Tag: Lobbying

The ‘Israel Lobby’ Works for the US Military Industrial Complex

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Since publication of John Mearsheimer’s and Stephen Walt’s ‘The Israel Lobby’ in 2007, superior public relations has served as the main explanation for the outsized influence that the nation of Israel holds over American politicians. In that telling, AIPAC (American-Israel Public Affairs Committee) and other supporters of Israel built a sophisticated and far-reaching public relations machine that promotes US politicians who support Israel and punishes those who don’t.

The ‘Israel Lobby’ Works for the US Military Industrial Complex – by Rob Urie – 27 June 2024

H/T: xenagoguevicene

World Spending On Nukes Explodes To More Than $90 Billion

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

World Spending On Nukes Explodes To More Than $90 Billion

Honeywell International, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, and General Dynamics topped the list of companies profiting from nuclear weapons expenditures.

That flood of public funds to private contractors was coupled by significant spending by these companies on efforts to shape the debate around government spending. The companies spent $118 million lobbying governments in the U.S. and France in 2023 and donated more than $6 million to think tanks researching and writing about nuclear weapons.

Lockheed Martin contributed to the most think tanks, including: Atlantic Council, Brookings Institution, Chatham House, Center for a New American Security, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Hudson Institute, and Observer Research Foundation.

Rolling Back Protections for Child Labor in the Name of ‘Parental Rights’ + Notes

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

One hundred years ago this month, I was reminded by Portside’s “This Week in People’s History” feature (5/29/23), a constitutional amendment passed both houses of Congress, with large majorities, and went to the states for ratification. It remains a proposal, not a law, to this day, because the necessary three-quarters of states didn’t accept it.

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In April 2023, the Washington Post (4/23/23) reported on the Foundation for Government Accountability, a Florida-based think tank with a lobbying arm, the Opportunity Solutions Project, that’s crucially behind these state-level moves to undermine rules to keep children from working long hours in dangerous conditions. The Iowa state senate had just approved an FGA-maneuvered bill letting children as young as 14 work night shifts.

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Does every story on child labor need to mention the advocacy group? Of course not. But if you consider the rollback of child labor laws a problem, connected to other problems, then calling groups like them out adds something key to understanding that problem and how to address it.

Rolling Back Protections for Child Labor in the Name of ‘Parental Rights’

Related SourceWatch Articles:

Foundation for Government Accountability

Opportunity Solutions Project

American Legislative Exchange Council

Atlas Network

Atlas Network, updated 4-3-2024Download

Bradley Foundation

Cato Institute

Ed Uihlein Family Foundation

Franklin News Foundation

Koch Family Foundations

Sarah Scaife Foundation

State Policy Network

The 85 Fund

There’s more, but I’m not going to beat a dead horse with this one. They’re basically the same groups that have been trying to privatize education, destroy unions, etc.

Donors to Bob Menendez Legal Defense Linked to ex-Terror Group

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Disclosure: it’s a reprint of an article by Eli Clifton from The Responsible Statecraft and The Intercept. If you have a problem with that, this is for you.

Donors to Bob Menendez Legal Defense Linked to ex-Terror Group (archived)

Much of the cash in the fund — he has raised over $400,000 — comes from sources one might anticipate. New Jersey and New York donors with various business and political interests in his home state, including the real estate firm led by Jared Kushner’s family, have given the fund money. There are, however, many lesser-known donors. One is Ahmad Moeinimanesh, an electronic engineer from Northern California. Another is Hossein Afshari, also from California.

Related:

Iranian exiles, DC lobbyists and the campaign to delist the MEK

The Iranian American Community of Northern California. It paid $400,000 over the past year to a Washington lobby group, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, to work on Capitol Hill to work for the removal of the MEK from the list of foreign terrorist organisations. The company assigned several former members of Congress to the account. The IACNC has also organised events in support of unbanning the MEK with appearances by Ros-Lehtinen and other prominent members of Congress as well as former White House officials.

Its director, Ahmad Moeinimanesh, has made personal financial donations to Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the chair of the House of Representatives foreign affairs committee even though her congressional district is on the other side of the country in Florida, as well as to her reelection committee. She has accepted more than $20,000 in political contributions from activists who support the MEK’s delisting.

The IACNC’s registered address is at a photocopying shop in Albany, California, owned by Behnam Mirabdal who has made financial donations to Ros-Lehtinen and Dana Rohrabacher, a subcommittee chairman who is among the most vigorous proponents of unbanning the MEK.

The American mainstream media suppresses the assassination of six US advisors by the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK)

6 proven health benefits of magnesium—a critical mineral you’re probably not getting enough of

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

You may already know that magnesium is one of the top supplements for healthy aging, but its benefits go beyond supporting you in your golden years. “It’s essential for all stages of life,” says Andrea Wong, Ph.D., senior vice president for scientific and regulatory affairs at the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN).

6 proven health benefits of magnesium—a critical mineral you’re probably not getting enough of (archived)

Council for Responsible Nutrition is a trade association and lobbying group for the dietary supplement industry…lol.

Related:

12 Evidence-Based Health Benefits of Magnesium

Sites covering the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church blocked in Ukraine + Ukrainian government hires lobbyists in the U.S. to support the law on banning the UOC

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Sites covering the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church blocked in Ukraine

A number of major sites covering the activities and the plight of the persecuted canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, including an official UOC resource, have been blocked in Ukraine.

The blocked sites include the UOC’s Information-Education Department (news.church.ua), the Union of Orthodox Journalists (spzh.media), Orthodox Life (pravlife.org), and Raskolam.net. This was reported by both the Union of Orthodox Journalists and  Raskolam.net.

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Last month, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) raided the homes and offices and arrested several members of the Union of Orthodox Journalists, who now face life in prison for a number of charges related to their reporting on the persecution of the UOC.

Related:

Ukrainian government hires lobbyists in the U.S. to support the law on banning the UOC – mass media

Armenia is pivoting to the West + More

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
Twitter/X

Link

This claim that Azerbaijan is establishing itself under the autocractic influence of Russia explains most of the perception managing narrative presented via the media lately.

Armenia is pivoting to the West, it’s time for Europe to step up

Related:

‘Armenia is pivoting to the West. It’s time for Europe to step up’

For the past year, I have been working with and advising the Armenian government on their efforts to strengthen their democracy and promote peace in the South Caucasus. This is something I believe deeply in. That is why I launched the independent Friends of Armenia Network – a high-level group that includes former prime ministers, European commissioners, ministers, and sitting parliamentarians. In a report published on March 27, we proposed a detailed approach that the European Union should take to help make Armenia’s Western, democratic trajectory irreversible.

– Anders Fogh Rasmussen

Rasmussen Global: Anders Fogh Rasmussen launches high-level group to support democratic Armenia

Rasmussen’s Report: Deepening EU-Armenia relations: More Europe in Armenia

“Friends of Armenia” turned out to be crooks, schemers and chumps

Russia MFA: Friends of Armenia Network report objective is to tear Armenia from Russia, EAEU

USAID: U.S. Enhances Support For Armenia At The U.S.-EU High-Level Meeting

2002: Divided They Conquer: Armenian Ethnic Lobbies in the United States (Most are still active) – H/T: Penny2