Jim Kavanagh (2019-08-16). Dead Man\'s Hand: The Impeachment Gambit. counterpunch.org The two-year Mueller investigation of Donald Trump\'s alleged collusion (\"largely synonymous with conspiracy\") with Russia is over. Nothingburger. The 448-page Mueller Report has been published in full, and made into a dramatic hour-and-twenty-minute stage performance adapted by a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright with a cast of Hollywood stars. Yawn. Then there was the seven hours of More

Aaron Maté (2019-08-16). Trump starves Venezuela, Democrats are silent. mronline.org The Trump administration is intensifying its economic warfare on the people of Venezuela with a crippling embargo—and facing no resistance from the Democratic Party. | Source

Louis Proyect (2019-08-16). The Vanity Cinema of Quentin Tarantino. counterpunch.org After being sorely disappointed by Quentin Tarantino\'s last two films— \"The Hateful Eight\" and \"Django Unchained\" —I decided to wait for a studio screener of \"Once Upon a Time in Hollywood\" in November. This is when I customarily get freebies from studio publicists hoping to influence my vote in NYFCO\'s awards meeting in early December. More

Ed Rampell (2019-08-16). \'Fefu and Her Friends\': Fornés\'s feminist odyssey at the Odyssey. peoplesworld.org LOS ANGELES—Originality is among those attributes I admire and cherish most in the arts, and Maria Irene Fornés\'s (1930-2018) Fefu and Her Friends is singular on several fronts. First of all, the Cuban-born, Obie Award-winning playwright\'s characters are eight females. This is far less common than mixed-gender or all-male casts, such as in Jason Miller\'s …

RT (2019-08-16). Modern medicine declares war on loneliness with drugs & bots, threatening introverts with extinction. rt.com With pharmaceutical and even robotic \"cures\" in the works for loneliness – a condition once considered part of the normal human emotional range but now framed as a health risk – we risk losing the ability to be alone at all.

Jenny Farrell (2019-08-16). Poetry selections for the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre. peoplesworld.org Percy Bysshe Shelley\'s lifetime was defined by the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and severe political repression in England and elsewhere in Europe. In contrast to other European countries, the power of the bourgeoisie in England had been consolidated in their own revolutionary period in the 17th century. Therefore, the ruling class in England had …

Evaggelos Vallianatos (2019-08-16). The War on Nature. counterpunch.org Ancient Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Chinese and Indians respected or worshipped several gods. Those gods were usually forces of nature, which opened the mind, eyes and hearts of human beings to the mysteries, beauty and truth of the natural world. The vast human majorities of the ancient world were peasant farmers and shepherds who cultivated More

Neve Gordon (2019-08-16). It\'s No Wonder the Military likes Violent Video Games, They Can Help Train Civilians to Become Warriors. counterpunch.org Following the recent massacres in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, the bestselling author Keith Boykin tweeted: Trump is on TV blaming the Internet, social media, video games and mental health for the mass shootings. Nonsense! Every country has Google, Facebook, video games and people with mental health issues. What they don\'t have is More

V. Copeland (2019-08-16). \'Expanding Empire\' — in 1969 and today. workers.org The following excerpt from \"Expanding Empire — The global war drive of big business and the forces that will stop it\" was written in 1969 during the Vietnam War. The author, Vince Copeland, was a founding member of Workers World Party and had been a militant steel worker fired in . . . | Continue reading \'Expanding Empire\' — in 1969 and today at Workers.org

Stuart A. Newman (2019-08-16). The Biotech-Industrial Complex Gets Ready to Define What is Human. counterpunch.org Fabricating part-human-part-nonhuman animals, with features of both, seemed like something out of Greek mythology until the late 20th century. New research then on \"geeps,\" fully developed, viable mixtures of goats and sheep, showed that constructing such \"chimeras\" was a real possibility. Still, the warning by H.G. Wells, a century before, in his novel \"The Island of Dr. Moreau,\" that scientific experiments like this could go terribly awry, seemed fantastical. But this will soon change. At the end of July, it was reported that the biologist Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte, director of a laboratory at the Salk Insti…

Joe Sims (2019-08-16). \"Proletarian billionaire\" act wears thin: Trump\'s war on workers. peoplesworld.org The U.S. working class has received special attention from the Trump campaign\'s first days; since his election, it has been singled out for special assault. \"America First\" was portrayed as making working-class America first; \"Make America Great Again\" meant reawakening the greatness of the American working class. But the Trump agenda as thus marketed had …

Kavitha Muralidharan (2019-08-16). \'Today We Seek Those Fish in Discovery Channel\'. counterpunch.org \"It\'s past 11.40 this morning, so next comes an update on speed,\" announces A. Yashwanth on the Kadal Osai radio station. \"For the last one week, or even a month or so, kachaan kaathu [the south wind] was very strong. The speed was as high as 40 to 60 [kilometres per hour]. Today, as if More

Paul Street (2019-08-16). Uncle Sam was Born Lethal. counterpunch.org One of the occupational and intellectual hazards of being a historian is that current events often seem far less new to oneself than they do to others. Recently a leftish liberal friend told me that the United States under the Donald Trump had \"become a lethal society.\" My friend cited the neofascist Trump\'s: horrible family separations and concentration camps on the border; openly white-nationalist assaults on four progressive nonwhite and female Congresswomen; real and threatened roundups of undocumented immigrants; fascist-style and hate-filled \"Make America Great Again\" rallies; encouragement of white suprema…

Andrew Levine (2019-08-16). Have They No Decency? counterpunch.org Before lightening and the Electoral College struck, making Donald Trump president, he famously boasted that he could walk out onto Fifth Avenue, shoot somebody, and become even more popular than he already was with his base. He was probably right — literally, even back then, before the Trump-induced accelerated degradation of the ambient political culture More

Rob Urie (2019-08-16). Neoliberalism and Environmental Calamity. counterpunch.org Current conditions represent a political emergency of sorts, meaning that ways of solving environmental and social problems will either be worked out or circumstances, led by the environment, will assume a life of their own. Given that these conditions are the result of historical processes that were decades and centuries in the making, understanding how More

Ron Jacobs (2019-08-16). People\'s Music for the Soul. counterpunch.org Folk music can mean many things. It can be songs one learned as a child from a record or a musical relative. The songs can be classic tunes with words as old as the songs themselves or the songs can be old tunes with brand new words. Or the entire tune can be a new More

Nick Pemberton (2019-08-16). Is White Supremacism a Mental Illness? counterpunch.org \"The most noxious element of neoliberalism is the reduction of all social issues to personal responsibility.\" —Henry A. Giroux \"Violence is one of the most fun things to watch.\" — Quentin Tarantino Have you ever wondered why we [women] are not just in armed combat against you? It\'s not because there\'s a shortage of kitchen More

David Yearsley (2019-08-16). Kind of Blue at 60. counterpunch.org Miles Davis\' Kind of Blue was released on August 17, 1959—sixty years ago tomorrow. That was ten years after, and ten degrees cooler, than the little big band of Miles\' Birth of the Cool. With Kind of Blue the baby had grown up: sleeker, more earnest, now distrustful of irony, and also cagier, suspicious without wanting to show anything that might suggest defensiveness. Its icy hauteur sets the standard for art that draws you in by pretending it doesn\'t need anyone or anything but itself. More

Nozomi Hayase (2019-08-16). The Prosecution of Julian Assange Affects Us All. counterpunch.org With the indictment of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and the imprisonment of whistleblower Chelsea Manning, we are seeing the US government\'s blatant attack on the First Amendment. This assault now is officially acknowledged by a US federal court, where the judge dismissed a Democratic National Committee (DNC) civil suit against WikiLeaks on the grounds of More

teleSUR (2019-08-16). Rashida Tlaib Blasts Israel for \'Oppressive Conditions\'. telesurenglish.net U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib blasted Israel on Friday for imposing \"oppressive conditions\" on her visit to the occupied West Bank. | RELATED: | Israel Reverses Ban on US Congresswoman Tlaib | Israel, who was conditionally allowing Tlaib to visit the occupied West Bank, issued a list of demands for the U.S. congresswoman that prohibited her from promoting the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) during her stay. | The U.S. congresswoman, in turn, said she would not visit her family there…

teleSUR (2019-08-16). Israel Reverses Ban on US Congresswoman Tlaib. telesurenglish.net Israel has decided to reverse the ban on U.S. congresswoman Rashida Tlaib Friday after she agreed to just visit her family in the occupied West Bank on humanitarian grounds. | RELATED: | Israel Confirms Banning Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib from Visiting Palestine Over BDS Support | Tlaib, a critic of Israeli policy towards Palestinians, has agreed to respect the restrictions imposed on her during the occupied West Bank trip and will not promote the Boyco…

Yoav Litvin (2019-08-16). Israel Fears a Visit by Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. counterpunch.org On July 16, Somali-American Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, together with Representatives John Lewis and Palestinian-American Rashida Tlaib, introduced bill HR-496 which is meant to affirm Americans\' \"right to participate in boycotts in pursuit of civil and human rights at home and abroad, as protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution\". Though not explicitly mentioned, HR-496 is at least More

Staff (2019-08-16). Bernie Sanders: If Israel Bans Members of Congress, It Shouldn\'t Receive US Aid. truthout.org | | Sen. Bernie Sanders told MSNBC Thursday night that perhaps Israel should not be receiving billions of dollars in U.S. military aid after the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu barred Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib from entering the country. | \"I wish I could tell you…that I am shocked. I am not,\" Sanders, a 2020 Demo…

Do No Harm Coalition, Public Health Awakening (2019-08-16). #CloseTheCamps: Protest by Healthcare & Harm Reduction Workers for Migrant Rights. indybay.org Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), | 630 Sansome St, San Francisco 94111…

Public Health Justice Collective & Others (2019-08-16). #CloseTheCamps: Protest by Public Health & Healthcare Workers for Migrant Rights. indybay.org Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 630 Sansome St, San Francisco 94111…

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams (2019-08-16). Jewish Activists and Allies Confront Amazon for Profiting Off ICE Terror. indybay.org More than 1,000 Jewish activists and allies gathered at an Amazon book store in New York City on Sunday to protest the online retail behemoth\'s collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which swept up nearly 700 people last week in what was reportedly one of the agency\'s largest-ever raids.

Cat Bell (2019-08-16). Haight Ashbury Peace Vigil. indybay.org Corner of Masonic and Fell at the Golden Gate Park Panhandle…

Stephen Lendman (2019-08-16). US Waging Wars on Multiple Fronts: Cold Wars, Hot Wars, Economic Wars, Propaganda Wars … globalresearch.ca Supported by both hawkish wings of its war party, the US is waging hot wars, cold wars, economic wars, financial wars, trade wars, anti-social justice wars, anti-human rights wars, anti-democracy wars, propaganda wars, sanctions wars, tariffs wars, protest wars, homeland …

teleSUR (2019-08-16). Brazil: Supreme Court Judges Sergio Moro\'s Lack of Impartiality. telesurenglish.net Brazil\'s Supreme Court (STF) will judge the lack of impartiality of former judge Sergio Moro in conducting trials against former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has remained a political prisoner since April 7, 2018. | RELATED: | Students Strike, Protest Across Brazil as Moro Orders Crackdown | From August 16 to August 22, the STF judges w…

WSWS (2019-08-16). 200 years since the Peterloo Massacre. wsws.org A savage attack by sword-wielding cavalry on a crowd of protesters in Manchester, England in August 1819 resulted in at least 18 people being killed and some 700 injured.

Philip Giraldi (2019-08-16). Punishing the World with Sanctions. Intended to Cause Real Pain. globalresearch.ca Sanctions are economic warfare, pure and simple. As an alternative to a direct military attack on a country that is deemed to be misbehaving they are certainly preferable, but no one should be under any illusions regarding what they actually …

Dave Lindorff (2019-08-16). Did the US really intend to destroy the Soviet Union with its nuclear monopoly? nationofchange.org 74 years ago by the United States dropped the only two atomic bombs exploded in war on cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Today, recalling those events, remember that the US still refuses to renounce a strategy of first-strike use of its nuclear arsenal. This has me pondering two questions that should raise enormous doubts in …

Adrienne Pine (2019-08-16). US Trained Honduran Police Get Medieval as Political Prisoner Edwin Espinal Released. mintpressnews.com The Honduran corruption canard keeps the focus on police resources and individuals rather than on the pangs of privatization, and so it is often the line favored by the U.S. State Department.

Derek Royden (2019-08-16). Ideas from hell: The far right\'s weaponized conspiracy theories. nationofchange.org Since the end of April, there have been three mass shootings that can be directly tied to white nationalism. The victims of these white supremacist terrorist attacks were almost all from minority communities, including Jewish people at a synagogue in Poway, California, Muslims in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand and most recently Latinx people …

WSWS (2019-08-16). Oslo mosque targeted in attempted far-right terrorist attack. wsws.org The Norwegian political establishment has promoted the hysterical anti-immigrant atmosphere that encourages fascist attacks.

Robert Shetterly (2019-08-16). George W. Bush\'s Infuriating Innocence Project. commondreams.org US President George Bush addresses the nation during his State of the Union address from Capitol Hill in Washington 20 January 2004. Bush vowed that the United States \"will never seek a permission slip\" to go to war as he took aim in his annual State of the Union speech at critics of the invasion of Iraq. At left is Vice President Dick Cheney; at right House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-IL. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque/AFP/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/george_w_bush_war_criminal.jpg …

Martin Bright (2019-08-16). \'Official Secrets\' Reveals How Little We Still Know About the Push for War in Iraq. thenation.com \'Official Secrets\' Reveals How Little We Still Know About the Push for War in Iraq…

WSWS (2019-08-16). US Kaiser Permanente workers vote overwhelmingly in favor of strike. wsws.org The 98 percent strike vote is a powerful expression of opposition to decades of attacks on workers by the multi-trillion dollar US health care industry.

Aaron Maté (2019-08-16). Trump worsens threat of nuclear catastrophe with Russia. thegrayzone.com MIT professor Ted Postol warns that Trump\'s withdrawal from the INF treaty threatens nuclear \'catastrophe.\' Guest: Theodore Postol, award-winning Professor…

Andrew Korybko (2019-08-16). What Explains Russia and China\'s Differing Stances towards Kashmir? globalresearch.ca Russia and China, two of the most important Great Powers that are jointly working to accelerate the emergence of the Multipolar World Order, are on totally opposite sides when it comes to Kashmir, with their differing stances being explained by …

WSWS (2019-08-16). Australian government boosts Special Forces despite war crimes charges. wsws.org The move is part of the preparation for war, as well as for the suppression of domestic dissent.

Andrew Korybko (2019-08-16). South Yemen Is Already Functionally Independent Even if It\'s Not Recognized as Such. globalresearch.ca The Southern Transitional Council\'s liberation of the former South Yemeni capital of Aden from the Saudi-backed Islah Islamists has restored the independence of the Old Cold War-era country. | STC vs. Islah | It was bound to happen sooner than later, but …

WSWS (2019-08-16). Newark, New Jersey suspends distribution of bottled water over expiration concerns. wsws.org City officials were forced to stop distributions Tuesday in response to concerns over cases of bottled water that were labeled as expired.

Bob Scofield (2019-08-16). Tit For Tat: Baltimore Takes Another Hit, This Time From Uruguay. counterpunch.org I imagine that however a Baltimorean feels when their city is attacked by the barbarian in the White House it has to be worse when the city is slighted by Uruguay, one of the world\'s most progressive countries. On August 5th the Uruguayan Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a warning to Uruguayans traveling to the More

The Canary (2019-08-16). Warning over facial recognition \'epidemic\' in the UK. thecanary.co Facial recognition technology has been used in shopping centres, museums and conference centres around the UK, an investigation has claimed. | Civil liberties group Big Brother Watch labelled use of the technology an \"epidemic\" and said its use on privately owned sites was \"deeply disturbing\". | The group said the Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield had carried out trials of the technology last year, while the World Museum in Liverpool and Millennium Point conference centre in Birmingham were also named in its investigation as locations where scans had taken place. | On Thursday, the Information Commissioner\'

Hans Stehling (2019-08-16). British Rail: A Mass Transport System Is an Essential Public Service Not a Get-Rich-Quick Scheme for Investors. globalresearch.ca Outdated rolling-stock, primitive or no air-conditioning, poor service, unreliable timetables and sky-high fares make Britain\'s railways the bad joke of Europe. | As millions of commuters are forced to use a rail system near to collapse, it serves a stark warning …

Victor Grossman (2019-08-16). Warnings, Ancient and Modern. counterpunch.org The wise priest Laocoà∂n, old legends say, vainly warned against the famous \"Trojan horse\". A hostile god sent giant serpents which strangled him and the big wooden present was opened. The soldiers hidden inside opened Troy\'s gates so the Greek battalions could rush in, kill the men, enslave the women and destroy the city. Its More

Staff (2019-08-16). A Wave of Solidarity With Kashmir Is Spreading Across the Globe. truthout.org | | Tragedy is unfolding in Kashmir. Split between India and Pakistan, the state has been under military occupation as a result of the partition of the subcontinent in 1947 and a war between the two powers the following year. On August 5, however, the right-wing Bha…

WSWS (2019-08-16). Financial turbulence continues as major economies move towards recession. wsws.org The gyrations in financial markets and the growing signs of recession—threatening to set in motion a crisis even more severe than that of 2008—pose vital political issues before the working class in every country.

Michael T. Hertz (2019-08-16). Looking backwards: 2020-1944. nationofchange.org Perhaps you\'ll recognize the reference in the title to this article to a novel published in 1888. It was the third most popular American novel of the 19th century after Uncle Tom\'s Cabin and Ben-Hur: Looking Backward: 2000—1887, a utopian novel by Edward Bellamy. When its second edition was published in 1889, it inspired 162 …