podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hartmann-report/id1265276064
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TUESDAY 7 MAY 2024
Trump Trial (CNN and MSNBC)
· (Note:
Commentators seem to think that jurors are going to be put off by the fact that
Daniels had sex with Trump and without a condom. I wouldn’t exactly call this “salacious” bit
of information, and I’m older than most of them.)· The
defense is trying to portray Stormy Daniels as a gold digger who made up most
if not all of this story.· (Note:
One commentator made the statement that the defense was using the fact that
Daniels planned to get something out of her relationship with Trump. I think Trump damn well thought he was going
to get something out of his relationship with her.)· (Note:
CNN and MSNBC need to have some sociologists and intelligence experts on and
not just lawyers. We are being
repeatedly dragged through every legal issue raised in the case, but none of
the wider implications. I, for one,
would like to hear a conversation about the scuzzy, low-life world of grifters
and money grubbers Trump wallowed around in.
I would like to hear a conversation about capitalism and the types of
personalities it creates.)· (Note:
Finally Nicolle Wallace is at work.
These folks like Anna Cabrerer and Chris Jansing just don’t have much
interesting to say. They are hard to
listen to and they ask four paragraph questions.)· “How
did I misread this so badly to get here?”
Stormy Daniels· She
thought the interaction would be good for her career.· Daniels
was asked if she hated Trump. She said
yes.” (Note: Good for her.)· Daniels
made some jokes in the beginning of her testimony. The jokes were in “bad taste” at the very
least, but she is a nervous, chatty talker and evidently felt uncomfortable in
the beginning.· (Note:
The Cross will last into Thursday).· (Note:
Last night on CNN, Erin Burnett informed us that there was one day between
Tuesday and Thursday. She also once
after the San Bernardina terrorist shooting that the woman who took part must
have been suffering from post-partum depression????)· Trump
introduced Daniels to McDougal as some event
We don’t know whether this was before, during or after his “affair” with
her.· (Note:
What the hell is going on with Ted Blanche?)· “This
is a problem from the left.” Trump is
referring to the demonstrators for Palestine.
The right loves this.ISRAEL: Haaretz
· Citizens
in Israel are in the streets protesting in support of prioritizing the release
of the hostages.· There
is a Hamas delegation in Cairo for hostage talks.· Gallant:
The Rafah operation will not stop until Hamas is defeated or the first hostage
is released.· Israel
grants control of crossing between Gaza and Egypt to a private US firm.· Opinion
by Amira Hass: attacks of Palestinians by Jewish settlers has increased.·
ART
Wednesday
Bazille’s Studio by Frederic Bazille
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WEEKEND NEWS NOTES
SATURDAY/SUNDAY 4, 5 MAY 2024
BBC News Newshour (5/4/24)
Israel/Hamas
• We’ve been here before, but reports are that a cease fire is imminent.
• Protests in Israel by hostage families continue.
• (Note: Haaretz publishes piece arguing that Netanyahu is purposefully standing in the way of a peace agreement.)
• Netanyahu’s partners in the coalition say that without a ground offensive in Rafah, they will leave the government and bring it down.
• Finance Minister Smotrich says a deal without an offensive in Rafah would be a “disaster.”
Interview with Amir Avivi, retired military now with a defense think tank in Israel. Israel insists that even with a cease-fire (of about 40 days) the ground invasion in Rafah will begin once this is over.
• It is felt that a complete cease-fire will mean that Israel will lose the war and the past six months will “be for nothing.”
• Hamas is not going to release all the hostages. We need to free them with military action.
• Sinwar is in Rafah. Rafah is the last stronghold. This is going to be the decisive battle where Hamas will be destroyed.
Assassination of Sikh Indian activist
• Hardeep Singh Nijar’s death in Canada. (Note: This followed an attempted assassination of another Sikh activist in the US).
• Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has alleged that the Indian authorities could have been involved.
• Nijar worked with groups who wanted to carve out part of India as a separate Sikh state.
• It is described by a reporter, Stephen Chase, Globe and Mail in Ottawa, as a gangland-killing.
• The Indian government regards the Sikh movement to establish a separate state, seditious, and they want Canada to arrest these people and ship them back home.
• The government claims that these groups are sending arms back to India. They have provided no evidence of this to Canada.
• In the United States, there was a separate attempted assassination of another Sikh activist.
THE NATION PODCAST: The Time of Monsters, Yousef Munayyer, Palestinian Writer
• The campus violence is not something Americans have seen in the recent past.
• The scale of what’s taking place is impressive. What took so long? How widespread this is…the diversity of the students involved…students willing to sacrifice…expulsions, evictions…people are willing to “pay a price.”
• “It’s been seven months and seventy-five years.”
• “Palestinian dispossession…”
• There was a “lot of planning and a lot of organizing.” (Note: Get podcast of reporter going to Columbia.)
• “Joe Biden is undermining his own coalition.”
• The cost of our relationship with Israel is getting too high.
• Biden’s approach may well cost him the election.
• Biden’s national security people completely misread the region.
• 25 min.
SUNDAY
News Notes
Israel/Hamas
• Netanyahu has turned down a ceasefire proposal which would have involved releasing hostages.
• The US has “paused” some funding for Israel (CNN, 7:54).
MSNBC (Ayman)
• Tim Scott was asked six times if the 2020 election was legitimate. He evaded an answer.
• House pressure to stop the ground invasion of Rafah. They are urging him to withhold some offensive military aid to Israel.
• There is a national security deadline over military aid in three days.
• Netanyahu has blocked Al Jazeera broadcasts in Israel. An Al Jazeera office was raided today.
• This is the first time Israel has shuttered a news outlet.
• Foreign Press Association: This is a dark day for democracy.
• Foreign journalists are barred from Gaza unless they are embedded with Israeli troops.
• Israel has been accused of targeting journalists. Israel denies this.
• Israel has a disturbing history of jailing journalists.
• Managing Editor, Al Jazeera, Mohamed Moawad: Al Jazeera has provided the primary coverage of Gaza. The ban covers Israel proper, not the “occupied regions.” The ban is ambiguous and Al Jazeera (AJ) is not certain exactly how it will be implemented. AJ is accused of being a threat to national security. AJ has been criticized by the Arab world for having Israeli officials on the network.
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SATURDAY 4 MAY 2024
PODCASTS:
The Duran Podcast: Right Wing
The International Criminal Court is Finished (5/4/24)
- The ICC has always been a front for the West. The information leaked that they are about to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and others in the Israeli government is an embarrassment to Israel and to the US.
- It is most likely that the ICC will back off on this decision and will issue no arrest warrants, and this will be the finish of the ICC which had little credibility before.
- Putin was only trying to save children by deporting thousands of them out of Ukraine. (Note: Jesus)
- The hosts also muse about whether the collapse of the ICC will mean that Putin is free to travel again. (Note: Jesus.)
Personal Notes:
LIFE
- Our neighbor one house and a vacant lot away, goes out on his dock and fires off a long gun. He is crazy. I have watched him. He puts the gun over his shoulder and struts toward his house on the dock. Then, he suddenly turns and faces the water and the marsh, knees bent, as if he is confronting an enemy. It is so strange. And, what is he shooting? There are egrets out there and hens and dophins. If I saw him shoot one of them, I would haul him off the dock myself. There’s only one problem. I am afraid of him. I am afraid he will shoot me, but worse I am afraid he will shoot our cats. Then, I would not only have to drag him off the dock by his neck, I would have to kill him. I would not make a good prisoner. The other problem is that I am now afraid of the police. Years ago, I phoned them to ask him to stop shooting because he was aiming the gun not across the marsh, but toward the land, where my cat are I were walking. That held him back for a few years. But now? Now I am as afraid of getting involved with the police as I am of confronting a bat-shit crazy old gun owner. I’m sure it will be fine.
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Afternoon News Notes
Podcast: The World
Israel
- Netanyahu says there will be a ground invasion of Rafah – cease fire or not.
- Gavir, Minister of National Security in Israel, one of the far right members of Netanyahu’s coalition, said he told Netanyahu that ending the war in Gaza was unacceptable because it would mean that Israel would lose the war.
- Another far-right member of the coalition, Smotrich, threatened to quit if Netanyahu made an agreement to release the hostages through a deal. He said that it would be like “waving the white flag.”
- But, Israel appears to have softened some of its demands for a cease fire. Also, there is new language about “sustainable calm.” This is a nod to one of Hamas’s demands.
- The reports of the new proposal for a deal would include releasing thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the remaining hostages.
- There are many Palestinians imprisoned as “security prisoners” mostly from the West Bank. Often when Israel does this, they then rearrest these prisoners when they are released.
- There is talk about Hamas leaving Gaza, but this is unlikely. What they want is to declare some kind of victory. “They’d like to claim they have won.”
- There are massive protests in Israel about getting the hostages out.
Haiti
- A new Prime Minister has assumed power. He was chosen by a transition council.
- The former Prime Minister only recently resigned.
Myanmar
- The military staged a coup and ousted the democratically elected government.
- Rebel groups are fighting for power.
- There was a huge protest movement that was active after the coup. The military started to attack them.
- There is now an armed resistance.
Protests at Universities
- Montreal, Sydney, Paris, London, Rome – see student protests.
- In Sydney, there are protests to demand that the university divesting from Israel.
India
- Modi is hoping to win a third term in the current elections. He has been accused of stoking anti-Muslim sentiments to win election.
- Modi said: When the opposition takes power they will take your money and give it to Muslims who have more children.
- Women voters are becoming more and more important. Modi’s party has been successful in courting women. But the ads depict women as caregivers. Women’s participation in the work force is low.
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AFTERNOON NEWS NOTES
Israel ( Haaretz)
- Thousands protest ruling coalition across Israel, demand hostage deal.
- Protestors are demanding early elections.
- Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s Finance Minister and minister in the Defense Ministry, told Netanyahu that if he cancels the operation in Rafah, there will be no reason for his government. Smotrich added that Netanyahu had allowed Hamas to grow stronger. He termed the new proposed Egyptian cease-fire as “a humiliating surrender, a death sentence for the hostages who are not included in the deal and a danger to the state of Israel.”
- Haaretz headline questions whether the Rafah invasion is a “strategic target or a bargaining chip?”
Israel (BBC Newshour)
- An attack on Rafah, being considered by Israel, may be averted if an agreement about the hostages is reached. Israel Katz, Israeli Foreign Minister, says that an attack could be suspended if hostages were released.
- Protestors are demanding a change in the government.
- Israel Katz is not a member of the war cabinet. A reporter, Davis, in Israel notes. It’s a “two track” process within the government. Even Katz’ suggestion is for a suspension. At least they are “talking about talking.”
- Davis: The more videos are released, the harder it becomes for Netanyahu to make an agreement to get the hostages out.
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Florine Stettheimer’s colorful, Rococo-inspired modernist paintings include witty social commentary, but it’s not always obvious.
— Read on www.dailyartmagazine.com/florine-stettheimer/ -
Afternoon News Notes
Podcast: Israel News Talk Radio (4/21/24)
(Note: I do not know what proportion of the Israeli population these sentiments represent, but they are certainly worth noting.)
- If Israel had not fed and helped the Palestinians at the beginning of the war with food and water, this war would have been over in two months.
- In trying to appease the international community, Israel has its “own worst enemy.”
- Biden has finally decided to sanction a religious group of IDF fighters (a contingent of ultra-religious fighters who can fight in the IDF but also maintain their religious lifestyle). Biden says that the US will not give them arms paid for by the US. This was termed “complete madness.”
- It was noted that the criticisms were against Biden and his administration, not against Americans.
- Biden and his administration are trying to “force” Israel into an agreement for a Palestinian state. By helping the “poor, poor Gazans” (said in a mocking tone) Israel is suffering to keep Biden from losing votes.
- It was noted that Gallant had not responded to the Biden sanctions. This was termed a “disgrace.” Gantz was “called” to the US and consulted against the wishes of Netanyahu. This is because the US is “grooming” members of the opposition to take power. The US wants to “get Bibi out.”
- Israelis need to “pray for Netanyahu to do what God wants.”
- The problem started when Israel allowed itself to be pressured to give aid to the Gazans in the beginning.
- The two-state solution is a “pipe dream.” “It’s dead.”
- It was pointed out that after all the atrocities the US committed in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, it was “obscene” for the US to “stand in judgement” of Israel.
- The “security coordinator” for the US should be asked to leave the country along with the ambassador. They are both “playing for the other side.” They should be asked to leave as a “penalty” for the US demanding that Israel abide by US strictures.
- (Note: I was cautioned to remind you that these are quotes from a podcast, not my opinions.)
- Israel should do without US aid, and should turn Iran into a “nuclear slag heap.” Israel must “eliminate” its “enemies.” In order to help the Iranian people free themselves from the ruling Persians, the Israelis should take out the Iranian ruling class.
- The Saudis are reluctant to make an agreement with Israel because Israel will not stand up and defend itself.
Trump: MSNBC (4/22/24)
- Lachlan Cartwright (formerly with the National Enquirer)
- David Pecker killed a story Cartwright worked on about a woman who had had an affair with Trump. It was done to protect Trump.
- They had purchased emails supposedly from Italian intelligence that involved Hillary. “This place is so corrupted, and my career is going to be finished because of it.”
- “I felt like I got out of a cult.” “I thought my career was over.” There was a conspiracy to throw the election.
- Email between two National Enquirer men who helped cover up dirt for Trump and plant dirt for Trump: “What have we done?” (Note: Yes, I think a lot of people ought to be asking themselves this.)
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FRIDAY 19 APRIL 2024
UKRAINE: Alexander Vindman MSNBC
- After multiple trips to Ukraine I have felt positive. This was the most disturbing trip I have had. Major shortfalls in artillery and munitions.
- Russia is dropping massively destructive glide bombs.
- The Russians are producing more drones.
- This package is crucial but “too late.” There will be a major surge in late May by Russia. Does our support get there in time?
- The $61 billion aid package is expected to be passed.
- NATO can get dragged into this if we don’t adequately supply Ukraine.
- There are new mobilization laws in Ukraine. How those laws are implemented is crucial.
- ATACKAMS are essential.
- Speaker Johnson only spoke up in the last couple of days. Unless Ukraine is successful, we will see a situation in which Russia is emboldened.
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Morning News Notes
Trump Trial
After one juror was taken off the jury over concerns of anonymity, another is now possibly going to be removed for not showing up and information found overnight. The first juror felt that there was so much information about her on the internet that friends were calling and asking her if she was on the jury. She felt intimidated. This is going to happen with all the jurors who might possibly be neutral. There is an army of right-wingers out there trying to dig up information about these jurors. And, the court system, just acts like they are dealing with business as usual.
The second juror, the one who hasn’t shown up this morning, had some kind of prior conviction for tearing down political posters.
Trump is working with his attorneys to mold his tweets to go up to the legal line of the gag order but not go over it. These attorneys should be disbarred.
12:09
There are now questions about juror 4, having told the truth on his questions.
