John Feffer (2019-08-12). Trump: Out of the Graveyard and Into the Pyre? counterpunch.org Afghanistan has long been touted as the \"graveyard of empires.\" The British and the Soviets certainly discovered that lesson to their great regret. Perhaps future historians will judge the failure of the United States to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan over a two-decade period as a critical factor in the loss of American hegemony as More

Paul Haeder (2019-08-12). When Americans Act Like Millionaires. dissidentvoice.org Words, and spin, and the Mad Men and Mad Women of this perverse consumerism and cultural wasteland tied to Predatory Capitalism, Celebrity Culture and Americans who have perpetual ennui because of their perpetual dumb-downing, perpetual swallow of exceptionism as a core value of the American Project To Take Over the World. So many, and they …

Robert Fisk (2019-08-12). Rattling the Nuclear Cage: India, Pakistan, Israel, Iran and the US. counterpunch.org The word \"nuclear\" is not just a harmless adjective. Look at the old photographs of the blisters on the dying Japanese of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Iran itself suffered the horrors of gas warfare when Iraq — supported at the time by the US — used chemicals on Iranian soldiers and civilians. I saw their gas-gangrene wounds with my own eyes in the late 1980s and they reminded me of the Hiroshima snapshots. The Iranians really do know the effects of \"weapons of mass destruction\". More

Howard Lisnoff (2019-08-12). At the End of the Barrel of a Gun. counterpunch.org I want to stay far away from anything resembling anti-intellectualism or guilt by association, especially since the right-wing political, economic, and social systems we live in in the US give plenty of space to anti-intellectualism and the dominance of ignorance. Blood now runs in the streets, so the impact of the far right (read fascists) must also be acknowledged and strenuously fought. More

Eric Draitser (2019-08-12). Dear Progressives for Warren: Your Class Is Showing. counterpunch.org Let me begin by making the apparently mandatory and sacrosanct ritual offering to the gods of progressive politics in 2019: \"Sure, I like Warren. In fact, I agree with her on many issues. She\'s not bad.\" There. I said it. Can we do real politics now? *** We\'re at that ignominious point where people from More

Evaggelos Vallianatos (2019-08-12). Farm Rot is Eating America Alive. counterpunch.org American farmers have been addicted to huge petroleum-fueled machines, mountains of petroleum-based fertilizers, and rivers of petrochemical poisons. These \"inputs\" undermine the fertility and life of the land. Petrochemicals fight nature, primarily by killing beneficial microorganisms in the soil and poisoning beneficial insects and other wildlife. More

Staff (2019-08-12). The New York Times Can\'t Hide Its Pro-War Bias. truthdig.com The New York Times has published five editorials since the beginning of May that are ostensibly critical of a possible military war between the United States and Iran. As anti-war arguments, however, they are woefully lacking—vilifying Iran without subjecting the US to comparable scrutiny, and hiding US aggression towards Iran. | The editorials regurgitate the same anti-Iran demonology pro-war voices offer to try to justify an attack on the country. In one case ( 5/4/19), readers are told that | there is no doubt that the Revolu…

Eds. (2019-08-12). NATO\'s China Double-Think by Finian Cunningham + Neoliberalism Has Met Its Match in China by Ellen Brown. mronline.org We cannot win a currency war by competitive currency devaluations that trigger a \"race to the bottom,\" and we cannot win a trade war by competitive trade barriers that simply cut us off from the benefits of cooperative trade. More favorable to our interests and values than warring with our trading partners would be to […] | Source

Colin Todhunter (2019-08-12). Pesticides and the Cocktail of Toxicity. dissidentvoice.org Dame Sally Davies is the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for England and recently released the CMO annual report for 2019. The report focuses on UK engagement with global health and forging partnerships. However, there appears to be no mention of cancers in the report, a serious omission according to environmental campaigner Rosemary Mason. Like many others, she …

Staff (2019-08-12). American Jews Lead Nationwide Protests to #CloseTheCamps. therealnews.com As 100 are arrested in New York, hundreds rally in Maryland to demand local officials stop cooperating with ICE. Hours after the protest, the Howard County Executive told TRNN he will review their ICE contracts…

Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers (2019-08-12). The world is uniting for international law, against US empire. nationofchange.org \"We oppose the extraterritorial application of unilateral measures.\" | That is not Cuba, Nicaragua, Iran, Russia, or China talking about the most recent unilateral coercive measures imposed by the United States against Venezuela, i.e. economic sanctions that have become an economic blockade, but the European Union. Even allies who have embarrassed themselves by recognizing the phony \"interim president\" Juan Guaido are saying the US has gone too far. | All of the countries listed above and…

Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers (2019-08-12). The World is Uniting for International Law, against US Empire. dissidentvoice.org \"We oppose the extraterritorial application of unilateral measures.\" That is not Cuba, Nicaragua, Iran, Russia, or China talking about the most recent unilateral coercive measures imposed by the United States against Venezuela, i.e. economic sanctions that have become an economic blockade, but the European Union. Even allies who have embarrassed themselves by recognizing the phony …

Ibis Frade Brito (2019-08-12). øQué va a responder la ONU a Venezuela? peoplesworld.org …

Eds. (2019-08-12). Venezuela food shipment destined for Venezuela seized due to U.S. blockade. mronline.org The ship was seized in the Panama canal according to the Venezuela government. | Source

RT (2019-08-12). Really? McFaul 'plants US flag' in Twitter to claim it as free speech sanctuary. rt.com Michael McFaul says he can say whatever he wants on Twitter because it\'s an American platform. Yeah, the very same Twitter that \'shadowbans,\' silences alternative media, and hosts fake Russian bots that meddle in US elections.

Al Neal (2019-08-12). Farmers take another hit from Trump. peoplesworld.org The economic ceasefire between the U.S. and China was short-lived. Last week, the Trump administration slapped another ten percent tariff on $300 billion of Chinese goods, and further escalated tension between the two nations by labeling China a \"currency manipulator\" Monday, Aug. 5, after China allowed the value of its currency to fall seven yuan …

Max Blumenthal (2019-08-12). Cómo los planes de privatización de Joe Biden condenaron a Latinoamérica y desataron la crisis migratoria. thegrayzone.com En su campaña, Joe Biden se ha jactado de su papel en la transformación de Colombia y Centroamérica a través…

Kevin Zeese (2019-08-12). The World Is Uniting for International Law, Against US Empire. globalresearch.ca \"We oppose the extraterritorial application of unilateral measures.\" | That is not Cuba, Nicaragua, Iran, Russia, or China talking about the most recent unilateral coercive measures imposed by the United States against Venezuela, i.e. economic sanctions that have become …

Martha Hubert (2019-08-12). CODEPINK Monthly Golden Gate Bridge WALK for PEACE. indybay.org 11: 45 am: Gather at the SF end of the eastern walkway of the Golden Gate Bridge. | Noon: Walk on the easter walkway from the SF side to the middle of the bridge. There we will hold a \"burma shave\" style presence | with each of us holding a sign with adequate space between us so that motorists can easily read all of our signs. Some signs provided, or bring your own. We\'ll return to the SF side of the bridge for a rally with Photo ops and flyer distribution. | Parking is available, though often very crowded. It\'s best to use public transit. See https: //tripplanner.transit.511 for transit options. The SF Muni Bus 28…

Sasha Abramsky (2019-08-12). With Trump\'s New \'Public Charge\' Rules, the War on Immigrants Just Got a Whole Lot Worse. thenation.com With Trump\'s New \'Public Charge\' Rules, the War on Immigrants Just Got a Whole Lot Worse…

Jewish Community Relations Council (2019-08-12). Immigration & Detention Solidarity on Tisha B\'av in San Jose. indybay.org James P. McEntee Sr. Plaza, County Of Santa Clara Government Building, 70 W Hedding St, San Jose, CA 95112…

Tracy Keeling (2019-08-12). The Tories\' policing plan is bad enough. Their latest immigration one is utterly ludicrous. thecanary.co The Tory government\'s new plans for policing and prisons came unstuck before they\'d even got off the ground. Because a thinktank chaired by Iain Duncan Smith is already calling for changes to immigration rules from home s…

Chris Hedges (2019-08-12). Fear vs. Fear. truthdig.com The old rules of politics no longer apply. The only language understood by Donald Trump and his coterie of con artists, billionaires, generals, misfits and Christian fascists—and a Democratic Party that has sold us out—is fear. Calling out Trump\'s lies and racism does not matter. Calling out his nepotism and corruption does not matter. Calling out the criminality of his administration does not matter. Calling out its incompetence and idiocy does not matter. Calling out the abject subservience of the ruling elites to corporate power does not matter. Trump and his Democratic Party opponents are immune t…

Jon Queally (2019-08-12). \'Gold Over Life, Literally\': How Trump Forced Reversal on Mining Project EPA Scientists Warn Could Destroy Alaskan Salmon Ecosystem. globalresearch.ca \"Gold over life, literally.\" | That was the succinct and critical reaction of Canadian author and activist Naomi Klein to reporting on Friday that President Donald Trump had personally intervened—after a meeting with Alaska\'s Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy on Air Force …

WSWS (2019-08-12). Over 50,000 join opposition protests in Moscow. wsws.org While the ongoing crackdown against the opposition must be opposed, workers and youth must be warned about the right-wing character of the political forces behind the protests.

Staff (2019-08-12). Trump Reviewing Rule That Would Allow Drug Testing for Unemployment Benefits. truthout.org | | The Trump White House is reportedly reviewing a Labor Department rule that would give states the power to force people to pass a drug test before they can receive unemployment benefits, ignoring protests that such screenings would amount to demeaning and unconstitutional invasions of privacy. | \"The rule itself would not automatically impose drug tests on the jobless but…

Staff (2019-08-12). Mass Protests in Moscow and the US Media\'s Failings on Russia Coverage. truthout.org | | New School professor Nina Khrushcheva talks about this weekend\'s mass protests in Moscow and the failings of the U.S. media when it comes to covering Russia. She also discusses the increasing nuclear tensions between the United States and Russia. The U.S. recently pulled out of the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Last week, seven Russians, mostly nuclear scientists, died in an explosion in the White Sea during a suspected test of a nuclear-powered cruise missile. The blast cau…

Lynda Carson (2019-08-12). Billionaire Stephen Ross of the Related Companies faces protests for Trump fundraiser. indybay.org Reported by Politico, billionaire Stephen Ross the founder of \"The Related Companies,\" is facing a backlash for fundraising for the alleged racist President Donald Trump.

Stephen Lendman (2019-08-12). Electoral Defeat for Ruling Argentinian Neo-Liberal Regime. globalresearch.ca Since taking office in December 2015, President Mauricio Macri created socio-economic crisis conditions by serving privileged interests exclusively at the expense of the public welfare. | He slashed social benefits at the behest of internal monied interests, Wall Street and the …

Stephen Lendman (2019-08-12). Undemocratic Dems for President. Only Tulsi Gabbard and Mike Gravel are Genuinely Anti-war. globalresearch.ca The crowded field has 25 Dems in it so far, maybe more to come, dropouts along the way for lack of enough support. | Tulsi Gabbard and 89-year-old former senator Mike Gravel are the only worthy candidates. | Both have genuine anti-war, …

teleSUR (2019-08-12). Germany Suspends $39M in Funds to Brazil Over Deforestation. telesurenglish.net Germany has made the decision to suspend US$39 million in funds sent to Brazil to finance projects aimed at preserving the Amazon, Brazilian newspapers reported on Saturday. | RELATED: | Brazil\'s Bolsonaro Says \'Poop Every Other Day\' for Environment | According to the reports, Germany\'s decision to suspend these funds came in response to the increased deforestation of the Amazon, which has been repeatedly promoted by Brazil\'s far-right President Jair Bolson…

Tony Cartalucci (2019-08-12). \"Opposition\" or Terrorists? Who Is Syria and Russia Targeting in Idlib? globalresearch.ca Scott Lucas — a professor at the University of Birmingham UK — would decry with the rest of the Western media — resumed joint military operations carried out by Syria and Russia in and around the northwestern governorate of Idlib….

Revd Andrew Ashdown (2019-08-12). What Is Really Happening in Syria? globalresearch.ca In this episode of \"The Beloved Community\", Mark Taliano and Andrew Ashdown shed light on what is really happening in Syria. Their evidence-based, on the ground narratives, are shockingly different from the fake, monochromatic narratives fed to Western populations on …

TeleSur English (2019-08-12). Worldwide Solidarity Rallies Held in Support of Venezuela. venezuelanalysis.com Rallies were held on Saturday across the world in support of Venezuela as the Bolivarian Republic faces an inhuman economic blockade imposed by the United States and their Western allies.

Paul Dobson (2019-08-12). Venezuela Secures New Chinese Oil Investment. venezuelanalysis.com The move defies the US embargo\'s secondary sanction provisions targeting foreign firms trading with Venezuela.

Laura Finley (2019-08-12). Difficult Discussions, Not-So-Difficult Answers. counterpunch.org There are some things we should not have to discuss with our kids. Ever. My daughter will be 16 in less than two weeks. She\'s a good kid and, thankfully, very healthy. Sunday, August 4 was one of the hardest days we have had, however, as we tried to process the atrocity of three mass More

Josh Hoxie (2019-08-12). Five Ways the Economy is Stacked Against the Young. counterpunch.org The mechanics of wealth building are fairly simple. Save more than you spend, invest those savings to generate more money. Lather, rinse, repeat. There\'s one big problem for younger people trying to do this: The rules are rigged against them. Here are five facts showing the unfair burden millennials carry. 1. Wages are stagnant. Today\'s More

Phil Rockstroh (2019-08-12). Bodies on the Ground and the Rise and Rise of the Economic Elite. counterpunch.org The US is less of a nation than a collective, psychotic episode. Within day to day life in the nation, a cultural aura exists that shifts, mingles, and merges between a sense of nervous agitation and displaced rage, in combination with a sense of weightlessness. The fragmented quality of daily life imparts an insubstantial, unreal More

Rob Okun (2019-08-12). Are We Ready Now to Put Shooters\' Gender at Center of Gun Debate? counterpunch.org Last weekend\'s killing sprees in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, brought the number of mass shootings in the first 215 days of the year to 251. In the United States of Ammunition, that\'s more than one a day. What\'s going on? To paraphrase James Carville, \"It\'s the masculinity, people.\" It\'s infuriating to me that More

Graham Peebles (2019-08-12). The Need for Unity in Ethiopia. counterpunch.org Ethiopia is a tribal nation, made up of 80 or so different groups, some large some small, some powerful, some not. Large numbers of people, the majority perhaps, identify themselves with their tribe more powerfully than their country, or their region. Tribal affiliation runs deep among all age groups, loyalty is strong, resentment of tribal More

Cesar Chelala (2019-08-12). Lunch at the St. Regis New York. counterpunch.org I had long admired Carlos Fuentes, one of Latin America\'s best writers. He was the winner of several important literary awards and was nominated several times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. In addition to being a writer, he was also a diplomat, as Mexico\'s Ambassador to France from 1975 to 1977. Fuentes was one More

Fight Back (2019-08-12). U.S. starts blockade of Venezuela. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – On August 6, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton attended a gathering of representatives from the right-wing governments of Latin America. There, he announced the next stage in the U.S. campaign to defeat the Bolivarian Revolution: A total blockade of Venezuela. All U.S. citizens are banned from doing business with \"the Maduro regime,\" and any company – U.S. or international – that does business with the Venezuelan government will be subject to fines, asset seizures and sanctions. While the announcement did not include the immediate deployment of the U.S. Navy to enforce the blockade, Bolton…

Frank Scott (2019-08-12). Bulletin For The Comfortable Class: Mass Murder Was Americana Before Trump Was Born! dissidentvoice.org The U.S. air war in Japan was one of the most ruthless and barbaric killings of non-combatants in all history. — General Bonner Fellers, MacArthur\'s Intelligence Chief, from Cultures Of War: Pearl Harbour/Hiroshima/9-11/Iraq by John W. Dower, 2011, pp. 195-96. The recent anniversary of the mass murder that took place in Hiroshima, followed three days …

WSWS (2019-08-12). Hottest July on record signals accelerated climate change. wsws.org Global warming is rapidly approaching the point of causing irreversible climate disruption, threatening human existence.

WSWS (2019-08-12). Climate change reports warn of a world on the brink. wsws.org The only solution to the climate change crisis lies in the struggle against capitalism.

Aaron Maté (2019-08-12). Trump starves Venezuela, Democrats are silent. thegrayzone.com The Trump administration is intensifying its economic warfare on the people of Venezuela with a crippling embargo — and facing…

Andre Vltchek (2019-08-12). China\'s Belt and Road (BRI): Could Save Destroyed Southeast Asia? globalresearch.ca Most of the people in the West or in North Asia usually never think about it, but Southeast Asia is one of the most depressed and depressing parts of the world. | It has been through genocides, wars and atrocious military …

Staff (2019-08-12). Progressive Policies May Hurt the Stock Market. That\'s Not a Bad Thing. truthout.org | | Last week, we saw the media terrified over a plunge in the stock market following an escalation of Donald Trump\'s trade war with China. There are good reasons to be concerned about Trump\'s ill-defined trade war and reality TV tactics, but the plunge in the stock market is not one of them. | While the idea that the stock market is a measure of the health of the economy permeates news reporting and popular understanding, it has no basis in economics. The stock market is a measure of the expectat…

David Suzuki (2019-08-12). Deniers deflated as climate reality hits home. nationofchange.org Climate science deniers are becoming desperate as their numbers diminish in the face of incontrovertible evidence that human-caused global warming is putting our future at risk. Although most people with basic education, common sense, and a lack of financial interest in the fossil fuel industry accept what scientists worldwide have proven through decades of research, some media outlets continue to publish inconsistent, incoherent opinions of people who reject climate science. | Over the past few weeks, Canada\'s Postmedia chain has run columns denying or downplaying the seriousness of climate change by Fraser I…

The Canary (2019-08-12). University bans beef burgers to do its part in the fight against climate chaos. thecanary.co Beef burgers have been banned by a university as part of efforts to tackle the climate emergency.Goldsmiths, University of London said it will remove all products containing beef from sale from next month as the institution aims to become carbon neutral by 2025.Students will also face a 10p levy on bottles of water and single-use plastic cups when the academic year starts to discourage use of the products.The college\'s new Warden, Prof Frances Corner, said staff and st…