TV News LIES

The latest casualty of Donald Trump’s efforts to silence media criticism is Eduardo Porter, one of the most thoughtful and intelligent critics of his heinous regime.

On Tuesday, Porter wrote his last column for the Washington Post.  In a widely circulated email, he explained why he was leaving the Post:

"Jeff Bezos and his new head of Opinion are taking the paper down a path I cannot follow, directed toward the relentless promotion of free markets and personal liberties … I have no idea to what extent this is driven by Mr Bezos’ fear of what Donald Trump could do to his various business interests, most of which are more valuable to him than The Post.”

Well, I do have an idea. Bezos stopped the Post from endorsing Kamala Harris. Amazon made a huge contribution to Trump’s inauguration. And he stood in front of Trump at the president
swearing in.

Why? Because Bezos has founded a bunch of mega-corporations, including Amazon, that depend on Trump’s goodwill and could be in deep trouble if Trump decided to retaliate against Bezos.

It’s much the same story with Stephen Colbert, longtime host of CBS’s The Late Show and the top-rated late-night talkshow host in the US.

On 14 July, Colbert openly criticized CBS’s parent company, Paramount, for its $16m settlement with Trump over his frivolous lawsuit over the routine editing of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris that Trump claimed gave her an unfair advantage in the 2024 election.

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Canada intends to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations in September, Prime Minister Mark Carney said July 30.

Carney told reporters that the planned move was predicated on the Palestinian Authority's commitment to reforms. That includes fundamentally changing its governance and holding general elections in 2026 in which Hamas − the terrorist group in charge of Gaza − can play no part.

He added that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who governs in the West Bank, "committed to not militarizing the state of Palestine."

The Canadian leader's comments came during a conference in New York on reaching a two-state solution for Israel and Palestinians in occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank. It also follows the 22-member Arab League calling on Hamas to disarm and hand power in Gaza to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.

“Canada will always steadfastly support Israel’s existence as an independent state in the Middle East, living in peace and security,” Carney said, according to CNN. “Any path to lasting peace for Israel also requires a viable and stable Palestinian state and one that recognizes Israel’s inalienable right to security.”

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A record number of Senate Democrats, more than half the caucus, voted in favor of two resolutions to block U.S. military sales to Israel on Wednesday night. 

While the resolutions ultimately failed, the vote demonstrated how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fractured historically bipartisan support in Congress over the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip in Israel’s war against Hamas.

The resolutions, sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt), failed in the face of all Republicans voting against the measure and 20 Democrats. 

Senators voted 27 in favor https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5429072-sanders-resolution-fails-israel-military/and 70 to defeat Sanders’ resolution (S.J.Res.34), which sought to block more than $675 million in weapons sales to Israel.

TVNL Comment:  AIPAC rules.

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Brown University on Wednesday announced a deal with the Trump administration to regain access to federal research funding and end investigations into alleged discrimination.

The Ivy League school agreed to pay $50 million to workforce development organizations in Rhode Island over 10 years as part of the agreement, along with other concessions in line with President Donald Trump’s political agenda. Brown will adopt the government’s definition of “male” and “female,” for example, and must remove any consideration of race from the admissions process.

Brown President Christina H. Paxson said the deal preserves Brown’s academic independence. The terms include a clause saying the government cannot dictate curriculum or the content of academic speech at Brown.

“The University’s foremost priority throughout discussions with the government was remaining true to our academic mission, our core values and who we are as a community at Brown,” Paxson wrote.

The three-year deal has numerous similarities with one signed last week by Columbia University that the government called a roadmap for other universities. Unlike that agreement, however, Brown’s does not include an outside monitor.

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A city councilman in Virginia was set on fire in what witnesses described as a vicious attack Wednesday morning.

Danville City Councilman Lee Vogler was airlifted to a local hospital following the attack, the Danville Police Department said, noting that the “full extent of his injuries” is not yet known.

Vogler, 38, was in the offices of Showcase Magazine when an attacker stormed in with a five-gallon container of flammable liquid, poured it over the councilman, chased him through the building, then set him on fire, publisher Andrew Brooks said in a video posted to social media, adding that Vogler identified the attacker by name when he saw him.

The councilman was “awake and talking” last he saw him, he continued.

Police identified Shotsie Michael Buck Hayes, 29, as the suspect in the attack. He’s been charged with attempted first degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding, and is being held without bond.

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President Donald Trump made good on a threat to hike tariffs on imports from Brazil to a whopping 50% ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline for nations to strike trade deals with his administration or see their rates increase.

Trump also moved forward with a 50% tariff on copper products, including pipes, wires, cables and other electrical components, aimed at reducing what his administration described as an "unsustainable dependence" on foreign materials.

The president previously said he'd pursue the tariffs but signed documents on July 30 making them official, the White House said. The tariff on copper products will go into effect on Aug. 1.

Trump also directed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to require that 25% of high-quality copper scrap that is produced in the United States be sold in America.

The White House cited national security concerns following a Section 232 trade investigation for the tariff on copper, which it said is the Defense Department's second-most used material. Copper is used in ships, submarines, missiles, aircraft and ammunition.

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"South Park" isn't finished with President Donald Trump.

The Comedy Central show has dropped a trailer for its next episode, which suggests the series will continue mocking Trump after making waves for going after him in its Season 27 premiere.

The 20-second trailer includes a shot of Trump attending a dinner, where he is sitting at a table with Satan. As a speaker is heard talking about honoring Trump's courage, the president rubs Satan's leg under the table, and Satan tells him to stop.

It's unclear whether this scene will appear in the next episode, airing Aug. 6, or whether it was created solely for the trailer. "South Park" is notorious for not having episodes finished until soon before they air, and during a Comic-Con panel last week, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone acknowledged they created scenes just to use in a trailer for Season 27.

But the trailer at least implies that Trump and his relationship with Satan will be a continuing storyline throughout the season, rather than a one-off plot.

In its Season 27 premiere, which aired on July 23, "South Park" skewered Trump and showed him literally getting into bed with Satan. He was animated using real photos of the president placed on an animated body, a parody almost identical to the way the show's 1999 movie depicted Saddam Hussein.

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Arab and Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey, signed a declaration Tuesday condemning for the first time Hamas’s onslaught of October 7, 2023, and calling on the Palestinian terror group to release all the hostages it is holding, disarm and end its rule of Gaza, in a bid to end the devastating war in the Strip.

Seventeen countries, plus the 22-member Arab League and the entire European Union, threw their weight behind a seven-page text — obtained by The Times of Israel — agreed at a United Nations conference on reviving the two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians.

The “New York Declaration” sets out a phased plan to end the nearly eight-decade conflict and the ongoing war in Gaza. The plan would culminate with an independent, demilitarized Palestine living side by side peacefully with Israel, and their eventual integration into the wider Middle East region.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes a two-state solution and has rejected the meeting on both nationalistic and security grounds. Israel’s close ally, the United States, is also boycotting, calling the meeting “unproductive and ill-timed.”

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