At 60, We’re Winning – and Losing – the JFK Media War

Twelve days ago, I was asked by the Opinion section of the New York Times to write an essay on the JFK assassination nearly 60 years later. This was a major breakthrough because the newspaper of record has always embraced the official version of the assassination, even as the Warren Report, based on the “magic bullet” and all that nonsense, has grown increasingly tattered over the years. In 2015, when The Devil’s Chessboard — my book about CIA spymaster Allen Dulles and the national security state’s war with President Kennedy — was published, the Times refused to review it. (Nonetheless, the book was a New York Times bestseller.)

At 60, We’re Winning – and Losing – the JFK Media War

H/T: Kim Iversen

A Bad Idea Resurfaces: Using the US Military Against Mexico’s Drug Cartels

There has been a recent flurry of proposals to have the U.S. military launch a full-scale war against Mexican drug cartels – primarily to stem the alleged fentanyl crisis. Former Attorney General William P. Barr initiated the latest campaign with an op-ed in the March 2, 2023, Wall Street Journal. “America can no longer tolerate narco-terrorist cartels,” Barr raged. “Operating from havens in Mexico, their production of deadly drugs on an industrial scale is flooding our country with this poison. The time is long past to deal with this outrage decisively.”

A Bad Idea Resurfaces: Using the US Military Against Mexico’s Drug Cartels

Elon Musk Throws Matt Taibbi Under The Bus, Backs Up, and Runs Over Him Again

Matt Taibbi, the former Rolling Stone journalist who was given access to the Twitter Files by Elon Musk, reportedly had his official Twitter account “shadow banned” by the mogul after he refused to permanently decamp from his lucrative Substack subscription newsletter site.

Twitter Files journalist Matt Taibbi ‘shadow banned’ by Elon Musk in Substack feud

Related:

Elon Musk tweets then deletes DMs from Matt Taibbi over his Substack snit

Elon Musk apparently on the outs with Matt Taibbi over Twitter-Substack feud

Twitter Files Archive

Meanwhile, Matt’s supposedly on vacation.

Sean Penn’s Disaster-Relief Charity Ended Up a Money Mess

Sean Penn’s Disaster-Relief Charity Ended Up a Money Mess

Related:

CORE Labor violations and complaints

CORE staff complained that they were forced to work 18-hour days, six days a week, without the opportunity to take breaks. Responding to the staff concerns, Penn excoriated the employees, writing in an email that “in every cell of my body is a vitriol for the way your actions reflect so harmfully upon your brothers and sisters in arms”. Penn suggested that employees leave their work instead of complaining about conditions.[16] In October 2021, the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint that Penn and CORE violated federal labor law. According to the charge, Penn “impliedly threatened” his employees with reprisals.[17] A 2021 California lawsuit sought civil damages, claiming that CORE failed o pay overtime and minimum wges, provide rest periods, reimburse for business expenses, provide detailed wage statements, and timely pay employees. [18]

In 2022, a former CORE worker who provided support during COVID relief efforts in Georgia sued CORE for unpaid wages. According to the complaint, CORE deliberately misclassified staff as contractors to avoid paying overtime. CORE’s contracts require binding arbitration, which prevents a collective action by multiple employees and keeps the proceedings private.

Sean Penn’s Haiti relief charity paid $126,000 on travel in a single year including the actor’s first-class flights because of his ‘celebrity status’, tax records reveal