployment of mercenaries to Haiti.
- Call on CARICOM governments to stand firm in defending the sovereignty of the region and its status as a zone of peace;
- Call on the peoples of the Caribbean, including those in the diaspora, to participate in actions of collective solidarity and to demonstrate our opposition to the warmongering of the United States;
- Organize a regional press conference to achieve these objectives.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 28, 2025
media [at adc org]
Washington, D.C. | A new Quinnipiac University poll shows that a majority of Americans believe Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza, and oppose continued U.S. military aid. The findings are clear: 77% of Democrats believe Israel is committing genocide, and six in ten U.S. voters say Washington should stop sending weapons to Israel—the highest share since Quinnipiac began tracking the issue in 2023. Furthermore, a recent Economist/YouGov survey reported that 80% of those polled support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, while a Gallup poll showed that 59% of Democrats now say they are more sympathetic to Palestinians, compared to only 21% who say they are more sympathetic to Israelis.
Despite overwhelming data, on Tuesday, the DNC blocked votes on resolutions calling for a weapons embargo on Israel and a ceasefire in Gaza— both measures widely supported by Democratic voters.
“Democratic voters are not divided on this question; party leaders are,” said Abed Ayoub, ADC National Executive Director. “When an overwhelming majority of Democrats support a ceasefire in Gaza, there is no divide—there is a definitive consensus. To cancel a vote under the guise of unity is hypocrisy. The only division is between the DNC leadership and the voters they claim to represent.”
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) condemns the Democratic National Committee for killing a resolution calling on the U.S. to halt arms sales to Israel. Rather than allowing a full vote on the arms embargo, the committee advanced a weaker resolution that paired calls for a ceasefire with language reaffirming U.S. military support for Israel. That resolution was later withdrawn, with DNC Chair Ken Martin announcing it would be sent to a task force for further discussion. Party leaders described the move as a gesture toward “unity.” In reality, it was an effort to delay confronting a hard truth: Democratic leadership is bending to the will of its donors and outside pressure groups rather than listening to the will of their voters.
“Leadership means catching up to your voters before they give up on you,” added Ayoub. “Time and again, the DNC has made clear it fears its donors more than it respects its base. A ceasefire and an end to unconditional weapons transfers are not controversial among Democrats—they are overwhelmingly popular demands.”
ADC calls on the DNC to respect its members and its voters by holding a vote on both the weapons embargo and ceasefire resolutions. Anything less is a betrayal of democratic principles and a dangerous signal that party leaders care more about donor appeasement than the conscience of their base.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 24, 2025
media [at adc org]
Washington, D.C. | The American‑Arab Anti‑Discrimination Committee (ADC) condemns Israel’s violent invasion and ground assault on Gaza City and surrounding towns. Tanks and warplanes have pounded neighborhoods including Zeitoun, Shejaiya, and Sabra as Israeli leaders vow to seize the city, even as international agencies confirm famine conditions there. This invasion is tearing through a population already pushed to the brink by displacement, siege, and starvation– a gross violation of U.S. and international law and a moral catastrophe of historic scale.
Famine, mass displacement, and bombardment are converging on a population trapped without safe exit or care. Israel claims it targets fighters, not civilians. Yet, a joint investigation based on Israel’s own internal military intelligence database confirms that 83% of those killed in Gaza are civilians, a figure that exposes the enormity of this atrocity and contradicts repeated official claims. Despite the Gaza Health Ministry recording over 62,000 deaths and more than 157,000 wounded, credible research—including analysis published in The Lancet—warns the true toll is far higher, with tens of thousands of bodies still trapped under rubble and unaccounted for.
In leaked audio aired on Israel’s Channel 12, Aharon Haliva, former head of military intelligence, chillingly declared: “The fact that there are already 50,000 dead in Gaza is necessary and required for future generations. For each [victim] on 7 October, 50 Palestinians have to die … There’s no choice, they need a Nakba every now and then to feel the consequences.” [This is what it sounded like they let a guest journalist defend or excuse on 1A's Friday News Roundup on NPR around the 29th or 22nd, without any "push back."]
These admissions reveal not just reckless disregard for human life but an intentional policy of ethnic cleansing. ADC has long affirmed that, since the Nakba of 1948, Israel’s central objective has been the systematic elimination of Palestinians—an agenda made possible only through continued U.S. support and complicity. This staggering civilian death rate places Gaza among the worst genocides in modern history, a deliberate campaign of mass killing and starvation against a besieged population.
The invasion of Gaza City is the latest development in their unabetted extermination campaign. Israel’s leaders have made clear this genocide is the deliberate destruction of Palestinian life. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich openly demanded harsher measures against Palestinians who remain, stating: “Whoever doesn’t evacuate [Gaza City], don’t let them. No water, no electricity – let them die of hunger or surrender. This is what we want, and you’re [IDF] capable of doing it.”
These chilling words expose the genocidal intent behind Israel’s actions.
Since Israel tightened its blockade on Gaza in March, Palestinians on the ground have consistently reported widespread famine—yet only now have so-called ‘reputable’ international bodies acknowledged it. This delay is a true travesty. On Friday, the world’s leading food crisis ‘authority,’ The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), finally declared a phase 5 catastrophic famine in Gaza. Nearly one-third of Gaza’s population, 641,000 people, face starvation, destitution, and death, while another 1.14 million are in phase 4 emergency conditions. Food supplies have collapsed: 87% of UN aid trucks were intercepted in July, bakeries shuttered, wheat flour prices have soared 3,400% since February, and families are scavenging through rubble for food. The IPC’s Famine Review Committee warns this crisis is “entirely man-made” and that avoidable deaths will rise exponentially without a ceasefire.
ADC calls on President Trump to use the full weight of U.S. power to end this genocide immediately; we demand an immediate halt to all U.S. military aid to Israel, because there can be no meaningful ceasefire while weapons continue to flow; we insist that all crossings and points of entry be opened at once so UN‑managed humanitarian assistance can move freely and at scale to every part of Gaza; and we demand full accountability, under U.S. and international law, for every official and entity responsible for this genocide and for those enabling it– an eternal stain on the United States and on all who support this genocide.
Americans have had enough of their taxpayer dollars funding this horrific genocide – we must hold accountable every official who has supported Israel’s actions. ADC, together with our hundreds of thousands of members, will work to ensure these individuals never return to power.
U.S. complicity must end now.
Originally posted at: adc.org/breakingca/ [They argued on NPR that we need for more California Democrats in Congress...]
BREAKING: California Lawmakers Advance Costly SB 771 in Closed-Door Session; Impose “Israel Tax” on Financially Strapped Constituents
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 29, 2025
media [at adc org]
Washington, D.C. | Earlier today a small group of compromised lawmakers in California secretly advanced Senate Bill 771 which, if passed, will infringe on the First Amendment Rights of all Americans. In an undemocratic process, the lawmakers made the decision in a closed-door session to shield them from public accountability and scrutiny.
California lawmakers advanced Senate Bill 771 (Stern), stripping Californians of their constitutionally protected free-speech rights while bowing to the demands of the powerful pro-Israel lobby— the latest “Israel Tax” lawmakers have imposed on already financially strapped constituents. This corrupt process marks a direct assault on democracy and a betrayal of every Californian who expects transparency, fairness, and constitutional protections from their elected officials.
ADC condemns this blatant abuse of power. Lawmakers are selling out the people of California to satisfy well-funded lobbyists, sacrificing free expression and saddling taxpayers with the staggering costs of inevitable litigation. SB 771 is not about safety or equity. It is about silencing dissent, consolidating power, and protecting special interests at the expense of the public good.
“This is a corrupt, backwards process,” said ADC National Executive Director, Abed Ayoub. “Lawmakers have advanced unconstitutional legislation in secret – without public oversight – to satisfy lobby groups instead of serving their constituents. Californians deserve better than this power-abusing charade. SB 771 is an Israel tax.”
The facts are clear:
- The bill undermines constitutional free speech rights and editorial discretion, directly conflicting with Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
- It creates a climate of fear where social media companies will over-censor legitimate political discussion to avoid lawsuits.
- It exposes California taxpayers to litigation costs with penalties ranging from $500,000 to $1,000,000 per case—an absurd burden for a state already facing a $20 billion deficit.
ADC and its coalition of nearly 60 organizations demand that legislators reverse course. Californians must not be forced to pay the price (financially or democratically) for a corrupt system that prioritizes special interests over the Constitution. This closed-door process strips Californians of their rights, drains public resources, and threatens to silence marginalized voices, including Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian communities. It is an affront to democracy, and we will not stand by while our communities are targeted.
Read ADC’s full position paper here.
[Originally posted at: www.veteransforpeace.org/pressroom/news/2025/08/25/ice-kidnaps-disabled-army-veteran [See also: www.KeepZahidHome.org and the Substack (new post September 4th): melissa4congress.substack.com/p/countering-the-smear-campaign-against ]
ICE Kidnaps Disabled Army Veteran
[Group photo]
Veterans For Peace calls on the Department of Homeland Security to immediately free Zahid so he can rejoin his family and continue his work in the community.
We urge our members and supporters to stand with Zahid by:
- Signing this petition for his release. bit.ly/FreeZahid
- Sending a letter to your representative and senators. Click here to send a letter to your congressional leader.
- Staying in the loop through this website, learn more about Zahid, and how you can hel
- Sharing widely with your networks.
To whom it may concern, and thank you for your interest:
Introduction and summary:
My husband Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry, or “Zahid” to those who know him, is an Honorable, Decorated, disabled American veteran in a wheelchair due to injuries sustained in service to our country. He has a natural-born American wife and two American citizen children, ages 2yrs and 8mos. He served in both the US Army and the National Guard, and also served as a volunteer firefighter and paramedic in Yakima, WA prior to his injuries.
Since becoming disabled, he’s devoted himself to benefitting the community every way he can. He’s served on dozens of boards supporting local nonprofits; he’s sought-after by major foundations for his input on how to best award grants to serve diverse communities; he’s given sermons in Christian, Quaker, Muslim, and Unitarian Universalist congregations; and he’s founded multiple nonprofits including Veterans Suicide Prevention, Sustainability Conservancy, and People of Color Community Coalition. He’s a brother Mason, and has served as a father/mentor figure to American youth in the Demolay program for character development and leadership. He has renovated blighted homes, repaired people’s vehicles for free, and arranged to prevent eviction of struggling families. He is a renowned advocate for peace and serves as President of the Veterans for Peace, South Sound Chapter (Rachel Corrie Chapter). He is an honorable and upstanding resident in every way, who by statutory (legal, inarguable) right, should have been naturalized as an American citizen all the way back in 2004. He has always come to the United States legally, and he has never committed a crime here.
Zahid joined the US Army prior to 9/11, out of genuine patriotism and a desire to serve the nation he loved. He was described by his officers as an “exemplary soldier” with “leadership potential.” After 9/11, he was activated for Operation Iraqi Freedom and sustained severe injuries while deployed. By this time, due to his specialization in mental health (a prerequisite to counterintelligence work), he was sought after by intelligence agencies, who offered him great pay and benefits in exchange for his cooperation. He found that cooperation violated his moral principles. He was unwilling to just “give a name” and throw an innocent person to the wolves, as he saw it…and so he was told, very directly, that they’d make his life hell, and his citizenship wouldn’t be forthcoming.
He has now suffered through decades of legal persecution that seems to have been undertaken with the sole goal of bankrupting and silencing him. Government lawyers have spared no expense in going after him with threats of deportation based on spurious grounds. There is a well-documented policy in the Department of Homeland Security, going back over two decades, called CARRP - which is designed to cause indeterminate delays and pretextual denials (resulting in deportation) to aspiring Americans who are Muslim (or perceived to be Muslim) and who are highly capable people. CARRP has entrapped over 50,000 hardworking, law-abiding people who did everything right. According to the government’s own records, made public in the Motion for Summary Judgment filed in June/July 2024 in Wagafe v. Biden, at least 18 people have had their applications for naturalization stuck in limbo - with no pathway to resolution and no opportunity to even know what “concerns” need to be addressed - for over 20 years. According to government documents revealed during the course of Zahid’s case, he is one.
He’s also been subjected in court to the attentions of Raphael Sanchez and Jonathan Love, two ICE Attorneys - Seattle Chief and Deputy Chief, at the time - who were since criminally convicted of crimes committed against immigrants in their official capacity. It was deeply unusual for attorneys of such high position to be personally involved in a case like Zahid’s - and one of those men was convicted of stealing the identities of immigrants he deported and using them to open credit card accounts, claim them as dependents on his tax returns, and more. He targeted immigrants with high credit scores, and Zahid has always been unusually financially responsible.
Through all this - the physical injuries and disability, the legal persecution, the near-bankruptcy due to attorney costs, etc – Zahid has remained faithful to his principles and committed to his oath to protect and serve the Constitution of the United States of America. He has over 100 letters of support published on his website from community members, fellow veterans, members of the clergy of four different faiths, even elected officials up to and including US Senators. He has always and only sought what he was duly entitled to - citizenship, which he has rightfully earned many times over. He is eligible for citizenship by marriage and fatherhood, as well as long-term peaceful residence, but he claims his right by military service. He has already sworn an oath to protect and defend this country, and broken his body in service to that oath. Veterans are eligible for immediate, expedited naturalization, and Zahid deserves no less.
That is what he is claiming. No more, and no less, than his earned right.
If they disappear my husband today, this is why. The briefings have been completed in his case in the 9th District Court of Appeals, and the Court has ordered that a panel of judges be convened to hear the merits of his Motion for Summary Judgment - laying out the facts of his case and showing how he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. This move - remanding to the panel - usually indicates that the court sees merit in the arguments of the SJM. Such a move would be perceived by opposing counsel as a precursor to them losing in court.
They started issuing interview notices for this naturalization interview on August 5th, the same hour that order was filed in the PACER system (online court records). Responding to military N400s (naturalization applications) that they had sat on for years with no movement.
Further background can be found in the following pages. Melissa Chaudhry can be reached at chaudhry4congress [at gmail com] and at 206-271-2240.
Easy Links for Quick Research
ACLU-SOCAL about CARRP unconstitutional delay and denial of due process:
Overview (quick 5m intro video)
Report (excellent 2-page executive summary)
Case page with filings (Wagafe v. Biden) throughout the past 12 years, for deeper research
Number of people who’ve been “CARRP’d” without recourse for more than 20 years:
Page 26 of 61, in the Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment:
Zahid’s personal biography (timeline structure):
y.Biographical Timeline-KeepZahidHome.pdf
Archival website documenting Zahid’s case:
Main page - “Keep Zahid Home”
Letters of support (Cantwell, Murray, Zahid’s recruiter, community members, clergy, family, friends, etc.)
Current website for situation updates:
https://keepzahidhome.carrd.co/
www.substack.com/Melissa4Congress
Current 9th Circuit Case Briefings:
Motion for Summary Judgment, filed May 2025
Explaining why there’s no doubt Zahid is eligible for citizenship.
Responding to their brief and clearly arguing why they’re operating in bad faith.
Family Photos
Family photos follow. All may be used in press without further permissions needed:
[...]
[UNAC held a webinar – Troops Out of Our Cities! ICE Out of Our Communities! – at 1pm on September 7th and a rally in solidarity with Venezuela and the rest of Latin America September 6th at 1pm at the Simón Bolívar Statue at 59th Street and 6th Avenue in New York City.]
[Lights out for migrating birds at night September 10th-November 30th and March 15th-May 30th: nc.audubon.org/conservation/lights-out-north-carolina ]
[The Blake Society's webinar "Philip Hoare: William Blake and the Sea Monsters of Love" was September 10th 19-20:30 in the UK.]
[Grasshopper Farms' corn maze will open September 13th; they even offer "gemstone mining" and many other activities; in Knightdale, NC (at 8004 Poole Road) – www.grasshopperfarmsnc.com
[Professor Grover Furr will speak in an ICSS webinar – "Why Did the USSR Collapse? The Conspiracy of Gorbachev" – September 14th: icssmarx.org/why-did-the-ussr-collapse-grover-furr-september-14-2025-1030-am-pacific-time/
On Zoom: us06web.zoom.us/j/87388824824?pwd=QTWNvr8cGeGo1ZDW7x9Y8W0sDaNxRc.1 ]
[The Plant NC's 18th annual Pepperfest is coming up September 14th, 12-6pm in Pittsboro: www.theplantnc.com/pepperfest ]
[See the mass evening gatherings of chimney swifts as they begin their fall migration to South America at a Swift Night Out in Asheville, Durham, Fuquay-Varina, Greensboro, Raleigh, UNC-Chapel Hill (at the massive, hollow Davie Poplar, though I have seen them spiraling in to roost elsewhere along East Franklin Street as well), Wilkesboro, and Winston-Salem September 14-30th: nc.audubon.org/news/you’re-invited-witness-magic-swift-migration ]
[There will be a Friends of the Durham Library book sale September 26-27th: fodlnc.org/events/ There was a pop-up DVD (?) sale recently. There will be a Friends of the Chatham Community Library book sale September 18-20th in Pittsboro: friendsccl.org/page-1075199 ]
[The Sun Day protest will be September 21st, also the annual International Day of Peace, with the theme "Act Now for a Peaceful World" – www.un.org/en/observances/international-day-peace ]
[I think there will be a week of action for Palestine prior to the march in New York City on September 23rd.]
[The NC Museum of Natural Sciences' Bugfest 2025 will be Saturday, September 20th 10am-7pm in downtown Raleigh; this year's theme is "krill and marine decapods" – naturalsciences.org/calendar/bugfest/ ]
[From The Blake Society:
"William Blake's Vision of a New Jerusalem in Kings Cross: a guided walk with Aidan Andrew Dun" will be Saturday September 13th 1:45-4:30pm; meet at Granary Square, Kings Cross, N1C 4AA in London, UK.
A webinar "Infinite Liberty: Georges Bataille reading Blake in Postwar France" with Stuart Kendall, will be Wednesday, October 8th, 19:30 - 21:00 in the UK.
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell will be published by Tate Publishing this November.
The exhibit "William Blake: Burning Bright" is on display at the Yale Center for British Art through Sunday, November 30, 2025 in the third-floor galleries; admission is free.]
[From Monocle magazine's July 12th email newsletter:
"Takahata Isao Exhibition: The Man who Planted Japanese Animation" at the Azabudai Hills Gallery in Japan through September 15th; Takahata ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isao_Takahata ) is known for movie such as Grave of the Fireflies (1988), The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013), etc.: www.azabudai-hills.com/azabudaihillsgallery/sp/isaotakahata-ex/en/
"Birds, Birds, and Birds: All Sorts of Fujimoto Yoshimichi’s White Porcelain with Overglaze Enamels" at the Kikuchi Kanjitsu Memorial Tomo Museum (in Toranomon, Tokyo?) through September 28th: www.musee-tomo.or.jp/en/current_exhibition.html
"The Architecture of Sou Fujimoto: Primordial Future Forest" at the Mori Art Museum through November 9th: www.mori.art.museum/en/exhibitions/soufujimoto/ A Monocle interview wiith Fujimoto, from Hokkaido: monocle.com/design/architecture/interview-sou-fujimoto/ On Sou Fujimoto: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sou_Fujimoto ]
[For more upcoming events, see: durhamspark.blogspot.com/2025/07/deep-river-riverkeeper-founded-upcoming.html and I plan to add more here or in future posts.]
[Fall Astronomy Day 2025 is September 27th: astronomyday.astroleague.org
Observe the Moon Night 2025 is October 4th.
Upcoming star parties: is.gd/star_parties
The Okie-Texas Star Party will be September 19-27th in Kenton, Oklahoma: Okie-Tex.com
Chiefland AstroFest will be October 17th-23rd at Chiefland Astronomy Village in Florida: ChieflandAstro.com/AstroFest
Novac Star Gaze will be October 18th at CM Crockett Park in Virginia: is.gd/NOVACSG25
Peach State Star Gaze will be October 19-26th in Deerlick Astronomy Village in Georgia: atlantaastronomy.org/pssg
The Eldorado Star Party will be October 20-25th in Eldorado, Texas: eldoradostarparty.org
Deep South Star Gaze will be November 18th-23rd in Norwood, Louisiana: stargazing.net/DSRSG ]
]Venus was near the Beehive star cluster (M44) around September 1st, in the morning, and near the star delta Cancri on the 2nd. Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter were lined up on the 1st, and Mercury was near the star Regulus on the 2nd. There was a total lunar eclipse on the 7th, but it wasn't visible on this side of the Atlantic. The Moon was somewhat close to Saturn on the 8th, but I didn't see it. On the 12th the Moon will appear near the Pleiades.
Early in the evening on the 13th, or September 12-14th, Mars will appear near the star Spica, sort of southwest. The Moon will appear very close to the star Elnath, between Taurus and Auriga later on the 14th. From Oklahoma, Texas, Mexico, etc. west the Moon will occult Elnath: is.gd/betatau
The Moon will join Jupiter in Gemini on the 16th. Zodiacal light is visible from dark locations in mid-September.
The Moon, Venus, and Regulus will appear very close together the morning of September 19th. From northern Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and elsewhere in Europe the Moon will occlude Venus.
There will be a partial solar eclipse on the.21st, but only near New Zealand.
Saturn will reach opposition on the 21st, and Neptune, in the same area of the sky, will reach opposition on the 23rd.
The Moon will be near the star Antares on the 27th.
Saturn will move from Pisces into Aquarius on the 29th.
Mercury will be an "evening star" in early October.
– From Sky and Telescope and Astronomy magazines.
[September 12th: I saw a large dragonfly on the 6th, a warmer day, and a small, bright yellow and black dragonfly on the 5th. Tickseed started blooming here by about the 7th, but maybe I missed them on the 6th or earlier. One or more pileated woodpeckers have been around, but one was here, in a large sweetgum tree, around the afternoon of the 9th. When one was here earlier it was foraging in the loblolly pines, such as on a bare, dead branch, in early or mid-morning. The small birds got upset over something, or nothing, in a post oak one cool, cloudy evening weeks ago. There has been a little rain, but leaves are falling and it looks like a drought; I think has been warmer but not that sunny, in general. Usually early September is very sunny, dry, and warm or even hot, at least during the day, and feels like part of summer, which I think of as beginning in May (with the 90's, and cicadas, etc.) and ending in mid-September. This year it subjectively felt like the summer ended with August. Yellowjackets are looking for honeydew this week? Persimmons, and probably Bartlett (?) pears are falling nearby, but usually in yards, etc. Muscadines and other wild grapes also, but again, finding a plant not 'under watch' can be hard, though I don't think very many (hardly anyone) people here appreciate the wild fruits they own, and even the wildlife doesn't eat everything that falls, at least near roads. Pawpaws are probably still falling in the public gamelands, guarded by poison ivy and mosquitoes? It hasn't been a very good year for the blue dayflowers here, despite the rain earlier. Their red and black leaf beetles are around, as are the 16-spotted ladybugs. Small sicklepods began flowering, with orange flowers, weeks ago. A large species of knotweed with tiny, but delicate white flowers began blooming before 6th? Asian camellias can seed in Cary (up in Hemlock Bluffs!), and even here. Peppervine fruit have been ripening. I don't know yet if birds eat them. I saw a female flycatcher (?) on the 1st. Mature (?) green and reddish-brown or red small grasshoppers are in the withering Japanese stilt grass. A gama grass had some late flowers. Indian grass and zebra grass will flower soon. Trifoliate oranges are kind of bright yellow, but mottled. Some cicadas called on warmer days and I found a dead female and a male, but only the two. There are also almost bright red crickets. The very dark brown and yellow leafhoppers are still around. A few red roses, elephant's foot, various Ipomoea, white Convolvulus, red Canna, etc. Pink Spirea flowered again, but then it got very dry?? Asian beautyberries ripen bright purple before the native ones? Hickory nuts are ripening. Many butterflies around now, but not here (not enough flowers or habitat? Katydids are still calling at night, but of course not the gray treefrogs, though some frogs do call, quietly, in fall. Rudbeckia (spelling?) is flowering. Catbirds are still around?]
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