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We discuss the new HBO Original film Surveilled and explore the film’s investigation of high-tech spyware firms with journalist Ronan Farrow and director Matthew O’Neill. We focus on the influence of the Israeli military in the development of some of the most widely used versions of these surveillance technologies, which in many cases are first tested on Palestinians and used to enforce Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and on the potential expansion of domestic U.S. surveillance under a second Trump administration. Ever-increasing surveillance is “dangerous for democracy,” says Farrow. “We’re making and selling a weapon that is largely unregulated.” As O’Neill emphasizes, “We could all be caught up.”

The Supreme Court appears poised to uphold Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth after it heard arguments Wednesday in United States v. Skrmetti. The Biden administration and the American Civil Liberties Union argued that the law, which bans hormone therapy for transgender children but not cisgender children, is a form of sex discrimination, but right-wing justices who make up the court’s majority appeared to reject that argument. ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio, who has now become the first openly transgender lawyer to argue before the Supreme Court, describes the stakes and analyzes the reactions of the justices during the landmark case, which is expected to be decided next year. “It is precisely the role of the courts to step in when the government infringes on the individual constitutional rights of minority groups,” says Strangio. “People are suffering. They just want to be able to live their lives, and this law takes those opportunities away from them.”

The cruelty really does appear to be the point, as discussed on today's BradCast. [Audio link to full show follows below this summary.] On Wednesday, the hateful creeps who have been fired up for years by Fox "News" and the Republican Party against trans kids, had their day at the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard some [...]

Follow @GreenNewsReport... (Or use "Click here to listen..." link below.) IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Top U.N. court to rule on landmark climate case; North Carolina town sues Duke Energy over climate deception; South Africa's High Court blocks new coal plants; PLUS: Global warming now the dominant driver of drought in the U.S. West... All that and more [...]

The International Criminal Court on November 21 issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant “for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024.”

Internal party elections for the chair of the Democratic National Committee are a bellwether for which direction the supposedly liberal party veers. If progressive Democrats have their way, they’d like to see Wisconsin’s DNC chair Ben Wikler work his organizing magic nationally.