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Month: October 2015

MSNBC Opts To Apologize After Airing Map Of Disappearing Palestine
A map showing Palestine's disappearing territory since the beginning of Israeli occupation. (MSNBC screenshot)
October 26, 2015
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MSNBC Opts To Apologize After Airing Map Of Disappearing Palestine

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Earlier this month, MSNBC aired a well-known, but controversial graphic that illustrates how Israel has taken over Palestine as the occupation of the region has grown over time.

The graphic, which appeared during an Oct. 15 discussion between MSNBC anchor Kate Snow and Martin Fletcher, a Middle East correspondent, shows a series of four maps dating from 1946 to the present that depict the loss of Palestinian territory to Israel.

During the segment, Fletcher discussed the ways that Israel’s provocative behavior at Al-Aqsa Mosque is a major trigger for the latest violence in Gaza and the West Bank, then Snow introduced the graphic as it appeared on screen, saying: “What does that show you, Martin, that the area Palestinians are living, has it grown increasingly smaller?”

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Mainstream Media Focuses On Israeli Deaths While Ignoring Israeli Violence
Palestine 2009. Israel's Wall in Bethlehem, West Bank with graffiti which reads "Free Palestine." (Flickr / Montecruz Photo)
October 23, 2015
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Mainstream Media Focuses On Israeli Deaths While Ignoring Israeli Violence

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Despite widespread criticism over the ways Israel has provoked the latest wave of violence engulfing the West Bank and Gaza, the media in the West mostly focuses on attacks by Palestinians on Israeli settlers and soldiers, ignoring the context that led to the current tensions.

Electronic Intifada, a site that advocates for Palestinian freedom, noted that a prominent BBC radio programon Monday attempted to imply that all of the dead in recent violence were Israelis:

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It’s Not Just Roads And Bridges: US Courthouses Are Crumbling, Too
The Travis County Courthouse photographed on October 18, 2008. (Flickr / Chris Vreeland)
October 22, 2015
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It’s Not Just Roads And Bridges: US Courthouses Are Crumbling, Too

Posted in Austin, Journalism, and MintPress News

Just as many American roads are crumbling and bridges are badly in need of repair, the legal infrastructure of the country — specifically, its courthouses — is also endangered by age and overcrowding.

Starting this week, early voters in Travis County, Texas, are deciding on a bond that would fund the construction of a new family courthouse to replace an existing 84-year-old structure in downtown Austin, the Heman Marion Sweatt Travis County Courthouse, with a larger and more modern facility. And, like Austin, cities from Seattle to Miami have struggled with how to accommodate aging buildings alongside other budget issues like the growing cost of policing.

MintPress News spoke with Tyler Buckingham, assistant campaign manager from New Courts For Families, the campaign in support of the $287,275,000 bond that would fund the construction of a new courthouse complex on a downtown lot already owned by the state’s capital city. Buckingham explained that while accessible, safe courthouses are crucial to a democratic society, the issue can sometimes go overlooked by the media or politicians.

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New Report Maps Growing Impact Of Ocean Acidification On Marine Life Worldwide
Fish swim around a coral reef. January 8 2013. (Flickr / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Jerry Reid)
October 20, 2015
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New Report Maps Growing Impact Of Ocean Acidification On Marine Life Worldwide

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

New research maps the growing impact of ocean acidification and identifies the regions worst affected, while scientists and world governments are collaborating more and sharing ways to slow or reverse its progress.

Fossil fuels and human industry are releasing increasing amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere where it is absorbed by the oceans as carbonic acid, an invisible but highly destructive substance that’s rapidly changing the chemistry of the earth’s waters and disrupting underwater ecosystems in a process called ocean acidification.

The latest effort at mapping ocean acidification comes from research led by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and published last week in the science journal “Global Biogeochemical Cycles.” The study tracked the saturation levels of the mineral aragonite, which is crucial to the formation of shells in marine species.

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Israel Receives $3.1B In US Aid While The Middle East’s Poor Struggle To Survive
A displaced family dress for winter in a temporary shelter. December 19, 2013. (Flickr / United Nations Development Programme)
October 19, 2015
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Israel Receives $3.1B In US Aid While The Middle East’s Poor Struggle To Survive

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Every year, Israel receives billions of dollars in U.S. aid, despite the fact that its citizens enjoy a standard of living well above that of neighboring countries. And while the Middle East struggles through a historic refugee crisis, Israel is using U.S. taxpayer money to fuel its war crimes against Palestine and oppression of refugees.

The average income of Israel’s citizens is $34,990, based on 2014 data provided by the World Bank. For neighboring countries, that figure is far lower: Residents of Lebanon earn an average of $9,800 annually, followed by other Israeli neighbors including Jordan ($5,160), Egypt ($3,050), and Syria, where the average resident survived on just $1,860 in 2014, according to the World Bank’s data. For occupied Palestine, the World Bank offers a data sheet on the West Bank and Gaza, which estimates that the average resident makes $3,060 annually.

Against this backdrop of relative financial comfort for its residents, Israel received over $3.1 billion in foreign aid from the United States in 2015, the same amount received in 2014. The money goes directly to its military budget, where it fuels Israel’s war crimes against the Palestinian population, as well as its defense of its illegal occupation of the Golan Heights.

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Native Communities Across North America Lack Access To Clean Water
A Navajo man fills a water tank in a pickup truck at a trading stop in Cameron, Arizona on August 31, 2008. (Flickr / Don Graham)
October 12, 2015
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Native Communities Across North America Lack Access To Clean Water

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

For many in North America, the notion of a community without access to clean water seems like something that would only exist in a far-off, undeveloped country. Yet impoverished indigenous communities throughout the continent don’t have clean water or, in some cases, any running water at all.

For members of the Navajo Nation, and some of Canada’s First Nations tribes, the struggle to get clean water is a part of daily life.

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