The Omitted News for March 11-15

Hello and welcome to The Omitted by Freddy Brewster and T. William Wallin. We are journalism students at Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif. and decided to start a newsletter to provide our take on what is in and out of the news. The intention of this newsletter is to provide you with some of the headlines that fell through the cracks. We will mention a few big events and give some analysis, however we will mainly focus on what was left behind. We feel that this is important because these “omitted events” tend to influence our lives just as much as the mainstream announcements. Enjoy!

The Omitted

Monday March 11

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people and only it,” seemingly denying equal rights of the county’s minority Arab population. Netanyahu claimed that all citizens have equal rights, but with the conflicts in Gaza and the United Nations claims that Israel has committed war crimes, these equal rights claims seem to be moot. With growing tensions between the US and Iran, Israel and Palestine, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, and Pakistan and India pay attention to how alliances start to form.
• In an interview with Mehdi Hasan, former CEO and founder of the mercenary group Blackwater Erik Prince, admitted that he met with Trump campaign officials to “talk about Iran policy.”  Prince had previously told Congress that no such meeting took place. Those present at the meeting were “an Israeli dude, a back channel to the Emiratis and the Saudis, Don Jr., Stephen Miller.” The implications of this could mean that Prince will face another round of questioning in front of Congress and possible charges filed for lying to Congress. This is also another incident in which a person close to the Trump campaign has lied about their role with the campaign and what they were up to with foreign officials.

Tuesday March 12

• Nearly 1.4 million Puerto Ricans are experiencing cuts to their food stamp benefits. The cuts are happening because “federal disaster relief funds for the program ran out at the end of February,” according to Buzzfeed News. Puerto Rico has already seen stability since Hurricane Maria decimated the island back in 2017. According to El Nuevo Dia, a family of four with made $2,033 a month will now receive $410 a month in assistance as compared to $649 that was paid out previously. The Trump administration’s handling of the crisis has been widely criticized, with some saying it has been racist.  
• The United Nation said that 2018 was the deadliest year for Syrian children since 2011 by pointing to a UNICEF report that states “1,106 children were killed in the fighting.” The conflict in Syria has been going on since 2011 with numerous countries coming and going amongst the battle for control. Syria lies to the northeast of Israel and is surrounded by numerous countries engulfed in foreign conflicts. Pay attention to how the events surrounding this Middle East country and who tries to influence the outcome of the civil war.

Wednesday March 13

• California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that he will be implementing a moratorium on death penalty executions. California currently has 737 prisoners on death row. In a press conference Gov. Newsom said “I cannot sign off on executing hundreds and hundreds of human beings, knowing that among them will be innocent human beings.” The moratorium will probably face challenges in California’s Supreme Court.
• “Black and Hispanic minorities bear a disproportionate burden from air pollution caused mainly by non-Hispanic whites,” according to a new study by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Democracy Now! reported the findings on their show Wednesday morning and said that the study says Black Americans and Latinx communities are “exposed to 50 percent more fine particulate matter,” than their white counterparts. This is yet another example of racial disparities that are commonplace in American society.

Thursday March 14

• The United Nations announced that Arctic temperatures are expected to rise by “as much as nine degrees fahrenheit by 2050,” according to Democracy Now!. The report also said that the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement are not enough to fight off global warming and that people should adopt “less-meat intensive diets” and reduce food waste. “At present, 33 percent of global edible food is wasted, and 56 per cent of waste happens in industrialized countries.”
• The US Senate voted to approve an end to US support of the Saudi led war in Yemen. By a 54-46 vote senators approved of the bill which was brought with bipartisan support. According to DefenseNews, “it’s also another strong rebuke of President Donald Trump’s support for Saudi Arabia, which has been a point of tension with Congress since the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year.”

Friday March 15

• Connecticut will allow the parents of the victims from the Sandy Hook massacre to sue Remington Arms. The ruling says that the parents can sue the firearms manufacturer because of their marketing practices. According to NPR, “the suit is a high-stakes challenge to gun companies… and could mark a new front in the battle over gun regulations and corporate accountability.” Pay attention to this because of its relevance and possible precedent setting for victims of mass shootings.
• I got published! T. William Wallin and I recently got published in the North Coast Journal, here in Humboldt County, Calif. The piece is centered around a bipolar man and his path to homelessness and struggles (good and bad) to find help with his illness. Check it out here.