Reality Room: Uncovering the News Corporate Media Covers Up
Unionized college campus workers STRIKE against pro-Palestinian protest crackdown, rents soaring due to illegal algorithmic price fixing, and the Supreme Court to criminalize homelessness?
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University of California Union’s Gaza Solidarity Strike Spreads Across Campuses—Truthout Reports on workers at multiple California universities—UCLA, UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz—currently striking over their universities’ response to peaceful pro-Palestinian student protests.
The strike takes place in a national context in which administration crackdowns on Gaza solidarity encampments have encompassed everything from sanction, expulsion and eviction of students and firings of faculty (and even top administrators willing to parlay), all the way up to violent police action, as was on especially ugly display at UCLA. The striking UC workers, who are members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 4811 (also called the Academic Student Employees Union), were provoked to strike after UC administrators decided to shut down UCLA’s Gaza solidarity encampment by calling in city police, who stood by while a pro-Israel mob attacked the camp and beat protesters. The police crackdown led to direct harm to UAW members, among others. A subsequent encampment at UCLA was similarly dismantled by riot police — and a similar response is presently underway at UC Santa Cruz, where on Friday, May 31, police surrounded and cleared protest barricades at the entrance to campus, detaining an unknown number of demonstrators.
The UC workers, who are part of UAW Local 4811, have borrowed from last year’s historic strike against the Big Three automakers, and are calling their university actions “stand up” strikes and are calling on other UC workers/campuses to join the strike in a staggered fashion that keeps university executives guessing.
MY TAKE: Beyond President Biden’s clearly submitting to his billionaire, pro-Zionist donors’ demands to continue providing a blank check to Israel to conduct its genocidal campaign on Palestinians, the pro-Palestinian protest that have spread across U.S. college campuses has exposed another truth about our corrupt government and economic system—our colleges are also bought by corporations and wealthy donors. To see Columbia, NYU, UCLA, USC, and a variety of other so called bastions of “free expression and debate” call in the police to crack their students’ skulls—all because they dared to protest against U.S.-funded slaughter of innocent Palestinians—shows you that the mostly white men running these schools, scared of losing massive donations from millionaires and billionaires, have zero genuine principles or integrity when it comes to free speech and right to protest. I’m glad unionized UAW workers at these colleges are taking strike action to fight back against these soulless university heads; obviously, it is not going to fundamentally change the integrity-less apparatuses at these schools—but at the very least UAW workers’ strikes will better expose it.
Federal probe finds racial disparities in Rapid City schools—Indian Country Today reports on a federal investigation that found “disparities in access” to learning programs and “persistent, and statistically signifiant” disparities in discipline for Native Americans students compared to their white counterparts in South Dakota Schools.
“We've known this for quite a long time here in our community,” said Dr. Valeriah Big Eagle, who previously served as co-chair of the Rapid City Area Schools Indigenous Education Task Force. But still, she said, the agreement is an “opportunity to make changes for all of our students, especially our Indigenous students. Big Eagle, a citizen of the Ihanktonwan Oyate, said the district’s agreement to make a laundry list of changes is a step forward. “I will not say that the school district has never done anything wrong when we know this has been an issue. I'm just glad that they have this information now,” she said. “They can move forward in a good way. I will, however, continue to push them and challenge them to do more.” The federal investigation was launched following a 2010 complaint filed by parents and community members with the Office of Civil Rights alleging Native students in Rapid City public schools were disciplined at higher rates than their peers and that Indigenous students encountered fewer advanced learning opportunities, such as enrollment in high school Advanced Placement classes.MY TAKE: It should come as absolutely no surprise that schools in states like South Dakota, run by racist politicians like Governor Kristi Noem—who has literally been outlawed from stepping foot on six Native American reservations—have schools brazenly discriminating against Native students. Having covered the Standing Rock protests in North Dakota in 2016 and 2017, I saw up close the casual bigotry white adults demonstrated against the Native Americans in their state (and it’s no different in South Dakota). A federal investigation and oversight of Rapid City schools sounds nice—like something positive is being done to reverse the disparate treatment toward Native students—but at the end of the day, the U.S. was born, and still sustains itself, on white racism and superiority exemplified by government officials. I unfortunately don’t have much hope that the actions taking by the federal government will do much to reverse the tides in South Dakota schools.
Illegal to Sleep: Grants Pass’ Cruel War on Homelessness—Invisible People broadcasts a must-see mini-documentary on the Oregon city of Grants Pass’ fight to criminalize homelessness, which has now moved all the way up to the Supreme Court.
The case stems from local politicians in the city of Grants Pass trying to ban the homeless from sleeping in public places; essentially leaving nowhere for the homeless to go given the fact that many cities and smaller towns have whole inadequate shelter systems that often pose more dangers to the homeless than sleeping in the streets. In April, over 500 activists rallied at the steps of the Supreme Court to demand that the Court doesn’t criminalize homelessness—which increased by 12% in 2023 across the U.S. (and hit a record in the U.S.). If the Supreme Court rules in favor of the city of Grants Pass, it would allow cities to fine and penalize the homeless for sleeping in public spots. Advocates for the homeless cite the 8th amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment as legal protections the Supreme Court should uphold and therefore rule in favor of the homeless’ right to sleep in public places.
The Supreme Court is expected to issue its ruling this month. If it rules in favor of Grants Pass, Oregon, we will surely see a mass domino effect of cities cracking down on the homeless sleeping in public places.MY TAKE: As Michael Moore’s brilliant documentary titled it…Capitalism, a Love Story. Given the composition of this right-wing Supreme Court, it unfortunately would not shock me whatsoever if the Supreme Court rules to essentially ban the homeless sleeping on the streets. Of course, this will create a chaotic situation where already vulnerable people—with nowhere to exercise the basic human right of sleep—will end up moving toward private property in hopes to find a spot to rest and sleep. This will cause the NIMBY (not in my neighborhood) folks to FREAK OUT. There is no credible way for Joe Biden—or if Trump gets reelected—to push the BS propaganda that the U.S. has a “strong” economy when millions are sleeping on the streets, we have a decrepit and dysfunctional shelter and mental health system, and now a criminalization campaign to essentially outlaw homelessness.
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Mayor Andre Dickens attended a fundraiser Friday as Atlanta experienced a widespread water crisis—Atlanta Community Press Collective tweets that Atlanta Mayor Andrew Dickens—who has proudly rammed through the controversial militarized “Cop City” complex—held a fundraiser at the same time his city of nearly 500,000 people had no water.
Over the weekend, Dickens placed the city under a state of emergency after a series of water main breaks split open two century-old pipes—leaving most of Atlanta either without water or under a boil water alert (if there is lead in your water, boiling it only intensifies the concentration of lead). Nonetheless, Dickens still moved forward with a political fundraiser—out of state in Memphis, Tennessee— on Friday with tickets ranging from $250 dollars all the way up to $1800. The fundraiser was for his re-election campaign (he is up for re-election in 2025).
MY TAKE: Dickens must be trying to redefine “deadbeat politician” with this horrendous move. It is truly unconscionable to bolt town—while the majority of your residents are without water—to hobnob in Memphis with donors, Chamber of Commerce swine, real estate developers, and the rest of the usual suspects. This is why, as part of my upcoming Flint water cover up book I’ve repeatedly insisted—our water is becoming toxic nationwide because our government has become toxic nationwide.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————Stefanik Israel Trip Funded by Group Tied to Anti-Muslim Figures—Sludge reports Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who has been angling to be chosen by Donald Trump as his Vice President, had her trip to Israel funded by anti-Muslim hate figures.
According to a new disclosure, Stefanik’s trip was paid for by the conservative Jewish Policy Center, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit that describes its mission as “educat[ing] the American public about Israel, foreign affairs and domestic issues of importance to the Jewish community.” The organization spent nearly $48,000 on the trip, including on business-class airfare tickets for the representative and stays at luxury hotels. Stefanik’s chief of staff, Patrick Hester, joined her on the trip. The Jewish Policy Center has multiple individuals on its board of fellows who have been identified as anti-Muslim hate figures by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and other left-leaning groups."
In recent months, Stefanik has become a right-wing rock star, and features on cable news constantly, for her viral moments grilling elite college university presidents on supposed “antisemitic” campus protests launched by students protesting against Israel’s slaughter of innocent Palestinians in Gaza. Stefanik, a New York representative, has also been a frequent guest on CNN and Fox News, adamantly defending Donald Trump in hopes of pleasing him and bettering her chances to serve in his administration.
MY TAKE: How ironic that Stefanik has recently risen to political fame by depicting herself as some guardian of Judaism and against antisemitism, but had her recent trip to Israel—to kiss the ring of right-wing zionist extremists fund—funded by Islamophobic hate merchants. Of course, she will pay no price whatsoever and corporate media outlets won’t challenge her, much less even report on, Stefanik raking in cash from vile Islamophobes. I doubt Trump will pick her as his VP—she isn’t blonde or his preferred physical type—but it would not be surprising at all if a reelected Trump appoints her as a cabinet official with control over relations with foreign countries and/or the United Nations. God help us all.
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Rents are up 20% since 2020. And a housing cartel's algorithm could be to blame—More Perfect Union reports on a software company that has been helping landlords illegally skyrocket rental pries in Phoenix, Arizona—where rent prices are up a staggering 76% since 2016.
“That’s old-fashioned price-fixing using new technology,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes told MPU about RealPage, a software company, has helped landlords manipulate computer algorithms and code to set higher prices for rent.
Beyond Arizona, Washington D.C.’s District Attorney Brian Schwalb, is fighting against RealPage and 14 of D.C.’s biggest landlords who are “effectively colluding with one another to set rents.” Essentially, this is an illegal price-fixing scheme made possible by advanced computer code.
”We’re talking about an algorithm that aggregates otherwise confidential information that the landlords have that, ordinarily they would not share with their competitors…that allows then the algorithm to spit out a pricing recommendation—all designed to keep the overall market [rent price] at its highest peak,” Schwalb said. “If you can imagine a smoke-filled room where the landlords, the largest landlords in D.C., came together to decide what they’re gonna charge for rent, to share their confidential information, everybody would be able to see that that’s an anti-competitive practice.”Across the U.S., rent has skyrocketed by 20 percent since 2020.
MY TAKE: If Joe Biden loses to Donald Trump in November, the hoard of wealthy, out-of-touch political pundits on CNN, MSNBC, and will likely blame it on progressives or those so-called “anti-semitic” college student protests…but make no mistake, soaring rent across the U.S.—as well as predatory evictions (watch video above)—are one of the core factors driving voters not to come out for Biden. In fairness, it’s not all Biden’s fault; it’s a more systemic problem with the corruption of our political system that features real estate developers buying off politicians on the local, state, and federal levels (hell I’ve even covered cities who have real estate developers literally serving as city Councilman!). There’s a reason I call gentrification “economic terrorism”—because wealthy, profit-obsessed real estate developers and landlords give zero fucks about tossing America’s working class to the streets if it means making more money. Sadly, with the advent of advanced algorithms and artificial intelligence, we are going to see more companies like RealPage collude with landlords to artificially hike rental prices. With more and more Americans living paycheck to paycheck, working two to three jobs, and unable to afford a $400 emergency, this will lead to more and more evictions and homelessness—or as Biden and Democrats put it…a “historic economy.”
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Jordan