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Syrian Writers, Artists, and Journalists Speak Out Against US and Russian Policy | The Nation

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A destroyed Syria is the symbol of the state of the world today. The Syrian revolution was broken against the solid wall of the international community, and not only against the wall of the forces aligned with Assadist fascism. This international community allows politicians like Obama and Putin, along with their agents and clones—people lacking all sense of humanity—to take decisions that violate our right to self-determination, as individuals and groups but also as a nation. We have not elected them, and we have no access to any mechanism that can call them to account. This is an unfair system that fiercely opposes democracy. Therefore it must change.

Syrian Writers, Artists, and Journalists Speak Out Against US and Russian Policy | The Nation

Israeli forces evict Palestinian family in East Jerusalem to make room for Israeli Squatters

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Ateret Cohanim, along with other pro-settler organizations, commonly uses Israel’s 1970 Legal and Administrative Matters law to evict Palestinians from their homes. According to the law, Jewish Israelis are allowed to claim ownership of property if they can prove it was under Jewish ownership before 1948.

However, the law only applies to Jewish Israelis, and not to Palestinians who were dispossessed of their lands and properties prior to and after the establishment of Israel in 1948, despite their right being upheld by UN General Assembly Resolution 194.

Ateret Cohanim has forced out several Palestinian families from properties which were owned by Jewish families before 1948, with some 30 families currently threatened with eviction in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Batan al-Hawa, as hundreds of Palestinians have been targeted through discriminatory legal channels.

Israeli forces evict Palestinian family in East Jerusalem to make room for Israeli Squatters

Did You Know We Are Having the Largest Prison Strike in History? Probably Not, Because Most of the Media Have Ignored It | Alternet

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The power asymmetry and the media’s default position of siding with government officials over those seen as criminals creates just one more barrier to coverage. At its core, coverage of the prison strikes, as with any protest action, has an inherently perverse incentive structure that puts a premium on acts of violence and property damage and overlooks non-telegenic peaceful activity, such as hunger strikes and labor stoppages.

Did You Know We Are Having the Largest Prison Strike in History? Probably Not, Because Most of the Media Have Ignored It | Alternet

Uber spreads its innovative convenience to subprime auto leasing.

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The brilliance of such innovations/disruptions is that they maintain the systemic status quo. Why would anyone want to destroy the reliable value of poor people’s vulnerability in the making of fortunes?

http://bloom.bg/1r0mH8l

Bloomberg spoke to five auto-finance experts. Most said the leases are expensive, even predatory, compared with leases available to drivers with good credit. “I’d say the cost is greater than the benefit for your average driver,” said Mark Williams, a lecturer at Boston University’s business school who reviewed the terms of a blank lease agreement provided by Uber, along with some average weekly lease payments and a driver-reported account. “The terms, the way they’re proposed, are predatory and are very much driven toward profiting off drivers rather than to facilitate an increase in drivers.”

Uber spreads its innovative convenience to subprime auto leasing.