Newsletter 6.5.18

Hi all, 

Appreciate the support as always. Here's this week's newsletter. Live Show episode coming out tomorrow so look out for it and thanks again to all those who dropped by! 

-- Nima, Adam and Florence 

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An Immigration Lawyer Explains What’s Really Happening with Family Separation - Sarah Jaffe, In These Times (6/4/18)

There's been lots of confusion lately over viral immigration stories––Eve Stotland, director of legal services at The Door, A Center of Alternatives in New York City, helps sort it all out.

We’ve Been Fighting The Drug War For 50 Years. So Why Aren’t We Winning? - Zachary A. Siegel, The Appeal (6/2/18)

Ignore the somewhat pollyannaish headline, this is a great breakdown on the history of the war on drugs.

Burying the One-State Solution in Palestine/Israel - Gregory Shupak, FAIR (6/1/18)

While the notion of forming a single state for all citizens in Palestine/Israel is gaining traction, media coverage holds fast to the conventional wisdom that the only possible scenarios to end the 70-year-long impasse are either the two-state solution or the continued regime of Israeli occupation and apartheid.

Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education Get Sued for Abandoning Discrimination Complaints - Angela Helm, The Root (6/3/18)

The NAACP is once again taking it to the courts, this time filing a federal lawsuit against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and her Department of Education for abandoning civil-rights-enforcement regulations and dismissing hundreds of complaints.

How the NFL Players’ Union Can Block the League’s New Ban on Protests - Kathy Wilkes, In These Times (6/1/18)

An excellent breakdown of the legal and labor tactics professional football players can take in order to tackle their league’s latest assault on free speech.

WaPo Editors: We Have to Help Destroy Yemen to Save It - Adam Johnson, FAIR (5/31/18)

The Washington Post editorial board has mastered the art of feigning humanitarian outrage over Yemen while insisting the US continue supporting Saudi bombing of it. 

Indigenous Women Have Been Disappearing for Generations. Politicians Are Finally Starting to Notice. - Alleen Brown, The Intercept (5/31/18)

No one actually knows how many Indigenous women and girls are murdered or go missing every year. Do politicians have the will to grapple with the crisis?

Puerto Rico’s devastation takes a backseat to Roseanne coverage - Pete Vernon, Columbia Journalism Review (5/31/18)

A recent study found that the U.S. government’s official death toll in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria, the storm that devastated the island last summer, under-counted the fatalities by a factor of 70. But the media didn’t care, because Roseanne Barr said some more racist shit and was fired by a TV station. (More on this from Vox and The Washington Post.)

In Unanimous Vote, House Says No Legal Right to Attack Iran - Marjorie Cohn, truthout (6/4/18)

With the Trump administration gunning for Iran, a little noticed amendment added to the new defense budget by a number of Congress members explicitly denies any legal authorization to the president to use military force against Iran.

With More Gaza Protests Planned, Don’t Believe the Mainstream Media’s Lies - Tamara Nassar In These Times (6/1/18)

Nassar goes talking point by talking point, batting down the media's cheap narratives surrounding Gaza protests

Democrats Set to Re-Nominate Sen. Bob Menendez After Preventing Challengers, Showing How Calcified the Party Is - Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept (6/4/18) 

An corrupt Senator basically no one likes is being anointed by the Democratic Party, showing leadership has learned almost nothing from 2016. 

The ‘Masterpiece Cakeshop’ Decision Is Not As Harmless as You Think - Sarah Posner, The Nation (6/4/18)

A breakdown of what the Supreme Court ruling could mean for LGBTQ rights moving forward.

Hidden Horrors of “Zero Tolerance” — Mass Trials and Children Taken From Their Parents - Debbie Nathan, The Intercept (5/29/18)

All along the border, immigrants coming into the U.S. — even those applying for asylum at ports of entry — have had their children removed from them.

How Do You Get Off the US “Kill List”? - Marjorie Cohn, truthout (5/29/18)

What do you do if the U.S. government has marked you for extrajudicial execution?

Narco-Corruption, ISIS 3.0, and the Terror Drone Attack That Never Happened - Nick Turse, TomDispatch (5/29/18)

We can always count on investigative reporter Nick Turse to tell us dystopian tales of what the Pentagon is up to. 

These States Don’t Want the Electoral College to Determine the Next US President - s.e. Smith, care2 (5/24/18)

Imagine a nation where one person-one vote actually meant something. The fight for electing American presidents by popular vote is gaining support, but there’s still a long way to go before 2020.

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