5: James Mattis Calls for U.S. Military to Be More Lethal at Defense Secretary Confirmation Hearing
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, retired General James “Mad Dog” Mattis, testified Thursday at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Mattis’s 41-year career in the Marine Corps included field commands in the Persian Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan. He led U.S. troops during the 2004 battle of Fallujah, earning himself the nickname “Mad Dog” Mattis. In May 2004, Mattis ordered an attack on a small Iraqi village that ended up killing about 42 people attending a wedding ceremony. He went on to lead United States Central Command from 2010 to 2013, but the Obama administration cut short his tour over concerns he was too hawkish on Iran. We host a roundtable discussion, starting with retired Colonel Andrew Bacevich, author of “America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History,” and Aaron Glantz, a senior reporter at Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting whose latest investigation is headlined “Did defense secretary nominee James Mattis commit war crimes in Iraq?”
Democracy Now
4: Israel Lobby: Headlines, resignations, calls for probe
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is a crazy politician surrounded by weirdos and extremists, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is an idiot whose deputy Alan Duncan should be taken down, and Crispin Blunt is among a group of MPs that are strongly pro-Arab rather than pro-Israel.
This all according to Shai Masot, who last year introduced himself to Al Jazeera’s undercover reporter Robin Harrow (alias), as a senior political officer at the Israeli embassy in London.
Masot, who was at the centre of Al Jazeera’s six-month investigation, resigned earlier this week following the release of the damning footage from “The Lobby” on Sunday.
Al Jazeera Investigations’ story of the Israeli government’s brazen, covert influence campaign in Britain gained significant attention after being published by international media from The New York Times and The Guardian to Le Monde and Haaretz.
The front page of Britain’s Mail on Sunday read: “Israel plot to ‘take down’ Tory minister”, referring to Masot’s plans to unseat Duncan.
Aljazeera
3: Dow Chemical Wants Farmers to Keep Using a Pesticide Linked to Autism and ADHD
ON MONDAYS, MAGDA and Amilcar Galindo take their daughter Eva to self-defense class. Eva is 12 but her trusting smile and arching pigtails make her look younger. Diagnosed with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, Eva doesn’t learn or behave like the typical 12-year-old. She struggles to make change, and she needs help with reading and social situations. Eva’s classmates are sometimes unkind to her, and Magda worries for her daughter’s feelings and her safety. So once a week, after they drive her from her middle school in Modesto, California, to her tutor in nearby Riverbank, the Galindos rush off to the gym where they cheer Eva on as she wrestles with a heavy bag and punches the air with her skinny arms.
The Intercept
2: Liberals Plan to Battle Trump with a Page from the Conservative Playbook
The opposition response to Republican control of Congress and the White House is one they’ll recognize: federalism.
With Republicans in control of the White House, Congress, and (soon) the Supreme Court, progressive groups are considering ripping a page from the conservative playbook to advance and defend their priorities—workers’ rights, gun safety, immigrant protections, environmentalism, and more—over the next four years.
Vice News
1: Pity the sad legacy of Barack Obama
Eight years ago the world was on the brink of a grand celebration: the inauguration of a brilliant and charismatic black president of the United States of America. Today we are on the edge of an abyss: the installation of a mendacious and cathartic white president who will replace him.
This is a depressing decline in the highest office of the most powerful empire in the history of the world. It could easily produce a pervasive cynicism and poisonous nihilism. Is there really any hope for truth and justice in this decadent time? Does America even have the capacity to be honest about itself and come to terms with its self-destructive addiction to money-worship and cowardly xenophobia?
The Guardian
