Monthly Archives: December 2018

The 3 Trigger Terms Being Used to Stop Critical Thinking

 

By Sigmund Fraud. Published 8-16-2018 by Waking Times

It’s a strange world of newspeak we live in. What was once a society devoted to logic and progress is now being herded in echo chambers of thought control and anti-critical thinking. Without the ability to examine an issue impartially and completely there is little hope of maintaining liberty and freedom, as history repeatedly demonstrated.

Today, we find that thinking is a diminishing art, and in its place, sound bites and stop-thought terms are used to put the brakes on the mind. These terms are widely used as signals to prevent minds from looking too deeply at a topic or issue. Continue reading

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10 Costliest Climate-Driven Extreme Weather Events of 2018 Caused at Least $84.8B in Damage: Analysis

“The world’s weather is becoming more extreme before our eyes—the only thing that can stop this destructive trend from escalating is a rapid fall in carbon emissions.”

By Jessica Corbett, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 12-28-2018

The Camp and Woolsey fires in California cost at least $9-13 billion in damage, according to a Christian Aid report published Thursday. (Photo: U.S. Forest Service)

From heat waves and hurricanes to fires and floods, the 10 costliest extreme weather events of 2018—driven by the global climate crisis—killed thousands of people and caused at least $84.8 billion in damage, according to a new analysis from Christian Aid.

Counting the Cost: A Year of Climate Breakdown(pdf), published Thursday by the London-based group, notes that “extreme weather hit every populated continent in 2018, killing, injuring, and displacing millions, and causing major economic damage.” Continue reading

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Facebook’s Secret Censorship Manual Exposed as Platform Takes Down Video About Israel Terrorizing Palestinians

Journalist Rania Khalek, whose video was restored after public outcry, says the ability of social media giants “to disappear content as they please” is “creepy and alarming and should be loudly opposed.”

By Jessica Corbett, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 12-28-2018

The New York Times on Thursday published a report on Facebook’s censorship policies.(Photo: Legal Loop)

After the New York Times on Thursday published an exposé of Facebook‘s global censorship rulebook, journalist Rania Khalek called out the social media giant for taking down a video in which she explains how, “on top of being occupied, colonized territory, Palestine is Israel’s personal laboratory for testing, refining, and showcasing methods and weapons of domination and control.”

Tweeting out the Times report—and noting that while, according to the newspaper, “moderators were told to hunt down and remove rumors wrongly accusing an Israeli soldier of killing a Palestinian medic,” Israeli soldiers did fatally shoot an unarmed 21-year-old female paramedic earlier this year—she announced Friday morning that Facebook had “just removed” her video. Continue reading

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Report on President’s Environmental Record So Far ‘Reminds Us That Trump Soap Opera Has Dire Real-World Consequences’

“We are sort of powerless,” a Fort Berthold Indian Reservation resident said of Trump’s rollbacks on pollution rules. “This is our reality now.”

By Jessica Corbett, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 12-27-2018

On Earth Day in 2017, people worldwide participated in the March for Science to demand evidence-based policymaking. This sign was displayed by participants in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Becker1999/Flickr/cc)

New York Times investigative report on President Donald Trump’s nearly two-year environmental record and how his industry-friendly policies are impacting communities nationwide, published in the Thursday paper, “reminds us that the Trump soap opera has dire real-world consequences.”

That’s according to 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben, who added on Twitter that “futures are foreclosed because he’s a tool of dirty energy.” Continue reading

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As Trump Claims Workers Support Shutdown for Border Wall, Unpaid Federal Employees Set Record Straight With ‘Shutdown Stories’

“We’re going to lose both of our incomes right now. If we don’t get back pay, that will be a significant impact. Healthcare, insurance all comes out of that check. That’s really scary.”

By Jake Johnson, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 12-26-2018

Screenshot: YouTube

As President Donald Trump on Tuesday claimed without a shred of evidence that “many” furloughed or unpaid federal workers support the ongoing government shutdown because they want “funding for the wall,” public employees and their family members who say they have been harmed by the lapse in government funding took to social media to set the record straight.

“My husband is furloughed due to the Trump shutdown,” a Twitter user named Nancy wrote on Tuesday. “This is a very stressful time, and believe me, my husband does not want that wall.” Continue reading

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‘This Must End. Now.’: 8-Year-Old Boy Dies in US Border Patrol Custody on Christmas Day

“A reminder that, yes, this is who the U.S. is. The U.S. is a country that murders children both directly and indirectly in a myriad of ways.”

By Common Dreams. Published 12-25-2018

The eight-year-old boy, whose name has not yet been made public, is the second child to die in Border Patrol custody this month alone. (Photo: U.S. Customs and Border Patrol)

An eight-year-old Guatemalan boy died in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shortly after midnight on Christmas Day, the second death of a migrant child detained by the agency this month alone.

According to the Associated Press: Continue reading

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‘Shame on this President:’ With Shutdown, Trump Cuts Off Funds for ‘Vital Services and Protections’ for Women Who Face Abuse

“This shutdown is directly impacting the safety and lives of women and families across the country.”

By Julia Conley, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 12-24-2018

Photo: Fem 2.0

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) was among those condemning the government shutdown’s impacts on the safety of women and families, as funding for the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) expired at midnight on Friday as the shutdown went into effect.

Along with nearly 400,000 federal employees who face a furlough thanks to President Donald Trump’s decision to shut down the federal government, programs that support women who have survived violence may now face funding shortages due to the turmoil on Capitol Hill. Congress’s failure to negotiate a spending bill over the weekend left programs that rely on the law without federal funding until at least Thursday, when lawmakers reconvene. Continue reading

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The Story Of The Christmas Truce

104 years ago, warring armies ceased their hostilities long enough to show each other their humanity. It is time we all be reminded of the lesson taught by these brave men and discover more ways to show humanity in our interactions with each other.

Our holiday gift for you; a very short but poignant depiction of a Christmas “Miracle” directly from the pages of history., courtesy of Sustainable Human.

Happy holidays from all of us at Occupy World Writes.

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Ocasio-Cortez Calls for Furlough of Congressional Pay Next Shutdown


153 US House members and 50 US Senators are millionaires

By Common Dreams. Published 12-22-2018


Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at the Reardon Convention Center in Kansas City, on July 20, 2018. Photo: Mark Dillman/flickr

US Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Saturday called for congressional salaries to be put on hold during the next government shutdown.

The US government went into a partial shutdown at midnight on Friday after President Trump refused to sign a spending bill that did not include $5 billion for his wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. He had long claimed that Mexico would pay for the wall.

“It’s completely unacceptable that members of Congress can force a government shutdown on partisan lines & then have Congressional salaries exempt from that decision,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter. Continue reading

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Search for Missing $21 Trillion Comes Up Empty as Pentagon Fails First Audit in 71-Year History


It’s difficult to tally the cost in civilian lives and mass destruction of an annual budget rapidly approaching the trillion-dollar mark, and that’s something that likely won’t be analyzed in any audit the Pentagon conducts on itself.

By Randi Nord. Published 12-21-2018 by MintPress News

Image: Jared Rodriguez | Truthout | Flickr CC

Despite being legally required to conduct audits since the early 90s and holding a staggering  2.2 trillion in assets, the Pentagon held its first-ever audit this week — which it, unsurprisingly, spectacularly failed.

According to a senior official, the results were so bad that the discrepancies could take “years [to] resolve.” The Department of Defense is handed hundreds of billions of dollars annually — most of which comes from taxpayers. Continue reading

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