Ep. 66: Local Media Disapears in Michigan, Biden's Ceasefire Deal, and More

We start with some quick updates about local organizing around the genocide in Gaza and this weekend's Pride Fest (UPDATE: OutFront Kalamazoo has clarified that they WILL offer free passes at the gate to attendees who cannot afford the $8 minimum donation).

 

We look at an article that zooms on the disappearance of local media from a small Michigan town.

 

Lawrence joins us and we talk about how the GRPD and the broader City of Grand Rapids are using the legal system to harass and drain local BLM activists.

 

We break down the politics and circumstances around Biden's recent ceasefire proposal. While this goes to show the unprecedented strength of the pro- Palestine movement in the U.S., significant questions remain. Chiefly, what political pressures will the Israeli government bend to?

 

In a little discussed story, a former president was convicted of a crime. Shocking, we know. We talk about media reaction, if anything will actually happen, and why felony convictions are easier to make over misused hush money payments than war crimes.

 

We close looking at a new Louisiana law that would mandate castration for those convicted of sex crimes against children. While most people generally want only bad things to happen to child molesters we talk about the potential and radically dangerous misuse of this in a part of the country that has a legacy of forced medical experimentation and sterilization of the black, Hispanic, and indigenous population- and how a law like this could be used to target marginalized groups at a time when right-wing activists are trying to paint all queer people as "pedophile groomers."

 

1:50- 9:30 Local Updates on Gaza Solidarity and Pride

 

9:30- 20:00 The Disappearance of Local Media in Michigan

 

21:00- 35:00 GRPD Litigates and Harasses BLM Activists

 

36:20- 59:00 Biden's Ceasefire Proposal

 

59:00- 1:16:10 Felonious Trump

 

1:17:00- 1:27:00 The Implications of a New Draconian Law in Louisiana

 

SOURCES/ FURTHER READING

Michigan town adjusts to life with ‘ghost newsroom,’ as local papers wither
https://www.bridgemi.com/business-watch/michigan-town-adjusts-life-ghost-newsroom-local-papers-wither

 

BLM Activists in Grand Rapids Face Repression and Need Solidarity
https://www.leftvoice.org/blm-activists-in-grand-rapids-face-repression-and-need-solidarity/

 

Will Israel Agree to the “Israeli” Ceasefire Proposal? Confusion Reigns After Biden Presents New Plan
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/6/3/ceasefire_proposal

 

Louisiana lawmakers approve surgical castration option for those guilty of sex crimes against children
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/louisiana-lawmakers-approve-surgical-castration-option-for-those-guilty-of-sex-crimes-against-children