The News Not Noise Letter: A Bad Week for Alex Jones
Sandy Hook families want InfoWars shut down – and a judge might allow it. Plus: why did Russia send a nuclear sub to Havana? And Princess Kate’s new announcement.
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Here are your headlines:
Convicted – A Tale of Two Responses: This week Hunter Biden was found guilty on all charges in his federal firearms trial. In response, President Biden said he will respect the justice system and will not pardon his son nor commute his sentence. This should be a normal, expected response – but we’re in a political moment that is decidedly not normal. Compare former President Trump’s response to his own felony conviction: just this week he went to Capitol Hill and asked Speaker Johnson to help fight his conviction, and he’s been on the campaign trail attacking the legitimacy of the US justice system. He’s also threatened to weaponize the DOJ against his political enemies as revenge – and he’s got House Republicans leading punitive “investigations” into jurisdictions with charges against already. To be clear, Biden’s response isn’t necessarily worth applauding – but Trump’s is at odds with nearly 300 years of US precedent.
Biden Video Debunked: You might have seen a viral video this week of President Biden taking photos with world leaders at the G7 summit and appearing to wander off. The president was actually approaching and talking with skydivers who had just landed moments before. You can see the larger context in this NBC post, which contrasts the viral clip with a second clip with a wider shot showing the skydivers. We’re sharing this as a friendly reminder: as the campaign season heats up, please remember that footage doesn’t have to be AI to be misleading. Ask questions, check sources, and look for other information before impulsively sharing posts.
Not Another Cuban Missile Crisis: Russia sent a fleet of warships including a nuclear submarine to Havana this week. Russia and Cuba are conducting pre-planned joint military exercises. The word “nuclear” understandably sets many of us on edge, and some are sensitive to echoes of the last incident with Cuba and Russia and nukes. But this is not the unwanted sequel to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Russia is flexing its military might, but the Pentagon is monitoring the situation closely and says the exercises “don’t pose a threat.” The US responded by announcing one of its own nuclear subs is in Guantanamo Bay.
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Israel/Gaza Updates: On Monday we covered the hostage rescue operation and fallout. Here’s what happened this week on multiple fronts:
Israel Extremism: The US sanctioned an extremist Israeli group that attacked humanitarian aid convoys bound for Gaza.
Aid: Aid flow has also been disrupted by rough seas, causing the US to shut down operations of its floating aid pier yet again.
Ceasefire/Hostage Deal: The IDF renewed operations in and around Rafah. Meantime, negotiations on a ceasefire/hostage deal continue, but a deal seems elusive. Visiting the region, Sec. Blinken accused Hamas of changing the goalposts of negotiations and questioned whether they are negotiating in “good faith.” A UN report released this week accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes. And CNN interviewed a Hamas spokesperson who said “no one” in Hamas knows how many of the 120 hostages remaining in Gaza are alive.
Antisemitism Intensifies: In the past week there’s been a concerning spate of antisemitic incidents in the New York area. What’s newsworthy is not just the frequency of the events but the alarming change in tone, with self-described pro-Palestine protesters threatening violence against Jews and denying the atrocities on 10/7.
“Day of Rage” Protests: Protesters gathered at the Nova Exhibition in New York City. It recreates the Nova Festival where Hamas slaughtered hundreds of young Israelis 10/7. The protesters shouted “long live the intifada” and unfurled a banner reading “long live October 7th.” One video shows keffiyeh-clad protesters filling a subway car in New York and chanting, “Raise your hand if you’re a Zionist. This is your chance to get out.” Also, the homes of several Jewish board members of the Brooklyn Museum were vandalized with signs calling them “white supremacist Zionists” and red paint, including red inverted triangles and red handprints (both associated with violence against Jews).
Anti-War or Anti-Jew? Elected Democrats condemned the protests. House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries said the language was “designed to justify the killing of Jews.” Rep Alexandria Ocasio Cortez called it “atrocious antisemitism - plain and simple.” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she’s now considering a ban on wearing face masks in NYC subways, after, in her words: “a group donning masks took over a subway car, scaring riders and chanting things about Hitler and wiping out Jews.” New York law long banned face masks in public, but that rule was lifted during COVID.
Gun Violence Updates: This week, the child survivors of the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012 graduated high school. The families of victims are asking the courts to liquidate Alex Jones’ assets (i.e., make him sell InfoWars and possibly ditch his social media accounts) to pay the penalty he owes them for defamation. Jones is encouraging his supporters to buy the supplements he hawks to pay down his legal debt and said “I’m down to my last moves on this.” In other gun news, today the Supreme Court reversed a Trump-era ban on “bump stocks” (which allow semi-automatic weapons to fire at a rate of up to 800 rounds per minute) first implemented after the Las Vegas shooting in 2017, the deadliest shooting by a lone gunman in US history.
Mixed News On Reproductive Rights: The Supreme Court this week threw out a legal challenge to the abortion medication mifepristone. That means there are no new restrictions on the abortion pill at this time, and patients can continue to get prescriptions for the pill via telehealth and the mail. Also, the Senate GOP blocked a bill that would have protected access to IVF for all Americans. It needed 60 votes to cross a procedural hurdle and got only 48. See how your senators voted here. And the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the US, voted to condemn the practice of IVF. They take issue with the fact that IVF often creates more embryos than are implanted and this leads to the “destruction of embryonic human life.”
Princess of Wales: In her first public statement since sharing her cancer diagnosis, Catherine, Princess of Wales announced she’ll attend The King’s Birthday Parade this weekend. That will be her first public appearance since she made that video talking about her condition. She confirmed she is still undergoing chemotherapy, but said she’s “making good progress.” She wrote about approaching her illness and treatment with humility and patience – an approach that could transfer well to many of our struggles. “I am learning how to be patient, especially with uncertainty. Taking each day as it comes, listening to my body, and allowing myself to take this much needed time to heal.”
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