Today’s episode is kinda funny, it ended up being kinda two double stories. Sounds confusing but I promise it will make more sense Ince we get into it.
- For our first story… the tale of two bills: the stimulus + military bills
On Capital Hill, there are two bills being talked about at LENGTH right now, and of course those are the stimulus and military bills. At this point, they kind of feel like ping pong balls, bouncing between three courts… The Senate’s, the House’s, and the President’s. Let’s start with the Stimulus bill, as it is the more pressing of the two.
Stimulus
+ The ping pong ball of this bill, was bounced over into President Trump’s court whenever it passed through Congress. But while all of the Congressional leaders were busy patting themselves on the back for a bi-partisan effort, President Trump said “not so fast – here are my demands, now that this is supposed to be OVER.” So that tossed the ping pong ball back to the House, where they voted to increase the individual payments, which was one of Trump’s requests. This action ping ponged the bill over to the Senate… and the Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, pretty much shut that shit down.
Military
+ Now let’s discuss THIS ping pong ball. Similarly to the Stimulus bill, the Military bill passed with bi-partisan support, and the leaders went to give themselves that pat on the back and president trump said “ehhhhhh not so fast! I told you I didn’t like this one, I am vetoing.” If you don’t know what vetoing is – it’s basically where a President can choose to block a piece of legislation, just because. BUT, like I have mentioned before, there IS an option for Congress to override a veto… And that happens when they have a BIG majority of the members of Congress vote to override the veto. And that’s exactly what happened in the House. President Trump’s veto kinda bounced the ping pong ball to the House where they got enough votes to override the President’s veto, and now the Senate will just need to vote to override, if they choose to take it on. Will Democrats and Republicans join hand in hand to defy the will of this out-going President? We shall see.
And let me tell you guys, this type of thing is RARE, it’s like being on the playground and things escalating to a “I TRIPLE DOG DARE YOU!” And should this override pass, it may be the biggest bi-partisan effort we have been in years… and the biggest slap in the face to Trump’s Presidency to date.
- For our next story, the tales of two jailed women
+ Chinese woman goes to trial over journalism covering the onset of the Coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China
So if you remember, China doesn’t exactly like having their dirty laundry aired in the Press. Here in The US, it’s a right written into the TOP of the constitution – the first amendment reads QUOTE “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, pr prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.” END QUOTE. The very first sentence of our constitution protects, religion, free speech, and the Press. And that is because, being born out of a nation that sought to repress us, we know the value of those freedoms and the important role the press carries in keeping everyone honest. Well, a woman in Wuhan was doing JUST THAT, trying to keep everyone honest. Trying to show the world the reality of the pandemic that was only beginning… But now, she faces shaky charges of QUOTE “provoking trouble” END QUOTE and stands to face up to 5 years in prison. But this charge really shows they couldn’t find anything that she said to be false, or they would have charged her with something more specific to her journalism.
The woman’s name is Zhang Zhan and she is 37 years old and a former lawyer. She filmed around Wuhan, instances where the government was NOT doing what it claimed to be doing. She provided evidence that proved them wrong, proved THEM to be liars. And yet, she is the one being treated like a fake. For example: she showed video footage of a man being charged for a Coronavirus test that the government was telling everyone they would get for free. When the government said the people of Wuhan should be more “grateful” to them, for all they were doing quote unquote… Zhang asked people around Wuhan, on video, if they felt grateful to the government. They said no.
But believe it or not, Zhang is one of the LUCKY ones. Three other journalists who covered China’s mishandling of the Coronavirus have since DISAPPEARED, rather than being publicly charged. This is also, not uncommon behavior from China, as we have seen behavior like this in the past like during the cultural revolution for example. And, if you remember, China has expelled American jouralnsts from their country as well for writing the facts. They like journalists to cooperate with their narrative. But that’s not what the world needs from journalists – not a thick coat of sugar on things… No, that’s why we keep it SUGARFREE here at sugarfree media, and like Zhang, give you the straight up facts, regardless of how it makes anyone look.
Since being imprisoned on such bogus charges, Zhang has begun a hunger strike. Like brave women before her, she is choosing not to eat in order to draw attention to what is happening here – true, unadulterated censorship.
There is a petition on Change.org to free Zhang Zhan and I have shared a link to it on both our Facebook page AND Instagram stories – our handle on both those accounts is “sugarfreemedia.co”
+ And here is the sister story to this one, a second woman abroad who has been wrongfully jailed is 31-year-old Loujain Al-Hathloul , the Saudi Activist who fought for women’s right to drive.
Similarly, Loujain faces about 5 years in prison, just like Zhang Zhan. And just like Zhang, she is facing charges over insighting political controversy. Like Zhang, Loujain used foreign press to bring attention to pressing issues in her home country. And this upset the oppressive Saudi regime, who are certainly right up there with China in their ability to “make people disappear” if not worse. Loujain’s exact charges are QUOTE “undermining the kingdom” END QUOTE. Very vague and not a specific law they say she is breaking. She, too, went on a hunger strike to protest her imprisonment and prison conditions. She was shaking uncontrollably and speaking much more quietly than usual, giving her family cause to suspect torture within the prison… Which is not uncommon in the country.
Additionally, her case was recently moved to the terrorism court, where sentences can be much longer and trials much more loosey goosey.
If you remember, too, the Saudi government boldly MURDERED the Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi (who was Saudi himself!) in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, and basically suffered zero repercussions for it.
It is VITAL that we, as part of the global community, keep our eyes and ears ON THESE TWO WOMEN! Pressure from around the world, is likely the ONLY thing that will save them from having to serve out 5 YEARS of prison time over nothing, or potentially worse. Us paying attention, signing petitions, spreading awareness, googling their names, sharing on social? It ALL helps to make it HARDER for these countries to “disappear” them, because they will KNOW that everyone is watching. Please stay tuned with me
And that’s the News Du Jour!
Today, I want to leave you with the quote:
“Just because someone carries it well, doesn’t mean it isn’t heavy.”
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SIGN THE PETITIONS-
Zhang Zhan: http://chng.it/ZCmWpvm8GB
Loujain al-Hathloul: https://www.change.org/p/kingdom-of-saudi-arabia-king-salman-free-loujain-alhathloul