Dahr Jamail (2019-12-09). Savoring What Remains in an Age of Climate PTSD. commondreams.org Symphony Lake, near Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo: mcav0y/flickr/cc) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/alaskalake.jpeg …

The Canary (2019-12-09). Scottish Greens outline importance of \'climate election\'. thecanary.co Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie has said the UK \"can\'t afford\" for the general election not to be climate focused.Harvie, speaking to the PA news agency ahead of polling day on 12 December, said the world had been given about a decade to take radical action.And he outlined the importance of having strong Green voices in the room at Westminster, to push the other parties beyond their \"comfort zone\" on taking climate action.Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie speaking at a climate strike in Glasgow\'s George Square (Lewis McKenzie/PA)\"People on pretty much every doorstep that I\'ve knocked on have been…

Richard Grassl (2019-12-09). Time to move U.S.-Cuba relations forward again—despite Trump. peoplesworld.org Cuba gained international prominence when their government consolidated political power after the defeat of U.S. mercenary forces in 1961 at the Bay of Pigs. With the victory of the Cuban revolution assured, these two events altered the course of history in Latin America. Cuba was no longer a U.S. semi-colony. Cuba\'s status as a pseudo-republic …

Rick Sterling (2019-12-09). For Sama: A Beautiful Yet Deceptive Documentary That Betrays Reality in Syria. mintpressnews.com The documentary movie \"For Sama\" has won a host of awards in Europe and North America. Its producers and protagonists, Syrians Waad Kateab and her husband Dr. Hamza Kateab plus English film-maker Edward Watts, have received gushing praise. And the awards will probably keep coming. | Unfortunately, behind the human interest story, the film \"For Sama\" is little more than propaganda: biased, misleading, and politically partisan. | Hiding Basic Facts about Aleppo: | \"For Sama\" is a full-length documentary with a moving personal story. It combines…

Staff (2019-12-09). Watchdog Report on Russia Probe Finds No Political Bias. truthdig.com WASHINGTON—The Justice Department\'s internal watchdog will release a highly anticipated report Monday that is expected to reject President Donald Trump\'s claims that the Russia investigation was illegitimate and tainted by political bias from FBI leaders. But it is also expected to document errors during the investigation that may animate Trump supporters. | The report, as described by people familiar with its findings, is expected to conclude there was an adequate basis for opening one of the most politically sensitive investigations in FBI history and one that Trump has denounced as a witch hunt. It began…

Staff (2019-12-09). Anti-Doping Agency Slaps 4-Year Ban on Russia. truthdig.com The ruling means that its flag and anthem won\'t appear at next summer\'s Tokyo Olympics, but its athletes may still be able to compete.

Dahr Jamail (2019-12-09). Savoring What Remains: Dealing With Climate PTSD. counterpunch.org Recently, I was in Homer, Alaska, to talk about my book The End of Ice. Seconds after I had thanked those who brought me to the small University of Alaska campus there, overwhelmed with some mix of sadness, love, and grief about my adopted state — and the planet generally — I wept. I tried More

Staff (2019-12-09). Grief Over Climate Hits More of Us Each Day. truthdig.com It\'s no secret that many scientists are mourning for the planet\'s future, with some calling their symptoms a climate-change version of PTSD.

Mark Gruenberg (2019-12-09). AFT\'s Weingarten urges members: Push lawmakers to impeach Trump. peoplesworld.org …

Ben Norton (2019-12-09). US and UK Military-Intelligence Apparatus Campaigns to Destroy Jeremy Corbyn. globalresearch.ca Days before Britain\'s historic election, the UK\'s military-intelligence apparatus is turning to the corporate media and US government-funded NATO cut-outs to smear Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn with evidence-free Russiagate allegations. | *** | The popular socialist leader of Britain\'s Labour Party, Jeremy …

Matthew Segal (2019-12-09). Immigrants have been denied due process for years. In New England, that\'s about to change. aclu.org One of the bedrock principles of our judicial | system is that the government can\'t just lock people up without showing why | it\'s necessary. | For noncitizens caught up in Trump\'s deportation | machine, though, that principle doesn\'t always apply. But now because of our | litigation in New England that\'s about to change. | Gilberto Pereira Brito was detained in March by ICE | — snatched from his wife and three children, all of whom are U.S. citizens — and | brought before an immigration judge for a bond hearing. To keep him in | detention, the government had to prove nothing, whereas Gilberto had…

Jack Herrera (2019-12-09). PHOTOS: A Year After the Caravans, Has Trump Won? thenation.com PHOTOS: A Year After the Caravans, Has Trump Won?

Naureen Shah (2019-12-09). Under Attack by Trump, Immigrant Justice is Advancing in the States. aclu.org This year was another of devastating attacks on immigrants\' rights | by the Trump administration. However, in both red and blue states, we fought | and won new measures that stymie Trump\'s deportation machine. These local wins, | though often overshadowed by the president\'s xenophobia, are powerful. Here are | some of the most surprising and significant of our 2019 immigrant justice victories | in the states. | In | Michigan, a former marine\'s arrest prompts police reform | Grand Rapids, Michigan police kept veteran and U.S. citizen Jilmar | Ramos-Gomez in immigration detention for 3 days — even though <...

Norman Solomon (2019-12-09). Kerry\'s Endorsement of Biden Fits: Two Deceptive Supporters of the Iraq War. indybay.org Character and Experience… in Mass Slaughter…

Norman Solomon (2019-12-09). Kerry\'s Endorsement of Biden Fits: Two Deceptive Supporters of the Iraq War. globalresearch.ca The spectacle of Kerry praising Biden as a seasoned leader amounts to one supporter of the Iraq catastrophe attesting to the character and experience of another supporter of the same catastrophe. | *** | On Thursday afternoon, the Washington Post sent out …

Alan MacLeod (2019-12-09). \'Sexy tricks\': How journalists demonize Venezuela\'s socialist government, in their own words. thegrayzone.com Journalists revealed to me the tactics they use to sell stories painting Venezuela as a socialist dystopia. One described himself…

Heather Stroud (2019-12-09). Question for Kirbymoorside UK Hustings Meeting: Would you stand up for Julian Assange? dissidentvoice.org To those candidates who are putting themselves forward as MPs to become a voice within the UK Parliament — would you stand up for Julian Assange and for those who. in speaking truth, have the audacity to challenge the dialogue of power? I am disappointed that my question relating to the arbitrary detention of Julian …

WSWS (2019-12-09). Exiled NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden condemns persecution of Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning. wsws.org Edward Snowden gave an interview via live video link to The Right Livelihood Awards in Stockholm, in which he categorically defended WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange and imprisoned whistleblower Chelsea Manning.

WSWS (2019-12-09). UN Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer: \"With censorship inevitably comes tyranny\" wsws.org The World Socialist Web Site interviewed Nils Melzer, who denounced the role of governments and the mainstream media in the persecution of Julian Assange and warned of the dangerous consequences of the erosion of democratic rights.

WSWS (2019-12-09). Hundreds of journalists around the world sign open letter demanding freedom for Assange. wsws.org The signatories declare: \"As journalists and journalists\' organizations that believe in human rights, freedom of information and of the public\'s right to know, we demand the immediate release of Julian Assange.\"

Staff (2019-12-09). Indigenous and Youth Activists Slam Global Leaders for Climate Inaction. truthout.org We broadcast from Madrid, Spain, where the 25th United Nations climate conference is in its second week and representatives from almost 200 countries have gathered for the final days of negotiations. The summit — known as COP25, or conference of parties — has so far focused on meeting the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rise to \"well below 2 degrees Celsius,\" or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. But climate scientists say the talks are failing to produce the drastic measures nec…

Staff (2019-12-09). Police Halt Activist-Led \"Toxic Tour\" of Corporate Polluters Sponsoring COP25. truthout.org In Spain, the country\'s biggest fossil fuel polluters are also some of the most generous sponsors for this year\'s U.N. climate talks. On Saturday, we joined activists on a \"toxic tour\" of Madrid from the Madrid stock exchange to Santander Bank. Activists explained that when Spanish President Pedro Sánchez announced that Spain would host COP25, he went to IBEX 35 — the 35 biggest listed companies in the Spanish stock exchange — offering them a 90% tax break on a $2 million sponsorship.

Text: RR Photos: Leo Leung, Pro Bono Photo (2019-12-09). Palo Alto Youth Lead Local Protest during U.N. Climate Conference. indybay.org This year is the 25th meeting of the conference under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, COP25. The conference is being held December 2 through the 13th in Madrid. In Palo Alto, California on December 6th, youth activists led a Climate Strike, part of a coordinated international action timed to coincide with the U.N. Conference.

Fight Back (2019-12-09). Arizona educators, progressives confront ALEC summit and Betsy DeVos. fightbacknews.org Tucson, AZ – On December 4, a coalition of union educators, immigrant rights, police crimes, and climate change activists confronted the agenda of corporations like UPS and energy industry giants and billionaires like Charles Koch and Sheldon Achelson. At its height the crowd numbered around 200 with signs reading: \"ALEC: Oligarchy in progress\" and \"Privatization, criminalization, incarceration, climate change, imperialism: #ALECisBehindIt.\" | The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a notorious organization of hardcore conservatives, was holding its States and Nation Policy Summit in Arizona. ALEC hoste…

IMEMC News (2019-12-09). Israeli Soldiers Demolish Shed, Uproot Lands, Near Hebron. imemc.org Israeli soldiers demolished, Monday, a shed and uprooted six Dunams (1.48 Acres) of Palestinian farmlands in Beit Ummar town, north of Hebron, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank. Media activist, Mohammad Awad, said the soldiers demolished a shed, owned by a Palestinian, identified as Ahmad Bader Abu …

Stephen Lendman (2019-12-09). Israel\'s War Minister Naftali Bennett Threatens Iran. globalresearch.ca Israeli ruling authorities are the most extremist in Jewish state history. Arab MKs aside, the vast majority of Knesset members are militantly hardline racists, threatening regional peace and stability. | New Right party head Naftali Bennett earlier held various ministries, including …

Leon Kunstenaar (2019-12-09). SF Climate Strike at BlackRock and March to Senator Feinstein\'s Office. indybay.org Photos: Leon Kunstenaar, Pro Bono Photo | Message of climate urgency delivered where most needed in day of world wide protests…

Kirkpatrick Sale (2019-12-09). Political Collapse: The Center Cannot Hold. counterpunch.org Have you noticed? From Hong Kong to Baghdad, Paris to Tehran, 2019 is shaping up to be, as the New York Times dubbed it, \"the year of the protest.\" Violent—and often deadly—anti-government protests are breaking out throughout the world in an unprecedented fashion, in rich countries as well as poor, as people everywhere are expressing their anger at corrupt, inefficient, brutal, and unresponsive regimes. More

WSWS (2019-12-09). Youth demonstrating in Australia speak out against climate change and war. wsws.org Students attended climate change protests in major cities in solidarity with rallies organised globally on November 29.

Fréa Lockley (2019-12-09). Here\'s more proof that Johnson doesn\'t give a s*** about the climate emergency. thecanary.co On 9 December, Boris Johnson showed once again that he really doesn\'t care about the climate emergency. | Jet set: | In a last-minute effort to woo voters, Johnson visited Labour strongholds in the north of England. But following a trip to a fish market in Grimsby, he took a private jet from Doncaster to Teeside. This is an 84-mile t…

Elijah J. Magnier (2019-12-09). What Have the US and Protesters in Lebanon Achieved over Iran and Its Allies? globalresearch.ca For several weeks now, much of the Lebanese population has turned on the country\'s traditional political leaders and wrought havoc on the corrupt domestic political system. Those who have ruled the country for decades have offered little in the way …

Pepe Escobar (2019-12-09). What Really Happened in Iran? Wave of Protests in 100 Cities. globalresearch.ca On November 15, a wave of protests engulfed over 100 Iranian cities as the government resorted to an extremely unpopular measure: a fuel tax hike of as much as 300%, without a semblance of a PR campaign to explain the …

IMEMC News & Agencies (2019-12-09). Hunger-striker in Serious Condition. imemc.org Ahmad Zahran, a Palestinian administrative detainee held in Israeli jails who has been on hunger strike for 78 consecutive days, in protest against his incarceration without charge or trial, is in serious health condition and has been admitted to an Israeli hospital, today, said the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS). Zahran, …

Stephen Lendman (2019-12-09). Banning Russian Athletes? Politicized International Sports Competition Rears Its Ugly Head Again. globalresearch.ca Olympism and other major international sports events are all about profiteering, exploiting athletes, scandalous wheeling, dealing, collusion, and bribery, marginalizing the poor, other disenfranchised groups, and affected communities, sticking taxpayers with the bill, and providing nothing in return but hype …

Paul Antonopoulos (2019-12-09). NATO Doesn\'t Care that Montenegro Is a Haven for Crime and Corruption. globalresearch.ca There was international jubilation when Montenegro seceded from its union with Serbia in 2006 after a controversial referendum. The Referendum Law prevented Montenegrins living and registered in Serbia from voting in the referendum, ensuring that tens of thousands of Montenegrins, …

Robert Fisk (2019-12-09). Meet the Controversial Actor and Businessman Standing Up Against Egypt\'s el-Sisi. counterpunch.org Mohamed Ali infuriates Field Marshal President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt. His waspish, cruel, outrageously funny, solemnly pedantic videos and social media messages transmitted from his self-exile in Spain, mocking the man who overthrew Egypt\'s first elected president, even brought demonstrators back on to the streets of Cairo in September. But the 45-year-old actor and More

Scott Tucker (2019-12-09). Premature Democratic Socialists: Reasons for Hope and Change. counterpunch.org In the United States there was a time in the previous century when a political campaign was waged against \"premature antifascists,\" namely against members of the socialist left who warned and fought against fascism well before World War II. In the wake of that war, the leading career politicians also worked within a corporate consensus More

Ralph Nader (2019-12-09). Why Not Also Go With \"The Kitchen Table\" Impeachable Offenses for Removal? counterpunch.org Will the Democrats move to impeach Trump for a narrow brace of violations and accept that the Senate Republicans will keep this outlaw in the White House? Or will they present the Senate with the President\'s many proven impeachable offenses, thereby requiring the Senate Republicans, before live national television, in a public trial to defend More

Dahr Jamail (2019-12-09). Dealing with climate PTSD. nationofchange.org Alaska, in other words, is suffering climate death by a thousand cuts, while I struggle daily to accept the new reality: that the state is already irreparably changed.

Ramzy Baroud (2019-12-09). Money, Power and Turf: Winning the Middle East Media War at Any Cost. dissidentvoice.org It is hardly surprising to see Middle Eastern countries at the bottom of the World Press Freedom Index, as the worst violators of freedom of the press. But equally alarming is the complete polarization of public opinion as a result of self-serving media and, bankrolled by rich Arab countries, whose only goal is to serve …

Ramzy Baroud (2019-12-09). Money, Power and Turf: Winning the Middle East Media War at Any Cost. mintpressnews.com Honest, objective and trust-worthy journalism in the Middle East is suffering a long, agonizing death, thanks not only to crackdowns on the media but also to well-financed propaganda empires.

W. T. Whitney (2019-12-09). Hitting at Cuban Doctors and at Human Solidarity. counterpunch.org News item: Three rightwing Latin American governments have forced out Cuban doctors working in their countries. Over 8000 of them departed from Brazil in late 2018 and 382 doctors left Ecuador in mid-November, 2019. Some 700 Cuban doctors exited Bolivia after the coup there on November 10. Brazilian President Bolsonaro alleged that Cuban doctors were More

Staff (2019-12-09). From Health Insurance Spin Doctor to Truth Teller. truthout.org \"I was getting people to make decisions based on misleading information that could have life or death consequences.\" | That\'s Wendell Potter, the former head of public relations for CIGNA. As the executive spin doctor for one of the biggest health insurance companies in the country, he was responsible for concocting tales that enabled CIGNA to deny coverage, discredit critics, and otherwise cast the corporate health insurance machine in a positive light. That was until the numbers in his spreadsheets became actual people…

Staff (2019-12-09). Big Energy Front Group Launches Push for Troubled Atlantic Coast Pipeline. truthout.org A lobbying group formed by oil and gas industry insiders to push for increased fossil fuel production has turned its focus from promoting offshore drilling in the Atlantic to championing Dominion Energy\'s and Duke Energy\'s controversial Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP). It\'s doing so under the guise of being a pro-consumer group concerned about energy justice, even while its members include major gas production companies as well as Dominion Energy. | Last week, the Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) ha…

Staff (2019-12-09). Alaska Is Already Irreparably Changed by Climate Disruption. truthout.org Recently, I was in Homer, Alaska, to talk about my book The End of Ice. Seconds after I had thanked those who brought me to the small University of Alaska campus there, overwhelmed with some mix of sadness, love and grief about my adopted state — and the planet generally — I wept. | I tried to speak but could only apologize and take a few moments to collect myself. It\'s challenging for me, ev…

Staff (2019-12-09). WATCH LIVE: House Democrats Lay Out Case for Impeaching Trump. truthout.org Members and legal staff of the Democratic-controlled House Judiciary Committees on Monday will lay out their case for the impeachment of President Donald Trump in a hearing scheduled to begin at 9: 00am EST. | According to the New York Times: | After hearing from constitutional scholars last week, the House Judiciary Committee turns f…

Staff (2019-12-09). Chemical Companies Are Building Their Plants Overseas and Shipping Them Back In. truthout.org This article was produced in partnership with The Times-Picayune and The Advocate, which is a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network. | Twice during the last decade, chemical giant Methanex has disassembled a massive methanol plant located at the southern tip of Chile and moved it to Louisiana. | The ship traveled through the Strait of Magellan, along the east coast of South America, into the Gulf of Mexico and up…

Staff (2019-12-09). Trump Is Raising Taxes on Middle-Class Consumers With His Trade War. truthout.org Just when many policy types thought that Donald Trump was about to wind down his trade war with China and work out a deal, he announced that he was in no rush to reach an agreement. He said that he might wait until after the election next year, boasting about the \"massive\" amount of money he was pulling in from his tariffs. | In addition to his China attack, Trump also …

Thomas Knapp (2019-12-09). Meet Virgil Griffith: America\'s Newest Political Prisoner. counterpunch.org On November 29, FBI agents arrested hacker and cryptocurrency developer Virgil Griffith. His alleged crime: Talking. Yes, really. The FBI alleges that Griffith \"participated in discussions regarding using cryptocurrency technologies to evade sanctions and launder money.\" Griffith, a US citizen who lives in Singapore, gave a talk at conference on blockchain technology in April. Because More

IMEMC News & Agencies (2019-12-09). Settlers Storm Al-Aqsa Courtyards. imemc.org 39 Israeli settlers, on Monday morning, stormed the Islamic court yards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, guarded by Israeli occupation police. Local media sources reported that police opened the Moroccan Gate in front of 36 settlers, who broke into the mosque in four groups. Police escorted the settlers while they toured the …