Learning from Harry Haywood in the fight for Black freedom and socialism
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-08-14
Anyone doubting the relevance of Harry Haywood's writings in 2020 hasn't paid much attention to political events this year. | After success in three early Democratic primaries, Bernie Sanders' social democratic campaign for president, supported by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), ran first aground in South Carolina in February. African American voters turned out in greater numbers for his opponent, Joe Biden, even while favoring many of Sanders' policies like Medicare For All. Voter turnout was low in general, owing to the fundamentally undemocratic character of the U.S. political system, and a lot of…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/8/13/learning-harry-haywood-fight-black-freedom-and-socialism

Real Life Heroes: 'a simple word can mean a lot to a refugee'
news.un.org | 2020-08-14
After leaving Gaza as a refugee, Shadi Mohammedali decided to dedicate himself to helping others in a similar situation. Today, he is working for an NGO in a Greek camp for asylum seekers, explaining how they can protect themselves from COVID-19.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/08/1069902

Whispers in the Asylum (Seven Days in August)
Paul Street | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
Hollow Resistance: The Antidote to Obama Nostalgia Syndrome The deadly ObamaLust Virus is ironically intensified by the fascist Amerikaner presidency the corporate-imperial Barack Obama helped hatch and empower. Here is an antidote that has passed with flying colors through all the testing trials: Paul Street, Hollow Resistance: Obama, Trump, and the Politics of Appeasement, now…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/whispers-in-the-asylum-seven-days-in-august/

The Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic: The Real Danger is "Agenda ID2020"
Peter Koenig | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-14
WHO has most likely received orders from "above", from those people who also manage Trump and the "leaders" (sic) of the EU, European Union. The final decision to go ahead NOW with COVID-19 pandemic, was taken in January 2020 at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos – behind very much closed doors.
globalresearch.ca/coronavirus-causes-effects-real-danger-agenda-id2020/5706153

Bill Gates and the Depopulation Agenda. Robert F. Kennedy Junior Calls for an Investigation
Peter Koenig | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-14
Robert F Kennedy Jr, an avid Defender of Children's Rights and anti-vaccination activist, has launched a petition sent to the White House, calling for "Investigations into the 'Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation' for Medical Malpractice & Crimes Against Humanity"
globalresearch.ca/bill-gates-and-the-depopulation-agenda-robert-f-kennedy-junior-calls-for-an-investigation/5710021

Can Lebanon be Saved?
Robert Fisk | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
"Well, we can all agree that the sea took 70 per cent of the blast!" a close Lebanese friend announced to me this week, with intriguing if doubtful science. I had asked him — because I knew the answer — which of Lebanon's religious communities had suffered most grievously from the explosion that changed the…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/can-lebanon-be-saved/

It Is Late, but It Is Early Morning If We Insist a Little
Vijay Prashad | zcomm.org | 2020-08-14
Nothing happens in Beirut and Lebanon that is transparent; plots of all kinds unravel against the ordinary hopes of the population…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/it-is-late-but-it-is-early-morning-if-we-insist-a-little/

'Magical Thinking' has Always Guided the US Role in Afghanistan
Paul Fitzgerald, Elizabeth Gould | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." — The Queen of Hearts from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland The best way for us to understand Afghanistan is to look at the record of American involvement going back four decades and to look at the record requires a reexamination of…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/magical-thinking-has-always-guided-the-us-role-in-afghanistan/

Biden Wins, Then What?
Andrew Bacevich | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
Assume Joe Biden wins the presidency. Assume as well that he genuinely intends to repair the damage our country has sustained since we declared ourselves history's "Indispensable Nation," compounded by the traumatic events of 2020 that demolished whatever remnants of that claim survived. Assume, that is, that this aging career politician and creature of the…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/biden-wins-then-what/

Biden Wins: Then What?
Andrew J. Bacevich | zcomm.org | 2020-08-14
If he seriously intends to be more than a relic of pre-Trump liberal centrism, how exactly should President Biden go about making his mark?>…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/biden-wins-then-what/

We Do Not Live in the World of Before
Kenn Orphan | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
Following the announcement of US presidential candidate Joe Biden picking Kamala Harris for VP, I have seen many social media posts. US American liberal friends seem thrilled and some have already started the "vote shaming." Biden and Harris have been forgiven or, better yet, not even noted for their centrist, rightwing past. And I have…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/we-do-not-live-in-the-world-of-before/

Will Biden be Less Belligerent Than Trump?
Brian Cloughley | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
The only Democrat nominee in the presidential contest is former vice-president Joe Biden, and he has chosen a non-white running-mate who Trump calls "extraordinarily nasty", so it looks like we'll be in for four years of the man known to Trump as "Sleepy Joe." In a bizarre series of allegations on August 7, William Evanina, the director of the…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/will-biden-be-less-belligerent-than-trump/

What Trump and the Republican Party Teach Us
Joseph Natoli | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
"Tis now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out. Contagion to this world; now could I drink hot blood, And do such bitter business as the day." — Hamlet Both teach us or should have taught us by now many, many things but foremost for a Biden administration to consider is that…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/what-trump-and-the-republican-party-teach-us/

Why 5G is the First Stage of a Tech War Between the U.S. and China
Prabir Purkayastha | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
The U.S. tech war on China continues, banning Chinese equipment from its network, and asking its Five Eyes partners and NATO allies to follow suit. It is a market and a technology denial regime that seeks to win back manufacturing that the U.S. and European countries have lost to China. International trade assumed that goods…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/why-5g-is-the-first-stage-of-a-tech-war-between-the-u-s-and-china/

Trump's Plan: Gut Social Security, Bankrupt the States
Eve Ottenberg | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
Trump's economic policy is simple: gut social security and bankrupt the states. He made this clear when he announced his executive orders on August 8. By suspending the payroll tax, he chokes off funding for social security and Medicare; he says he'll ditch that tax completely if reelected. That means in about 10 years the…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/trumps-plan-gut-social-security-bankrupt-the-states/

Business as Usual Equals Many Extra Deaths from Global Warming
Pete Dolack | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
Is it already too late to stop global warming? That question is not asked with thoughts of throwing up hands in despair and giving up. Rather, that question must be asked in the context of mitigating future damage to whatever degree might yet be possible. The context here is that the carbon dioxide, methane and…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/business-as-usual-equals-many-extra-deaths-from-global-warming/

Lights! Camera! Kill! Hollywood, the Pentagon and Imperial Ambitions
Matthew Hoh | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
There's a sickness that comes with the certainty of those who view the world in so black and white, so good and bad, so us versus them terms, that killing is often a morally defensible act. More so, such killing often goes beyond just simple self defense, to a level of retributive necessity, a preventive…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/lights-camera-kill-hollywood-the-pentagon-and-imperial-ambitions/

Bloody Chicken: Inside the American Poultry Industry During the Time of COVID
Joseph Grosso | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
One effect of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. is the momentary spotlight it shined on the meatpacking industry. Working conditions inside packing plants were exposed in the sheer number of workers who were infected with the virus. Exact numbers are elusive but thousands of cases have been confirmed along with up to 100 deaths. Meanwhile, meatpacking workers were deemed 'essential.'…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/bloody-chicken-inside-the-american-poultry-industry-during-the-time-of-covid/

Science Does Not Support the Claims About Grizzly Hunting, Lethal Removal
Adrian Treves — John Laundré | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
As the Montana Governor's Grizzly Bear Advisory Council (GBAC) works to finalize its recommendations regarding the future of grizzly bear management in Montana, it would be well-advised to follow its own guiding principle: "the best available science should inform decisions in all aspects of grizzly bear management and conservation." A close look at what that…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/science-does-not-support-the-claims-about-grizzly-hunting-lethal-removal/

Trump's Fake News
Richard C. Gross | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
The chief flim-flam man in the White House is putting one over on the American people again, signing an executive order bypassing Congress with his big, fat black pen — that dreaded instrument — that will do nearly nothing to help the 30 million unemployed but create chaos. The four-part order President Donald Trump signed…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/trumps-fake-news/

Toppled Monuments and the Struggle For Symbolic Space
Michael Welton | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
Outrage and anger directed at monuments, religious imagery and art itself is nothing new in humankind's chequered history. Usually we think of iconoclasm as the smashing of religious images, relics and stained glass windows. The Tudor period in English history epitomizes this state-administered intention to smash the icons. Tabitha Barber and Stacy Boldrick (Art Under…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/toppled-monuments-and-the-struggle-for-symbolic-space/

It's a Sick Country
Ron Jacobs | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
Working is a risky business these days. I'm not a coal miner, a heavy equipment operator or a logger. I don't work in a steel mill where molten iron is poured into molds. Hell, I don't even work in a kitchen where hot oil spatters and ovens bake at 400 degrees. I work at a…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/its-a-sick-country/

Compromise & the Status Quo
Kollibri terre Sonnenblume | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
Life is all about compromise, people say. Don't I know it. That is, don't I know that people say it. Personally, I don't think it's true. When people say this, they are conflating "life" with "society" and even then, they are limiting the concept of "society" to how the powerful define it, not to how…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/compromise-the-status-quo/

Refinery Shutdown, Santa Barbara Co. Staff Report Jeopardize ExxonMobil Offshore Drilling
Dan Bacher | indybay.org | 2020-08-14
However, opponents of offshore drilling say two unrelated developments that took place yesterday could undermine these plans. A coalition of conservation, environmental justice and indigenous groups is calling on the oil company to abandon this project and decommission its offshore rigs.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/14/18835915.php

Beirut blast death toll rises to 178, with 30 still missing
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-08-14
The death toll from last week's massive explosion in Lebanon's capital has risen to nearly 180. An estimated 6,000 people were injured and at least 30 are missing, the United Nations (UN) said on Friday 14 August.The explosion has affected operations at six hospitals, up from an initial three, and damaged more than 20 clinics in the parts of Beirut worst hit by the blast, the UN's humanitarian affairs agency said in a report. The report said: A preliminary rapid assessment within a 15-kilometre radius of the explosions has revealed that, out of 55 medical facilities, only half are fully operational and around 40%…
thecanary.co/global/world-news/2020/08/14/beirut-blast-death-toll-rises-to-178-with-30-still-missing/

USPS warns Pennsylvania over delivery of mail ballots
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-14
The US Postal Service (USPS) has warned battleground state Pennsylvania that its election deadlines are "too tight" for its standards and might cause delays in delivery of mail-in ballots, according to a report.USPS' letter dated July 29 made public late Thursday as a motion filed to the state's Supreme Court in which officials are asking approval to continue counting mail ballots received up to three days after Nov. 3, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.Thomas J. Marshall, general counsel and executive vice president of the USPS, warned in the letter that "certain deadlines for requesting and casting mail-in bal…
yenisafak.com/en/news/usps-warns-pennsylvania-over-delivery-of-mail-ballots-3536851

Turkey may suspend ties with UAE, withdraw ambassasdor
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-14
After the United Arab Emirates' controversial deal to normalize ties with Israel, Turkey may downgrade its relations with the UAE, Turkey's president has said."We may take steps to suspend diplomatic ties with the UAE or withdraw our ambassador," Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul after Friday prayers.On Israel, Erdogan called its recent solidarity with Egypt and Greece and steps towards Palestine unacceptable.In signing a maritime pact last week, Athens and Cairo continued efforts to box in Ankara's territory in the Mediterranean based on small islands near Turkish shores, violating the interests of…
yenisafak.com/en/news/turkey-may-suspend-ties-with-uae-withdraw-ambassasdor-3536848

Roaming Charges: It Had to be You
Jeffrey St. Clair | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
Kamala Harris is the least surprising VP pick since Bob Dole tapped Jack Kemp as his running mate in 1996. Harris is as bland, safe and predictable as Kemp, but she adds little to an already boring campaign and comes with toxic baggage of her own that may repel the voters Biden needs the most. Biden is counting on Harris' reputation as a prosecutor to make a case against Trump that most people have already reached a verdict against. Yet, as a prosecutor and attorney general, Harris made a career out of punching below her weight class, sternly going after low-level drug and property crimes while largely turning a…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/roaming-charges-it-had-to-be-you/

The Politics of War: What is Israel's Endgame in Lebanon and Syria?
Ramzy Baroud | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
On August 4, hours before a massive explosion rocked the Lebanese capital, Beirut, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, issued an ominous warning to Lebanon. "We hit a cell and now we hit the dispatchers. I suggest to all of them, including Hezbollah, to consider this," Netanyahu said during an official tour of a military facility…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/the-politics-of-war-what-is-israels-endgame-in-lebanon-and-syria/

The "Lesser-Evil" Syndrome: Noam Chomsky's Fall Into Self-Contradiction
Michael K. Smith | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-08-14
In a recent interview Noam Chomsky declared that there "was a big difference" between Hubert Humphrey and Richard Nixon in the 1968 presidential elections, a difference "you could count in several million corpses in Indochina." But, Chomsky added, "a lot of the young people on the left said, "I'm not going to vote for Humphrey. …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/08/the-lesser-evil-syndrome-noam-chomskys-fall-into-self-contradiction/

The Criminology of Global Warming
Thomas Klikauer — Nadine Campbell | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
Some — like Exxon since 1957 — have been aware that the world is facing global warming that has all the signs to render earth uninhabitable. At least with United Nations' IPPC and NASA reporting on global warming, others have realised that we also face an unprecedented threat. Potentially, all of this is an issue…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/the-criminology-of-global-warming/

Predatory Capitalism and the Nuclear Threat in the Age of Trump
Richard Falk — Daniel Falcone | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
Daniel Falcone: You recently stated that it has never been more urgent that we repudiate nuclearism in all forms. What rationales do proponents of this put forth? Richard Falk: It is important to view with some skepticism the justifications offered by the governments of nuclear weapons states for retaining the weaponry, and to articulate the…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/predatory-capitalism-and-the-nuclear-threat-in-the-age-of-trump/

The Reign of Error
Daniel Beaumont | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
He's flailing, more desperate. More lost in a welter of words that no longer answer any question but only generate more questions. I have not even mentioned his name and my readers know of whom I speak. Trump has finally achieved the sort of fame he has always longed for. But like many if not…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/the-reign-of-error/

Covid-19: past, present and future
Ron Forthofer | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-08-14
The current pandemic continues to have a large negative impact on most aspects of our lives. Over 20.6 million have been infected and almost 750,000 have died worldwide (about 5.3 million infections and over 168,00 deaths in the US) due to this pandemic. Besides these horrific impacts, this pandemic has also made clearer the failure …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/08/covid-19-past-present-and-future/

School That Suspended Student Documenting Lack of Social Distancing Goes Virtual
Chris Walker | zcomm.org | 2020-08-14
In spite of President Donald Trump's errant assurances that children are "almost definitely" immune from COVID-19, at least 97,000 kids in the United States tested positive for the disease in the last two weeks of July…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/school-that-suspended-student-documenting-lack-of-social-distancing-goes-virtual/

First two weeks of US school reopenings lead to massive spread of COVID-19
wsws.org | 2020-08-14
Schools across the US continued to reopen for in-person classes this week, leading to the exposure of thousands of teachers and students to the deadly virus.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/14/scho-a14.html

Imperialists Run The Same Tired Old Script Day After Fucking Day
Caitlin Johnstone | thealtworld.com | 2020-08-14
tweeted the following: | "Belarusians, inside and outside of the country, have reached out to me this week to ask why the West is so indifferent to their courageous fight for democracy. I can't explain. Can you?" | I am not highlighting this tweet because it is remarkable (except for the extremely dubious claim that anyone ever reaches out to Michael McFaul). I am highlighting it because it is completely unremarkable. | New on MoA: | Belarus — A U.S. Sponsored Color Revolution Is Underway t.co/aQMnrMmMPc pic.twitter.com/HJkFv…

Imperialists Run The Same Tired Old Script Day After Fucking Day

German court and state prosecutor ignore evidence of far-right terrorist network in Làºbcke trial
wsws.org | 2020-08-14
The long preparation time for the murder of Làºbcke and the close connections of the defendants to the violent neo-Nazi scene strongly suggest that there were other confidants or accomplices.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/14/lueb-a14.html

Israel-UAE Agreement Does Not End Threat of Israeli Annexation
CJPME | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-14
In light of today's normalization agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) warns that the threat of Israeli annexation remains as urgent as ever. A widely reported statement published …
globalresearch.ca/israel-uae-agreement-does-not-end-threat-israeli-annexation/5721102

Oil workers in Nigeria strike over withheld salaries
Pavan Kulkarni | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-14
Oil workers in Nigeria's public sector began a three day strike action on Wednesday, August 12. They are protesting against the non-payment of salaries for the last three months. The striking workers, who are members of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), held a demonstration outside the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources. | The government has withheld their salaries because of their refusal to enroll on the controversial Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). IPPIS was introduced as a centralized automated platform to monitor and manage payments t…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/14/oil-workers-in-nigeria-strike-over-withheld-salaries/

France holds joint military exercises with Greece, threatening Turkey
wsws.org | 2020-08-14
Mounting tensions between NATO powers threaten to blow up the alliance as the pandemic intensifies pre-existing conflicts over oil and strategic advantage.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/14/turk-a14.html

Learning from the hibakushas
Robert Koehler | zcomm.org | 2020-08-14
Waging peace is more complex than waging war, but we've given ourselves no choice but to take on the challenge. At long last…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/learning-from-the-hibakushas/

Movement in Geneva, NY, continues daily protests despite threats, repression
Hannah Dickinson | liberationnews.org | 2020-08-14
On July 19, Geneva City Councior Frank Gaglianese said he wished that he "could have got a gun and shot the squares on my computer screen and killed everybody" who participated in a recent virtual forum on police accountability. .
liberationnews.org/movement-in-geneva-ny-continues-daily-protests-despite-threats-repression/

Where is resistance to structural violence of capitalism?
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-08-14
The reality in the United States has come to this: 160,000 dead in four months, thousands hospitalized, and many thousands sick or afraid to be sick because they have no sick days and no health insurance.
mronline.org/2020/08/14/where-is-resistance-to-structural-violence-of-capitalism/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=where-is-resistance-to-structural-violence-of-capitalism

Andrew Cuomo Wants to Protect His Wall Street Donors From Paying Taxes
Matthew Cunningham-Cook | zcomm.org | 2020-08-14
New York Democratic legislators are trying to tax stock trades, capital gains, and carried interest. Wall Street, of course, is horrified by such a development — but luckily, their millions in campaign contributions have helped create a solid friendship with Governor Andrew Cuomo…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/andrew-cuomo-wants-to-protect-his-wall-street-donors-from-paying-taxes/

Anti-laundering bill targeting shell companies stalled in Senate as big banks caught cooking books
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-08-14
The Anti-Money Laundering Act would expose the owners of shell companies now sits alone on a shelf in the U.S. Senate while the Federal Reserve shrugs its shoulders in the face of blatant manipulation by the too-big-to-fail banks.
mronline.org/2020/08/14/anti-laundering-bill-targeting-shell-companies-stalled-in-senate-as-big-banks-caught-cooking-books/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=anti-laundering-bill-targeting-shell-companies-stalled-in-senate-as-big-banks-caught-cooking-books

A great read for Fidel Castro's birthday
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-08-14
In honor of Fidel Castro's birthday, Fight Back! is circulating a speech he delivered on May 1, 2003. Castro was born on August 13, 1926. Enjoy. | | Cuba's achievements and America's wars | | Distinguished guests; | | Dear fellow Cubans: | | Our heroic people have struggled for 44 years from this small Caribbean island just a few miles away from the most formidable imperial power ever known by mankind. In so doing, they have written an unprecedented chapter in history. Never has the world witnessed such an unequal fight. | | Some may have believed that the rise of the empire to…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/8/13/great-read-fidel-castro-s-birthday

Just 1 percent of the US Pentagon budget could end world hunger
George Stacey | nationofchange.org | 2020-08-14
The war machine must go on and keep on growing or, more than likely they'll end up out of an occupation.
nationofchange.org/2020/08/13/just-1-percent-of-the-us-pentagon-budget-could-end-world-hunger/

The QAnon cult is growing and the media is helping
Mathew Ingram | zcomm.org | 2020-08-14
Stocks and bonds may be weak, but we're still in a raging bull market for one commodity, and that is disinformation…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/the-qanon-cult-is-growing-and-the-media-is-helping/

'It Means Nothing': Trump's Pledge to Aid Tenants Won't Halt Evictions
Katy O'Donnell | zcomm.org | 2020-08-14
Donald Trump's executive order wouldn't do much to immediately help the 20 million or so Americans who face losing their homes in the next few months.
zcomm.org/znetarticle/it-means-nothing-trumps-pledge-to-aid-tenants-wont-halt-evictions/

Dead Zones: Industrial agriculture versus ocean life
Ian Angus | mronline.org | 2020-08-14
Worldwide, there are now over a thousand coastal areas where fish can't breathe. The nitrogen that makes crops grow is also destroying offshore ecosystems.
mronline.org/2020/08/14/dead-zones-industrial-agriculture-versus-ocean-life/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dead-zones-industrial-agriculture-versus-ocean-life

Why I Am Voting No on the Democratic Party Platform
Ro Khanna | zcomm.org | 2020-08-14
History teaches us that the Democratic Party has sometimes faced an issue so great that it alone should be the yardstick for measuring the wisdom of voting for or against the platform. This is one of those times. And Medicare for All is that issue.
zcomm.org/znetarticle/why-i-am-voting-no-on-the-democratic-party-platform/

Disaster in Lebanon seen as 'opportunity' by U.S. & Israel
Joyce Chediac | liberationnews.org | 2020-08-14
What the people of Lebanon need now is solidarity and an immediate and massive aid effort, proportionate to the damage done, and given to all without political strings.
liberationnews.org/disaster-in-lebanon-seen-as-opportunity-by-u-s-israel/

Mounting opposition against school openings in Germany
wsws.org | 2020-08-14
While many teachers, parents and students are opposed to opening schools under unsafe conditions, administrators and politicians are arrogantly ignoring their concerns.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/14/germ-a14.html

UN chief welcomes Israel-UAE agreement
news.un.org | 2020-08-14
The UN Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed a joint statement by the leaders of the United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which suspends Israeli annexation plans over parts of the occupied West Bank, something the UN has consistently called for.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/08/1070192

Congress adjourns for month-long vacation without action on US unemployment crisis
wsws.org | 2020-08-14
The capitalist politicians will be holding their presidential nominating conventions while millions of workers have been cut off from federal benefits.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/14/cong-a14.html

Top climate economists make case for US to recommit to Paris Agreement
imperial.ac.uk | 2020-08-14
Recommitting to the Paris agreement would reap significant economic benefits for the US, say leading climate economists and policy experts.
imperial.ac.uk/news/201933/top-climate-economists-make-case-us

Imperial researchers receive Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowships
imperial.ac.uk | 2020-08-14
Two researchers working on advanced biomedical imaging and developing new lubricants have been awarded new fellowships.
imperial.ac.uk/news/201894/imperial-researchers-receive-royal-academy-engineering

Fisher KIPP Malcom X Academy Room & Land Grab To Bust Up Public School
Labor Video Project | indybay.org | 2020-08-14
The KIPP charter run by Doris Fisher and her family who own the GAP corporation are suing the San Francisco Unified School District to grab more rooms from the Malcom X Academy in Hunters Point/Bay View for their KIPP privately run school. These white corporate billionaires and millionaires on the KIPP board want to destroy the Malcom X Academy public School.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/13/18835909.php

Saturday 8/15: SF Chinatown Walkway Weekends
Eva Lee | indybay.org | 2020-08-14
Chinatown, Grant Avenue from California to Washington Streets…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/13/18835906.php

Stimulus spending to promote clean energy as a vehicle for environmental justice
Olivia Baaten | indybay.org | 2020-08-14
Issues of environmental justice have been highlited in recent events, and it is high time that the nation take action. Minorities are disproportionately affected by Coronavirus, an issue which is exacerbated by environmental injustice. Low interest rates make the current hour opportune for clean energy stimulus spending, which would serve the state where fossil fuels have failed.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/13/18835898.php

Friday 8/21: San Francisco: March for the Dead, Fight for the Living
Vigil for Democracy | indybay.org | 2020-08-14
San Francisco: meet at Crissy Field Warming Hut, 983 Marine Drive, San Francisco, CA 94129; | then march across Golden Gate Bridge…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/13/18835914.php

ENLACES de Red Latina sin fronteras 13.08.2020
Red Latina sin fronteras | indybay.org | 2020-08-14
ENLACES de Red Latina sin fronteras 13.08.2020 | comunicaciones e información para la liberación…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/13/18835899.php

Police Off Campus: Defund Police & End Police & ICE Presence at UCSC
John Malkin | indybay.org | 2020-08-14
Interview with University of California at Santa Cruz professors on Defunding Police and Ending Police / ICE Presence on Campus…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/12/18835887.php

Thursday 8/13: Sacramento Caravan: #SayTheirNames & Bring Our Loved Ones Home
Families United to End LWOP, FUEL | indybay.org | 2020-08-14
California State Capitol | 1315 10th St | Sacramento, CA 95814…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/12/18835890.php

California Judicial Council vote to end ban on evictions is a ticking time bomb
Lynda Carson | indybay.org | 2020-08-14
Frances Hailman, Eleanor Walden & Lynda Carson Are Organizers At Tenant's Rally To Help Save The Section 8 Program In Berkeley Years Ago:…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/13/18835908.php

Friday 8/28: "The Last Black Man in San Francisco" Film Screening & Discussion
Mechanics' Institute Library of San Francisco | indybay.org | 2020-08-14
Online via Zoom…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/13/18835907.php

Europe needs an effective guarantee of youth solidarity
Johann Bacher, Dennis Tamesberger&awblog.at. | indybay.org | 2020-08-14
The Youth Guarantee could create an entry-level job market in the public or non-profit sector – in other words, jobs that serve the common good. It is the austerity policy in the wake of the finnacial and economic crisis that has delayed the socio- and ecological transformation in European countries and opened up gaps in services which now need to be closed.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/13/18835903.php

Fired UCSC Grad Students Win Their Jobs Back
Direct Action | indybay.org | 2020-08-14
The COLA movement shows that when we fight we win! Our wildcat strike has made concrete gains for grad student-workers, including a $2,500 annual housing stipend and 5 years of guaranteed TAships or other funding. | Let this win motivate us in our fight for justice in higher education!
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/12/18835895.php

Tuesday 8/18: City Hall Action: Cut SCPD Budget
Faisal Fazilat — DSA | indybay.org | 2020-08-14
Starts at Santa Cruz City Hall 809 Center St | Details and exact times TBA…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/12/18835893.php

Wednesday 8/19: How to Change the World in One Generation – DxE Intro Workshop
Direct Action Everywhere | indybay.org | 2020-08-14
Online…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/13/18835897.php

'Health risks far too great': Iconic 'Tribute in Light' display to honor 9/11 victims 'put out' over CORONAVIRUS fears
rt.com | 2020-08-14
Towering beams of light representing the Twin Towers will not be part of this year's 9/11 commemoration, with event organizers saying that a highlight of the anniversary is now canceled due to coronavirus concerns. | The memorial said that it had made "an incredibly hard decision" to cancel the spectacle, but since "a large crew" is required to make it happen, the event entails "far too great" of a risk amidst the coronavirus pandemic. | Instead of the annual display that first pierced the skies over New York City in 2002 — visible all the way to Northern New Jersey and Long Island — the museum said…
rt.com/usa/497984-9-11-tribute-cancelled-coronavirus/

Megachurch sues California, challenging state over ban on large religious services while allowing massive protests
rt.com | 2020-08-14
A California church has sued the state, arguing it was hypocritical to restrict religious services because of the Covid-19 pandemic while allowing political gatherings, such as Black Lives Matters protests, to rumble on. | Grace Community Church in suburban Los Angeles filed the suit on Thursday, saying Governor Gavin Newsom and other state and city officials have violated California's constitution by applying pandemic regulations unequally. | "It is time for California to explain how it can justify banning worship to prevent the spread of a disease (with an overall mortality rate of 0.02 percent) while it is…
rt.com/usa/497978-california-church-covid-suit/

Oregon State Police withdraw from Portland as DA declines to prosecute rioters & looters arrested during protests
rt.com | 2020-08-14
Oregon state troopers have pulled out of Portland, leaving local police to handle ongoing protests in the city soon after the county district attorney said he would not prosecute most of those apprehended amid the unrest. | The move was confirmed late on Thursday by Oregon State Police (OSP) spokesman Tim Fox, who said the department had left Portland after its two-week commitment to defend a federal courthouse in the city ended on Wednesday night. | "At this time we are inclined to move… resources back to counties where prosecution of criminal conduct is still a priority. [Wednesday] night was our last nigh…
rt.com/usa/497982-oregon-police-withdraws-prosecution/

WATCH: CA police officer saves wheelchair user stuck on train tracks from certain death with seconds to spare
rt.com | 2020-08-14
A Lodi California police officer is being hailed as a hero after she saved a wheelchair user, who became trapped on railroad tracks, from an oncoming Union Pacific train with mere seconds to spare. | The heart-wrenching incident took place shortly before 9am local time on Wednesday. As Officer Erika Urrea of the Lodi Police Department was on patrol, she noticed a 66-year-old man in a wheelchair in some distress as the crossing barriers were coming down. | Without a second thought, the quick-thinking cop sprinted to free the man, making it from the steering wheel of her car to the man's wheelchair in under 15 s…
rt.com/usa/497991-cop-saves-wheelchair-oncoming-train/

'Stop 2020 from becoming 1984': Fortnite developer sues Apple & Google after game YANKED from stores in in-app payment row
rt.com | 2020-08-14
The company behind Fortnite has all but declared war on big tech after the game was pulled from Apple's App Store and Google Play, thanks to a recent update that skirted mandatory fees for in-app payments. | The popular title was scrubbed from the App Store following a major update on Thursday, which allowed players to make direct payments to Fortnite developer Epic Games, circumventing a 30 percent fee required on the platform. In response, Epic has sued Apple, accusing the company of "anti-competitive restrain…
rt.com/usa/497983-epic-games-sues-apple-google/

YouTube aims to 'protect' elections by CENSORING what it deems to be 'hacked materials'
rt.com | 2020-08-14
YouTube will remove videos containing "hacked information" about election candidates if it deems them aimed at election meddling. The censorship is supposedly needed to protect the integrity of democratic institutions in the US. | The Google-owned video platform explained on Thursday how it intends to protect users from malign actors during election campaigns and allow apparently benign actors to better engage with voters. Among other things, YouTube will delete videos that contain "hacked information, the disclosure of which may interfere with democratic processes such as elections and censuses," Leslie Mille…
rt.com/usa/497997-youtube-bans-hacked-content/

First they came for WikiLeaks: 'BlueLeaks' activists pursued as 'criminal hacker group' by DHS despite not hacking
rt.com | 2020-08-14
Distributed Denial of Secrets, the group that published the "BlueLeaks" trove of hacked police documents in June, is being persecuted as a "criminal hacker group" by the US Department of Homeland Security — just like WikiLeaks. | The transparency activists "conducted a hack-and-leak operation targeting federal, state, and local law enforcement databases," according to a document circulated by the DHS' Office of Intelligence and Analysis among law enforcement fusion centers in late June, recently obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request and published by the Verge on Thursday. | There was just…
rt.com/usa/497965-ddos-hacktivists-criminal-wikileaks-police/

Iran brands UAE-Israel deal a stab in the back to 'all Muslims'
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-08-14
Iran has strongly condemned a historic deal establishing full diplomatic relations between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel. It's called the move a stab in the back to all Muslims. | A statement from the country's foreign ministry, reported by state TV on Friday 14 August, called the normalising of ties between the two countries a dangerous, "shameful" measure. Moreover, It warned the UAE against Israel interfering in the "political equations" of the Persian Gulf region. The statement said: The UAE government and other accompanying governments must accept responsibility for all the consequences of this ac…
thecanary.co/global/world-news/2020/08/14/iran-brands-uae-israel-deal-a-stab-in-the-back-to-all-muslims/

Centro CSO Condemns LAPD S.W.AT. Swarming BLM Leader's Home
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-08-14
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Centro Community Service Organization (Centro CSO). | The morning of August 12, 2020 the private residence of Black Lives Matter – Los Angeles co-founder Dr. Melina Abdullah was swarmed by an LAPD SWAT team. With their semi-automatic rifles pointed at her home, the team stood surrounding her home in tactical gear. | "We looked out the front window, and two officers stood and put their assault rifles and pointed them directly at us," Abdullah said at a Cal State L.A. press conference. "And I realized they came for me. And they called out my addre…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/8/13/centro-cso-condemns-lapd-swat-swarming-blm-leader-s-home-0

Extreme Moderation in the Spittoon: Kamala Harris for VP
Binoy Kampmark | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-08-14
The Vice Presidency has always gotten a degree of bad press in the US political system. Its ineffectuality is sometimes lost on the occupant, though not on John N. Garner, who considered it "not worth a bucket of warm spit." (R. G. Tugwell in The Brains Trust suggests that the measure "quart" was used.) Two …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/08/extreme-moderation-in-the-spittoon-kamala-harris-for-vp/

Iran reports 169 more virus deaths, over 2,500 cases
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-14
At least 169 more coronavirus-related fatalities have raised the death toll in Iran to 19,331, the Health Ministry said Friday.Some 2,501 more people tested positive for COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, pushing the overall count up to 338,825, according to ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari.She said more than 293,811 patients have recovered so far, while 3,956 are hospitalized in critical condition. Over 2.81 million tests have been conducted in Iran to date.Iran is struggling to contain the pandemic since February, when the first cases were confirmed in the holy city of Qom.The coronavirus pandemic has claimed…
yenisafak.com/en/world/iran-reports-169-more-virus-deaths-over-2500-cases-3536852

US declined Russia's help offer on vaccine: Report
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-14
The US allegedly declined Russia's help offer over the coronavirus vaccine, Russian officials told CNN. | The officials, who spoke anonymously, said Thursday that they proposed "unprecedented cooperation" with the US' Operation Warp Speed, a governmental program that aims to begin delivering millions of doses of an effective virus vaccine by the end of 2020. However, they claimed the US "is not currently open" for cooperation. | The remarks came days after Russia announced Tuesday it had developed a coronavirus vaccine. | They added that Russia maintains its will to share information about the vaccine and allow t…
yenisafak.com/en/world/us-declined-russias-help-offer-on-vaccine-report-3536846

North Korea's Kim says no to foreign flood aid
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-14
Addressing Political Bureau of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, Kim said: "The situation, in which the spread of the worldwide malignant [COVID-19] virus has become worse, requires us not to allow any outside aid for the flood damage but shut the border tighter and carry out strict anti-epidemic work," state-run Korean Central News Agency reported.At least 39,296 hectares of land was marooned due to the ongoing rainy season and Kangwon, North and South Hwanghae provinces and Kaesong City were hit badly.At least 16,680 houses and over 630 public buildings were destroyed or inundated beside…
yenisafak.com/en/news/north-koreas-kim-says-no-to-foreign-flood-aid-3536853

Syed Ali Geelani: Adamant fighter for Kashmiri rights
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-14
In recognition of his lifelong struggle for Kashmiris, Pakistan on its 74th Independence Day on Friday, awarded veteran Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Geelani Nishan-e-Pakistan — country's highest civilian honor.Nelson Mandela, Fidel Castro, Queen Elizabeth II, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are also among the recipients of the prestigious award.In late June, the 90-year-old leader stepped down from the leadership of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), a forum of more than two dozen Kashmir-based pro-freedom parties.The Nishan-e-Pakistan award, on behalf of Geelani, was received by APHC leaders from Pa…
yenisafak.com/en/news/syed-ali-geelani-adamant-fighter-for-kashmiri-rights-3536847

'Turkey will respond to any harassment in Eastern Med'
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-14
Turkey will respond to any Greek harassment of its energy exploration ship Oruc Reis in the Eastern Mediterranean, the country's foreign minister warned Friday."Greece should avoid maximalist policies in the region," Mevlàºt àáavu≈üoƒülu told a joint press conference with his Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis in Bern.The warning came on the same day as an EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting by video link at Athens' request on the Eastern Mediterranean issue.On France declaring it would boost its military presence in the region,àáavu≈üoƒülu said: "France s…
yenisafak.com/en/news/turkey-will-respond-to-any-harassment-in-eastern-med-3536850

Muslim scholars slam UAE-Israel deal as 'high treason'
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-14
The United Arab Emirates' (UAE) deal to normalize ties with Israel is tantamount to "high treason," a leading group of Muslim scholars said on Friday.In a statement, the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS) urged the Muslim world to take a "decisive position against such concessions … and to exert efforts to preserve the full rights of the Palestinian people." | The group also rejected UAE's claim that the deal will halt Israel's annexation of more Palestinian territory, citing the Israeli premier's comments that he "achieved this agreement and others without any concession." | The deal to normalize U…
yenisafak.com/en/news/muslim-scholars-slam-uae-israel-deal-as-high-treason-3536849

Erdogan: Turkey may suspend ties with UAE over Israel deal
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-14
President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey was considering closing its embassy in Abu Dhabi and suspending diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates over its accord to normalise ties with Israel.Erdogan was speaking to reporters in Istanbul after the Turkish Foreign Ministry said history will never forgive the "hypocritical behaviour" of the UAE in agreeing such a deal.
yenisafak.com/en/world/erdogan-turkey-may-suspend-ties-with-uae-over-israel-deal-3536845

Turks in Greece still being denied their rights
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-14
For decades, the Turkish minority in Greece has faced government-imposed hurdles to exercising its fundamental rights on education, religious affairs, and the recognition of its ethnic identity. | Greece's Western Thrace region — in the country's northeast, near the Turkish border — is home to a substantial, long-established Muslim Turkish minority numbering around 150,000. | Several recent developments have cast a harsh spotlight on the problems of Turks in Greece, including a decree restricting the autonomy of the mufti Muslim clerics, land belonging to a Muslim religious foundation being sold off t…
yenisafak.com/en/news/turks-in-greece-still-being-denied-their-rights-3536854

How the Guardian Betrayed Not Only Corbyn But the Last Vestiges of British Democracy
Jonathan Cook | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-14
It is simply astonishing that the first attempt by the Guardian — the only major British newspaper styling itself as on the liberal-left — to properly examine the contents of a devastating internal Labour party report leaked in April is taking place nearly four months after the 860-page report first came to light. If you are a Labour party…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/14/how-the-guardian-betrayed-not-only-corbyn-but-the-last-vestiges-of-british-democracy/

Hundreds of thousands of A-Level results downgraded by UK government
wsws.org | 2020-08-14
The A-levels scandal has exposed the dirty secret of the British education system: that it is social class, not merit, that is really being graded.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/14/alev-a14.html

Beached Japanese cargo ship causes ecological disaster for Mauritius
wsws.org | 2020-08-14
The MV Wakashio began leaking thousands of metric tons of fuel after it collided with a coral reef barrier near the southern coast of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/14/maur-a14.html

How Men's Rights Groups Helped Rewrite Regulations on Campus Rape
Hélène Barthélemy | thenation.com | 2020-08-14
How Men's Rights Groups Helped Rewrite Regulations on Campus Rape…
thenation.com/article/politics/betsy-devos-title-ix-mens-rights/

Forget the Nasty Insults. Trump Plans to Sabotage the Election
Sasha Abramsky | thenation.com | 2020-08-14
Forget the Nasty Insults. Trump Plans to Sabotage the Election.
thenation.com/article/politics/forget-the-nasty-insults-trump-plans-to-sabotage-the-election/

Kamala Harris's Presence on the Ticket Could Help Usher in a Third Reconstruction
Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, Dr. Sharrelle Barber, Rebekah Barber | thenation.com | 2020-08-14
Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, Dr. Sharrelle Barber, Rebekah Barber Kamala Harris's Presence on the Ticket Could Help Usher in a Third Reconstruction…
thenation.com/article/politics/kamala-harris-public-policy/

US Military Presence: Special Forces Active in 22 African Countries
Alan MacLeod | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
A new report published in South African newspaper The Mail and Guardian has shed light on the opaque world of the American military presence in Africa. Last year, elite U.S. Special Operations forces were active in 22 African countries. This …
globalresearch.ca/new-report-reveals-us-special-forces-active-22-african-countries/5721011

Amazon workers speak out against inadequate safety measures
wsws.org | 2020-08-13
As the company makes money hand over fist from the pandemic's boost to online retail sales, hundreds of thousands of low-wage workers labor for long hours in unsafe conditions at Amazon's fulfillment centers.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/13/amaz-a13.html

Hong Kong Elections Postponed: And where aren't they?
Andre Vltchek | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-08-13
Today, the Western press went absolutely mental again, radically schizophrenic. Hong Kong leader, Carrie Lam, declared that the September 6 elections in SAR would be postponed by one year. Right away, she offered a rational explanation: "We have 3 million voters going out in one day across Hong Kong, such flow of people would cause …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/08/hong-kong-elections-postponed-and-where-arent-they/

UN Chief: Pandemic Must Be Met With Commitment to Peace
Andrea Germanos, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-08-13
"Covid-19 is a human tragedy, but we can mitigate the impacts by the choices we make." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/covid-commitment-lasting-peace.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2020/08/13/un-chief-pandemic-must-be-met-commitment-peace?cd-origin=rss

Tennessee GOP Targets Racial Justice Movement by Turning Encampment Protests Into Felonies Punishable by Prison Term
Andrea Germanos, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-08-13
"Bonus penalty for exercising your protest rights in an unapproved manner: you lose your voting rights." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/tennessee-felony-camp-out-protesters.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2020/08/13/tennessee-gop-targets-racial-justice-movement-turning-encampment-protests-felonies?cd-origin=rss

The Ongoing Torture and Medical Neglect of Julian Assange
William Hogan | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
Published by The Lancet on June 25, 2020. | **** | On Feb 17, 2020, Doctors for Assange demanded an end to the torture and medical neglect of Julian Assange.1 Yet no responsible authority has acted. Nils Melzer, the UN …
globalresearch.ca/ongoing-torture-medical-neglect-julian-assange/5720887

How the US helped push Lebanon to the brink of collapse, and now threatens more sanctions
Ben Norton | thegrayzone.com | 2020-08-13
While the media blames the crisis in Lebanon solely on corruption, the US government unleashed a "maximum pressure" campaign to…
thegrayzone.com/2020/08/13/us-lebanon-sanctions-regime-change/

The Case Against Trump Is "Open and Shut": Kamala Harris Slams President's Handling of Pandemic
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-08-13
As Kamala Harris, the first woman of color on a major presidential ticket, hits the campaign trail with Joe Biden for the first time, we play an extended excerpt of her address, in which she blasts President Trump's handling of the economy, immigration, racial justice and the coronavirus pandemic. "The case against Donald Trump and Mike Pence is open and shut," Harris says.
www.democracynow.org/2020/8/13/kamala_harris_address_2020_election

General Strike & Blockade in Bolivia Enter Day 11 as Protesters Condemn Delayed Vote by Coup Gov't
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-08-13
We go to Bolivia, where opponents of the coup government have entered day 11 of a general strike and nationwide highway blockade to protest the repeated postponement of Bolivia's first presidential election since last year's ouster of Evo Morales by the right-wing coup government of Jeanine àÅñez, which was followed by an economic collapse and oppression. "Almost all of the key highways have roadblocks … bringing the country to a standstill," says Ollie Vargas, Cochabamba-based reporter with Kawsachun News. "People feel impoverished. They feel persecuted. There's a climate of authoritarianism in the count…
www.democracynow.org/2020/8/13/bolivia_general_strike_ollie_vargas

Was Kamala Harris a Progressive Prosecutor? A Look at Her Time as a DA & California Attorney General
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-08-13
As Senator Kamala Harris makes history as the first woman of color on a major party ticket, we host a debate on her record as California attorney general and San Francisco district attorney, when she proudly billed herself as "top cop" and called for more cops on the street. San Francisco Deputy Public Defender Niki Solis says Harris was the state's most progressive DA and advocated for "so many policies and so many alternatives to incarceration." Law professor Lara Bazelon says Harris was on the wrong side of history for often opposing criminal justice reform, though her record did change as a senator. "Her o…
www.democracynow.org/2020/8/13/kamala_harris_prosecutorial_record_2020_election

Ilhan Omar defeats Corporate Democrat, Israel Lobbies in Overwhelming Primary Victory
Juan Cole | zcomm.org | 2020-08-13
Although the Israel lobbies put a lot of money into defeating Omar, the issues on which she won, of progressive policing and health care, were largely disconnected from the geopolitical ones where her straight talk had attracted so much vitriol to her…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/ilhan-omar-defeats-corporate-democrat-israel-lobbies-in-overwhelming-primary-victory/

Bolivia: Political Strike Shuts Down Country
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-08-13
Once again, a scenario of multiple crises that began with the November coup defines Bolivia's future. De facto President Jeanine àÅñez's main achievement was to unleash a shameless wave of racist repression against Morales' Movement for Socialism (MAS) and the Aymara and Quechua Indigenous peoples. | àÅñez kept none of the promises she made to pacify the people after the November coup, nor did she offer any assistance to the poor during the twin crises of COVID-19 and the ensuing economic collapse.
popularresistance.org/bolivia-political-strike-shuts-down-country/

Racism revoked: Georgia shop apologizes for saying it would charge only white customers $20 to book appointments
rt.com | 2020-08-13
A vintage clothing store in Savannah, Georgia has backed down from a plan to charge only white customers a $20 fee to book appointments to shop, saying it had been slammed with both negative feedback and threats of lawsuits. | Civvies on Broughton announced the new fee on Monday, as it was reopening by appointment only, after being shut down because of Covid-19. The refundable whites-only $20 deposit was introduced because the shop's mostly white staff and owners didn't feel comfortable "upholding a digital financial barrier which could prohibit BIPOC [black, indigenous and other people of color] from shopping…
rt.com/usa/497971-georgia-shop-white-discrimination/

Freedom Rider: TikTok and the War on China
Margaret Kimberley | mronline.org | 2020-08-13
Every charge that Trump and his minions make against Chinese companies is true for US corporations, which have been spying on Americans and the rest of the world for decades.
mronline.org/2020/08/13/freedom-rider-tiktok-and-the-war-on-china/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=freedom-rider-tiktok-and-the-war-on-china

The organic intellectual: Remembering Samir Amin two years on
Samir Amin | mronline.org | 2020-08-13
'In our era, when we consider the destructive (ecological and military) might at the disposal of the powers-that-be, the risk, denounced by Marx in his time, that war will end up destroying all the opposing camps, is real. The alternate path demands the lucid and organized intervention of the internationalist front of workers and peoples.'…
mronline.org/2020/08/13/the-organic-intellectual-remembering-samir-amin-two-years-on/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-organic-intellectual-remembering-samir-amin-two-years-on

PDF of Aug. 13 issue
A. Majumdar | workers.org | 2020-08-13
Download the 12-page PDF. Political strike shuts down Bolivia UNIONS PUSH BACK: No school reopening; On the picket line; Unions say: 'Cops out!' Student-athletes organize; Honoring Negro National Leagues; A profitable disaster; Editorial Anti-racist vote for class unity; Terror against im/migrants; Mumia: A matter of history. Editorial: Anti-racist vote for . . . | Continue reading PDF of Aug. 13 issue at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/08/50559/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pdf-of-aug-13-issue

Wednesday 8/12: Action: Demand Congress Include All Immigrants in the Next COVID Stimulus Bill
United We Dream | indybay.org | 2020-08-13
Online action…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/12/18835880.php

"Real politics is constant activism"
Noam Chomsky | zcomm.org | 2020-08-13
Interview on the pandemic, the election, the word Bernie Sanders needs to stop using, the Harper's letter, the 1619 Project, patriotism, and the greatest social movement in U.S. history…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/real-politics-is-constant-activism/

Palestinian Rights Advocates Refuse to Applaud Israel-Trump-UAE Deal That Upholds 'Ongoing, Devastating Apartheid'
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-08-13
"The Trump administration hit upon the Nobel Peace Prize-winning idea that you can supposedly solve the Israel-Palestine conflict by pretending Palestinians don't exist." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-963302842_1.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2020/08/13/palestinian-rights-advocates-refuse-applaud-israel-trump-uae-deal-upholds-ongoing?cd-origin=rss

Belarus — A Color Revolution of a Different Shade?
Peter Koenig | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
Belarus in turmoil, after an election where the incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko — 25 years already in power (in office since 1994) — has won with 80% of the popular vote. That's what the official stats and media say. True …
globalresearch.ca/belarus-color-revolution-different-shade/5720981

Making Excuses for Trump: Where Does the Buck Stop?
Philip Giraldi | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
One might make the case that Donald Trump was elected president on the antiwar vote. Running against Hillary the Hawk it was, of course, relatively easy to position oneself as a critic of the endless wars started and sustained under …
globalresearch.ca/making-excuses-trump/5720992

The Politics of War: What is Israel's Endgame in Lebanon and Syria?
Ramzy Baroud | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-08-13
On August 4, hours before a massive explosion rocked the Lebanese capital, Beirut, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, issued an ominous warning to Lebanon. "We hit a cell and now we hit the dispatchers. I suggest to all of them, including Hezbollah, to consider this," Netanyahu said during an official tour of a military facility …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/08/the-politics-of-war-what-is-israels-endgame-in-lebanon-and-syria/

Testing and medical insurance: a profitable disaster
Sara Flounders | workers.org | 2020-08-13
Drive-through COVID-19 testing in Bergen County, N.J. These tests were a "partnership" of state government with Quest Diagnostics and Walmart stores hosting the sites. In the midst of a capitalist crash and an out-of-control health crisis, two mega-industries that bear a heavy burden of responsibility for the health disaster are . . . | Continue reading Testing and medical insurance: a profitable disaster at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/08/50577/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=testing-and-medical-insurance-a-profitable-disaster

Why Cuba is winning the fight against COVID-19
Nathaniel Chase | workers.org | 2020-08-13
Nathaniel Chase This article is a lightly edited version of a talk given Aug. 6 during the Workers World webinar entitled, "War on the Working Class: a Socialist Response." I'd like to talk about another country's response to the new coronavirus. The steps it has taken to protect its workers' . . . | Continue reading Why Cuba is winning the fight against COVID-19 at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/08/50561/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-cuba-is-winning-the-fight-against-covid-19

A voice from New Orleans schools: 'Are we gonna be alive?'
| workers.org | 2020-08-13
Big-E By Big E New Orleans This slightly edited talk was given at the Aug. 6 Workers World Party webinar, "War on the Working Class: the Socialist Response," which featured education workers. Big E is an activist with New Orleans Workers Group. Thank you, everybody out there, and much love . . . | Continue reading A voice from New Orleans schools: 'Are we gonna be alive?' at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/08/50582/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-voice-from-new-orleans-schools-are-we-gonna-be-alive

What if the Beirut Explosion Was an Attack?
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
On August 11, 3 Israeli battle tanks crossed a technical fence on the Israeli-Lebanese contact line, the official Lebanese News Agency reported. | According to the Lebanese side, Israeli forces broke through the technical fence in the town of Mays al-Jabal …
globalresearch.ca/what-beirut-explosion-attack/5720964

Video: Ukraine Is Hovering Between New War and Economic Collapse
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
On July 27, a next "complete and all-encompassing ceasefire" between Kiev troops and self-defense forces of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) started in eastern Ukraine. This is the most recent in a series of attempts to …
globalresearch.ca/video-ukraine-hovering-between-new-war-economic-collapse/5720969

Is Joe Biden Cognitively Impaired? President Kamala Harris?
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
If elected president in November, Joe Biden will be age-78 when entering office in January. | His political career since 1972 as US senator, vice president, and presidential aspirant elevated him to national prominence with high public name recognition. | He's only …
globalresearch.ca/joe-biden-cognitively-impaired-president-kamala-harris/5721022

US Supreme Court rules ballot access petitioning must proceed during coronavirus pandemic
wsws.org | 2020-08-13
In a one paragraph order with no legal explanation provided, the US Supreme Court overturned a decision by a trial judge in Oregon relaxing ballot access requirements in consideration of the restrictions imposed on public interaction during the pandemic.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/13/cour-a13.html

Supreme Court Rejects Gop Effort To Force Rhode Islanders To Risk Their Health To Vote During Covid-19 Pandemic
commondreams.org | 2020-08-13
______________________________…
commondreams.org/newswire/2020/08/13/supreme-court-rejects-gop-effort-force-rhode-islanders-risk-their-health-vote?cd-origin=rss

Landmine blast kills 5 from single family in Afghanistan
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-13
A landmine blast in Afghanistan's Kandahar province on Thursday killed at least five civilians and injured six others, all members of a single family, officials confirmed.Jamal Nasir, spokesman for the local police command, told Anadolu Agency the incident took place in the province's Panjwai district. He said women and children are among the dead and wounded.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, apparently aimed at the family members of a local police commander.Condemning the attack, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani urged the Taliban to respond positively to calls for peace and to stop pl…
yenisafak.com/en/world/landmine-blast-kills-5-from-single-family-in-afghanistan-3536749

Venezuelan Oil Output Remains at Historic Lows as Sanctions Continue to Bite
Ricardo Vaz | venezuelanalysis.com | 2020-08-13
US sanctions have caused the Caribbean nation to lose three oil supertankers.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/14967

Why a Growing Force in Brazil Is Charging That President Jair Bolsonaro Has Committed Crimes Against Humanity
Vijay Prashad | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-13
Jhuliana Rodrigues works as a nurse technician at the Hospital Sà£o Vicente in Jundiaí, Brazil. "It is very difficult," she says of her job these days. Brazil has just passed 100,000 deaths from COVID-19, with 3 million Brazilians infected with the virus.
counterpunch.org/2020/08/13/why-a-growing-force-in-brazil-is-charging-that-president-jair-bolsonaro-has-committed-crimes-against-humanity/

Why a Growing Force in Brazil Is Charging That President Jair Bolsonaro Has Committed Crimes Against Humanity
Vijay Prashad | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-13
Jhuliana Rodrigues works as a nurse technician at the Hospital Sà£o Vicente in Jundiaí, Brazil. "It is very difficult," she says of her job these days. Brazil has just passed 100,000 deaths from COVID-19, with 3 million Brazilians infected with the virus. "We meet colleagues and feel a heavy energy, a lot of pressure, a block," Rodrigues says. She is the vice president of Sinsaúde Campinas, a trade union of health workers. | …
counterpunch.org/2020/08/13/why-a-growing-force-in-brazil-is-charging-that-president-jair-bolsonaro-has-committed-crimes-against-humanity/

"The Very Prescription is to Stay Home": What it's Like to be Evicted During a Global Pandemic
Leila Rafei | aclu.org | 2020-08-13
One of the first and most fundamental safety precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic is to shelter in place. But that may soon become impossible for millions of people as eviction moratoriums begin to lift across the country. Tens of millions have lost their jobs due to the pandemic itself, and many are still unemployed. , , Kansas City resident Tiana Caldwell is one of them. In March, she was laid off from her job teaching business skills at a local community college. Her husband, Derrick, lost his job around the same time. Both had dedicated years of hard work to their jobs, which they loved, but in the fa…
aclu.org/news/racial-justice/the-very-prescription-is-to-stay-home-what-its-like-to-be-evicted-during-a-global-pandemic

October Surprise: Will War with Iran be Trump's Election Eve Shocker?
Bob Dreyfuss | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
Was Donald Trump's January 3rd drone assassination of Major General Qasem Soleimani the first step in turning the simmering Cold War between the United States and Iran into a hot war in the weeks before an American presidential election? …
globalresearch.ca/october-surprise-will-war-iran-trump-election-eve-shocker/5720955

Climate Activists Push Biden to Cut Ties With Industry-Friendly Energy Advisers
Candice Bernd | zcomm.org | 2020-08-13
"We must work to get in climate hawks who understand that every fossil fuel permitting decision is a potential step away from 1.5 degrees."
zcomm.org/znetarticle/climate-activists-push-biden-to-cut-ties-with-industry-friendly-energy-advisers/

Biden Must Listen to the Demands of the Left
Edward Hardy | progressive.org | 2020-08-13
The Democratic nominee needs to embrace progressive policies, or risk losing to Trump in November.
progressive.org/dispatches/biden-must-listen-to-the-left-hardy-200813/

America Doesn't Have Real Presidential Debates, But It Should
Thomas Knapp | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-13
On August 6, the Commission on Presidential Debates denied US president Donald Trump's request to increase the number of debates between himself and Democratic nominee Joe Biden from three to four. Trump's case: The expansion of voting by mail means that many ballots will have been cast before the first scheduled fake debate on September…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/13/america-doesnt-have-real-presidential-debates-but-it-should/

Report charges US-Saudi arms sale ignored civilian casualties
wsws.org | 2020-08-13
The report on the $8.1 billion arms deal came amid fresh reports from Yemen of atrocities caused by US-supplied Saudi warplanes and munitions.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/13/arms-a13.html

Climate Crisis Demands Diverse Leadership
Jennie C. Stephens | progressive.org | 2020-08-13
With more diverse leadership, there is hope for innovative climate and energy policy that places social, economic and racial justice at its core.
progressive.org/op-eds/climate-crisis-diverse-leadership-stephens-200813/

Blight and Revelation: Coronavirus, Austerity and the UK
Dr. Binoy Kampmark | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
Epidemiologist Michael Marmot begins his August 10 piece in The Guardian on a sombre note. It is drawn from The Plague by Albert Camus. "The pestilence is at once blight and revelation; it brings the hidden truth of a corrupt …
globalresearch.ca/coronavirus-austerity-uk/5720988

VIDEO: The "Lock Step" Simulation Scenario: "A Coronavirus-like Pandemic that Becomes Trigger for Police State Controls"
Helen Buyniski | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
First published on February 5, 2020. In-depth analysis of the Simulation of a pandemic conducted in 2010 under the auspices of the Rockefeller Foundation. | By now, those following the novel coronavirus epidemic are familiar with Event 201, the pandemic simulation…
globalresearch.ca/all-sectors-us-establishment-lock-step-deep-states-latest-bio-war/5702773

U.S. the world leader in both health and economic disaster
John Wojcik, Mark Gruenberg | peoplesworld.org | 2020-08-13
With more than 5 million cases, the U.S. is the world leader in the numbers of people infected with the deadly coronavirus. To top that off, jobless figures released today show that at least 30 million are unemployed, with the actual number estimated to be well over 50 million. The percentage of people who are …
peoplesworld.org/article/u-s-the-world-leader-in-both-health-and-economic-disaster/

Self-Help in the Coronavirus Depression
Jeremy Brecher | zcomm.org | 2020-08-13
Self-help strategies like rent strikes and mutual aid may develop in response simply as a means of survival. But that doesn't mean they can't also be the starting point for collective action for something…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/self-help-in-the-coronavirus-depression/

Wall Street continues to feed on death and economic devastation
wsws.org | 2020-08-13
Since the crisis of mid-March when the market plunged and the financial system froze, Wall Street's S&P 500 index has risen by 50 percent on the back of government corporate bailouts and the pumping out of trillions of dollars by the Fed.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/13/wall-a13.html

Watch: "Woke" Corporations Supporting Black Lives Matter Quietly Funding Police
MintPress News Desk | mintpressnews.com | 2020-08-13
A report from the Public Accountability Initiative exposes how corporate America is bankrolling police departments across the country, including many of the same ones facing scrutiny over racist practices.
mintpressnews.com/watch-woke-corporations-supporting-black-lives-matter-quietly-funding-police/270387/

Teaching Torture: The Death and Legacy of Dan Mitrione
Brett Wilkins | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-13
In the pre-dawn darkness of Monday, August 10, 1970, Dan Mitrione's bullet-ridden body was discovered in the back seat of a stolen Buick convertible in a quiet residential neighborhood of Montevideo, the Uruguayan capital. He had just turned 50, and he had recently started a new dream job, although it was thousands of miles from his home in Richmond, Indiana. Who was Dan Mitrione, and what work was he doing in Uruguay that led him to such an early and violent end? | …
counterpunch.org/2020/08/13/teaching-torture-the-death-and-legacy-of-dan-mitrione/

The Stimulus Deal Should Include Free College
Margot Rathke | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-13
The Covid-19 crisis bill currently under negotiation should both extend student loan relief and offer free college for young people facing limited job opportunities. Hayat Rahmeto is one recent college graduate who has decided to go back to school while the economy is in shambles. After graduating from college last year, she moved back in…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/13/the-stimulus-deal-should-include-free-college/

Teaching Torture: The Death and Legacy of Dan Mitrione
Brett Wilkins | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-13
In the pre-dawn darkness of Monday, August 10, 1970, Dan Mitrione's bullet-ridden body was discovered in the back seat of a stolen Buick convertible in a quiet residential neighborhood of Montevideo, the Uruguayan capital. He had just turned 50, and he had recently started a new dream job, although it was thousands of miles from…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/13/teaching-torture-the-death-and-legacy-of-dan-mitrione/

Don't Stigmatise the Nuke! Opponents of the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty
Binoy Kampmark | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-13
It would seem a logical step, at least from an existential perspective: to ban something so utterly horrendous to life; to forbid its use in any circumstances, whatever rationale employed to justify its use. But the nuclear weapon has its admirers. There are those who continue to worship its sovereign properties, and those who leave…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/13/dont-stigmatise-the-nuke-opponents-of-the-nuclear-weapons-ban-treaty/

Time to Face — and Plan for — Our Very Different Future
George Ochenski | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-13
Most animals on the planet have no ability to conceive of the future. While some, such as squirrels, ants and pikas put away seeds, and grizzly bears lay on the fat for winter hibernation, most animals resemble grasshoppers, living in the present with no concept of the coming frost. Humans, however, have the ability to…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/13/time-to-face-and-plan-for-our-very-different-future/

Bolivia's Perfect Storm: Pandemic, Economic Crisis, Repressive Coup Regime
Richard Fidler | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
Introduction | The rising toll of diseased and deceased from the COVID-19 pandemic has hit Bolivia particularly hard, in a continent that is now in the lead in global contagion rates. As of August 8, more than 100,000 cases were officially …
globalresearch.ca/bolivia-perfect-storm-pandemic-economic-crisis-repressive-coup-regime/5720954

Bolivia's perfect storm: Pandemic, economic crisis, repressive coup regime
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-08-13
The rising toll of diseased and deceased from the COVID-19 pandemic has hit Bolivia particularly hard, in a continent that is now in the lead in global contagion rates.
mronline.org/2020/08/13/bolivias-perfect-storm-pandemic-economic-crisis-repressive-coup-regime/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bolivias-perfect-storm-pandemic-economic-crisis-repressive-coup-regime

"We face a system incapable of solving the problems of the youth and the people
Muhammed Shabeer | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-13
Aritz Rodríguez Galán, president of the World Federation of Democratic Youth, talks about the centrality of youth in anti-racism protests, COVID-19 relief work and the building of a better world…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/13/we-face-a-system-incapable-of-solving-the-problems-of-the-youth-and-the-people/

Fed-up women health workers lead strike of 3.5 million across India
Kathy Durkin | workers.org | 2020-08-13
Workers around the world are demonstrating against their governments' policies in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. From South America to Asia, political protests and strikes are taking place. In many countries, health workers are in the lead, as they are on the front lines in this massive medical crisis. They . . . | Continue reading Fed-up women health workers lead strike of 3.5 million across India at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/08/50567/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=fed-up-women-health-workers-lead-strike-of-3-5-million-across-india

Beirute, Arena de Guerra: colà¥nia ocidental ou retorno ao oriente?
Pepe Escobar | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
Assim como os 0,001% instrumentalizaram a Covid-19 para engendrar o Grande Recomeàßo ( Great Reset), os suspeitos de sempre já està£o instrumentalizando a tragédia de Beirute para manter o Líbano escravizado. | O atual governo libanês liderado pelo Primeiro Ministro …
globalresearch.ca/beirute-arena-de-guerra-colonia-ocidental-ou-retorno-ao-oriente/5721050

Disbelief and Denial in the West as Russia Produces First COVID Vaccine
Johanna Ross | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
'Startling and confusing' proclaimed Science magazine. 'Reckless and foolish' said US vaccine scientist Peter Hotez. 'Dangerously rushed' said the journal Nature. Western scientists are in denial. The first vaccine against the disease which has dominated all our lives for …
globalresearch.ca/disbelief-denial-west-russia-produces-first-covid-vaccine/5721005

Growing wave of protests across the US against school openings
wsws.org | 2020-08-13
Across the US, thousands of teachers, education workers, parents and students are mobilizing to oppose the unsafe reopening of schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/13/scho-a13-1.html

New outbreak of COVID-19 in New Zealand
wsws.org | 2020-08-13
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's government failed to undertake mass testing and left the country unprepared for a second outbreak of COVID-19.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/13/nzcv-a13.html

WHO chief calls for solidarity in financing, ensuring equal access to future COVID-19 vaccine
news.un.org | 2020-08-13
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that six months after first sounding the international alarm over COVID-19, the UN agency is now intensely focused on shepherding global vaccine candidates through the necessary trials, and guaranteeing rapid, fair and equitable access to them for all countries.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/08/1070162

Russia's vaccine intensifies global struggle for profits and geopolitical advantage
wsws.org | 2020-08-13
Vladimir Putin's announcement Tuesday that Russia has officially approved a COVID-19 vaccine has intensified the global conflict between national powers and pharmaceutical giants to be the first to mass produce and market a vaccine for the deadly virus.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/13/vacc-a13.html

Protest against COVID Disinformation and Social Engineering
John C. A. Manley | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
This month, the revolution against COVID-19(84) totalitarianism has been rising up with about a million protestors in Berlin and somewhere between 10,000 and 100,000 in Montreal. While these are positive signs, I also am concerned that we are fighting …
globalresearch.ca/how-awaken-others-covid-hoax-rousing-highest-aspects-cognition/5720961

US Color Revolutions: From Eastern Europe to Egypt, Iran, Now Lebanon
Karsten Riise | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
It is necessary to study, how US color-techniques are applied for regime-change in Egypt (Tahrir) — Iran (Green Movement) and now Lebanon (Cedar Revolution + "Day of Rage"). | The US engineering of these all-but-spontaneous undercover "Color …
globalresearch.ca/us-color-revolutions-east-europe-egypt-iran-lebanon/5721013

Black People Confront Racist Violence
Abayomi Azikiwe | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
Since the May 25 police execution of George Floyd in Minneapolis, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest racist violence. | Cities across the United States were impacted by the blocking of streets and highways along …
globalresearch.ca/black-people-arming-confront-racist-violence/5720974

Spying on Journalists
Judge Andrew Napolitano | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
Last week, this column argued that the only constitutional role for armed federal forces in Portland, Oregon, was to assist U.S. marshals in protecting federal property and personnel there — in this case, the federal courthouse and those who come …
globalresearch.ca/spying-journalists/5720991

Extractivism and Exploitation in Peru
Yanis Iqbal | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
Martin Vizcarra, Peru's president, has announced that "[t]his government has taken up the challenge and has been working on the approval of a new regulation for mining procedures in order to streamline those procedures." The regulation "aims to provide …
globalresearch.ca/extractivism-exploitation-peru/5721003

Will Trump-MBS Shore Up Iraq's Corrupt Ruling Families in Return for Keeping US Troops? Iraq-Iran Relationship in Crisis?
Zayd Alisa | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
Iraq's new Prime Minister Mustafa al Khadimi's, decision to make Saudi Arabia rather than Iran his first destination abroad contradicted with what all his predecessors had done. It was designed to send a clear message indicating that he has …
globalresearch.ca/will-trump-mbs-shore-up-iraq-corrupt-ruling-families-keeping-us-troops/5721000

Lukashenko Wins the Election, but His Biggest Fight May be Yet to Come
Johanna Ross | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
Belarus' Alexander Lukashenko may have won a solid victory with 80.23% of the vote, according to the election commission, but the ground on which he is standing is not as firm as it once was. The President of Belarus says …
globalresearch.ca/lukashenko-wins-election-biggest-fight-yet-come/5720959

'Urgent need' to stop erosion of nuclear order, major UN disarmament forum hears
news.un.org | 2020-08-13
The lack of trust and cooperation among States, and the diminished faith in "the very multilateral institution that was designed to maintain global peace and security", must be overcome, a high-level UN official told a prominent disarmament conference on Thursday.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/08/1070142

Smoking Gun: Crisis? What Crisis?
progressive.org | 2020-08-13
A timeline of the pandemic warning signs ignored by the Trump Administration.
progressive.org/magazine/smoking-gun-crisis-timeline-200514/

UN rights experts express 'outrage' at Belarus police violence against peaceful protesters
news.un.org | 2020-08-13
UN human rights experts on Thursday, strongly criticized the level of violence being used by security forces across Belarus against peaceful protesters and journalists, following five days of demonstrations over the disputed presidential election.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/08/1070172

Post-election protests leave Belarus at a crossroads
Abdul Rahman | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-13
Alexander Lukashenko's re-election for a sixth consecutive presidential term on August 9 has sparked major protests, dividing political groups and citizens in Belarus like never before. At least two people have lost their lives and over 200 have been wounded in police violence against the protesters calling for Lukashenko's removal. A large number of protesters have taken to the streets seeking political change, despite massive state repression. At the same time, significant sections are worried about the outcome of the protests and the changes sought by the demonstrators, and are still on guard. The protests are…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/13/post-election-protests-leave-belarus-at-a-crossroads/

Lebanon's Gov't Resigns, But Protesters Demand Structural Change
Ziad Abu-Rish | zcomm.org | 2020-08-13
"The fall of cabinets and even the holding of early parliamentary elections are not necessarily signs that fundamental transformation is underway in Lebanon"
zcomm.org/znetarticle/lebanons-govt-resigns-but-protesters-demand-structural-change/

Haitian teachers protest school reopening
Haitian Popular News Agency | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-13
Several dozen teachers and activists organized a rally on Monday August 10 outside of the Haitian Ministry of National Education and Professional Training. They were protesting against the decision taken unilaterally by the Minister Pierre Josué Agénor Cadet to reopen schools, which was done without consulting other actors that are crucial to the proper functioning of the Haitian education system. They also demanded better working conditions for teachers in Haiti. | "We do not have a problem with reopening schools, it is normal that it happen, but it would be necessary for it to be planned in complete collaborati…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/13/haitian-teachers-protest-school-reopening/

This Is Amerika: Where Fascism, Totalitarianism and Militarism Go Hand In Hand
John W. Whitehead | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-08-13
In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem, government IS the problem. — Ronald Reagan, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1981 There's a pattern emerging if you pay close enough attention. Civil discontent leads to civil unrest, which leads to protests and counterprotests. Without fail, what should be an exercise in how …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/08/this-is-amerika-where-fascism-totalitarianism-and-militarism-go-hand-in-hand/

Deaths of children in northeast Syria 'could have been averted': UNICEF
news.un.org | 2020-08-13
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has expressed "deep alarm" over reports that eight children — all under the age of five — have died in Syria's Al Hol camp, where several thousand children are languishing in dire conditions.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/08/1070122

From Juneteenth in Minneapolis to Jawnteenth in Philadelphia
Unicorn Riot | unicornriot.ninja | 2020-08-13
Minneapolis, MN — The historic movement for Black lives that has recently permeated the globe reinvigorated 2020's Juneteenth celebrations. On June 19, 2020, Unicorn Riot reporters documented from two of these celebrations; 'Jawnteenth' in West Philadelphia and a celebration in North Minneapolis at a Cub…
unicornriot.ninja/2020/from-juneteenth-in-minneapolis-to-jawnteenth-in-philadelphia/

Real Life Heroes: on a journey towards quality healthcare
news.un.org | 2020-08-13
In the remote Lamu region, on the northeast coast of Kenya, quality healthcare is hard to come by. Every month, medical staff from Safari Doctors, an NGO founded by Umra Omar, set sail on a boat filled with medicines, to provide free basic medicines to hundreds of marginalized inhabitants in several coastal villages.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/08/1069892

The explosion in Beirut
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-13
(Tricontinental: Institute of Social Research has published a Red Alert on the recent explosion in Beirut. You can also view the Red Alert here) | In the early evening of August 4, a fire broke out in Warehouse 12 at the Port of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon (population 6.8 million, including over a million refugees). An enormous plume of smoke rose from the fire, which was then overshadowed by an explosion whose powerful force tore outwards and shattered parts of Beirut. The port was immediately leveled; the pressure wave reached around 15 kilo…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/13/the-explosion-in-beirut/

Canada and the United States resume aluminum tariff war
wsws.org | 2020-08-13
An unholy alliance of Ontario Premier Doug Ford, the federal Liberal government, and the United Steelworkers and Unifor trade unions is whipping up Canadian nationalism to justify retaliatory tariffs in answer to Trump's "America First" protectionism.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/13/alum-a13.html

PM Keith Rowley claims victory in general elections in Trinidad and Tobago
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-13
According to Trinidadian trade unionist Ozzi Warwick, Rowley's neoliberal policies remain a matter of concern but his competitor towed a dangerous anti-integration, pro-Trump line…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/13/pm-keith-rowley-claims-victory-in-general-elections-in-trinidad-and-tobago/

Rally marks 42nd anniversary of police attack on MOVE
Ted Kelly | workers.org | 2020-08-13
Mike Africa Jr. addresses rally at location of the old Powelton Village MOVE headquarters as supporters hold portraits of MOVE 9 members. Hundreds rallied at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on Aug. 8 to mark the 42 years since the police riot at the MOVE house in Powelton Village. Demonstrators . . . | Continue reading Rally marks 42nd anniversary of police attack on MOVE at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/08/50572/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rally-marks-42nd-anniversary-of-police-attack-on-move

Iran registers 2,625 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-13
TEHRAN, Aug. 13 (MNA) — The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has infected 2,625 people and claimed 174 lives in Iran in the past 24 hours, a senior health official said.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162222/Iran-registers-2-625-COVID-19-cases-in-24-hours

Pursuing initiatives of Coronavirus Task Force a must
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-13
TEHRAN, Aug. 13 (MNA) — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday that pursing the initiatives of the National Task Force for Fighting Coronavirus is mandatory.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162223/Pursuing-initiatives-of-Coronavirus-Task-Force-a-must

US sanctions against Iran failed: Nobakht
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-13
TEHRAN, Aug. 13 (MNA) — Head of Plan and Budget Organization (PBO) Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said that the implementation of economic plans and development projects in the country indicates that US sanctions against Iran have failed.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162224/US-sanctions-against-Iran-failed-Nobakht

Hatami unveils upgrading line of Armed Forces' tanks
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-13
TEHRAN, Aug. 13 (MNA) — Iranian Minister of Defense Brigadier General Amir Hatami unveiled the upgrading line of the tanks of Armed Forces in Lorestan province on Thursday.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162221/Hatami-unveils-upgrading-line-of-Armed-Forces-tanks

Zarif to leave Tehran for Lebanon on Friday
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-13
TEHRAN, Aug. 13 (MNA) — A number of Lebanese media outlets reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will leave Tehran for Beirut on Friday.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162226/Zarif-to-leave-Tehran-for-Lebanon-on-Friday

Unveiling ceremony of upgrading line of Armed Forces' tanks
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-13
TEHRAN, Aug. 13 (MNA) — Iranian Minister of Defense Brigadier General Amir Hatami unveiled the upgrading line of the tanks of Armed Forces in Lorestan province on Thursday.
en.mehrnews.com/photo/162227/Unveiling-ceremony-of-upgrading-line-of-Armed-Forces-tanks

Zarif arrives in Beirut
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-13
TEHRAN, Aug. 14 (MNA) –Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in Beirut to hold talks with top Lebanese officials.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162230/Zarif-arrives-in-Beirut

IRGC Chief vows revenge on US for Lt. Gen. Soleimani
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-13
TEHRAN, Aug. 13 (MNA) — Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami said that the revenge for Lt. General Soleimi's martyrdom will be taken eventually.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162220/IRGC-Chief-vows-revenge-on-US-for-Lt-Gen-Soleimani

IAEA must investigate Saudi violation of NPT
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-13
TEHRAN, Aug. 14 (MNA) — Professor Frank N. von Hippel, former assistant director for national security in the White House Office believes that some US companies are assisting Saudi Arabia with its Nuclear activities.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162225/IAEA-must-investigate-Saudi-violation-of-NPT

Self-test kits can monitor the spread of COVID-19 in communities
imperial.ac.uk | 2020-08-13
Antibody home testing kits could be used to help monitor the rate of COVID-19 infections in communities, says an Imperial researcher.
imperial.ac.uk/news/201234/self-test-kits-monitor-spread-covid-19-communities

Saturday 8/15: SF Chinatown Walkway Weekends
Eva Lee | indybay.org | 2020-08-13
Chinatown, Grant Avenue from California to Washington Streets…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/13/18835906.php

Monday 8/17: Revolutionize The Vote: The Climate Emergency, Racial Justice and Your Voting Power
Future Coalition | indybay.org | 2020-08-13
Online via livestream…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/12/18835873.php

Stimulus spending to promote clean energy as a vehicle for environmental justice
Olivia Baaten | indybay.org | 2020-08-13
Issues of environmental justice have been highlited in recent events, and it is high time that the nation take action. Minorities are disproportionately affected by Coronavirus, an issue which is exacerbated by environmental injustice. Low interest rates make the current hour opportune for clean energy stimulus spending, which would serve the state where fossil fuels have failed.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/13/18835898.php

Thursday 9/10: 16th Annual 9/11 Truth Film Festival
Carol Brouillet | indybay.org | 2020-08-13
Due to Covid19, the annual Film Festival will not take place at The Grand Lake Theater, in Oakland, California. The event will be live-streamed, however, on Thursday, September 10, 2020 noon to 8: 00 pm.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/12/18835885.php

16th Annual 9/11 Truth Film Festival
Carol Brouillet | indybay.org | 2020-08-13
Due to Covid19, the annual Film Festival will not take place at The Grand Lake Theater, in Oakland, California. The event will be live-streamed, however, on Thursday, September 10, 2020 noon to 8: 00 pm.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/12/18835885.php

Wednesday 8/12: United We Dream: Panel Discussion on the Documentary Series "Immigration Nation"
United We Dream | indybay.org | 2020-08-13
Online via livestream…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/12/18835882.php

Xinjiang And Uyghurs — What You're Not Being Told
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-08-13
Like a few other provinces, Xinjiang is an "autonomous" region, which means it is run by Uyghurs for the most part. For example, the current "governor" is Shohrat Zakir, an Uyghur man who's been in charge since 2014. | Also to remember are two nuggets of information: Xinjiang is a really vast region — it's four times as large as California(!); and Uyghurs make up only about 40% of Xinjiang's population. Overall, Uyghurs account for only 0.7% of China's population. That's about the same percentage as the Native American population in the U.S. now.
popularresistance.org/xinjiang-and-uyghurs-what-youre-not-being-told/

Analysis: COVID-19 Deaths Likely Undercounted By Over 50,000
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-08-13
More than 165,000 Americans have now died from the coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The US passed the grim statistic of 5 million cases of COVID-19 earlier this month. As horrifying as these figures are, a new analysis shows that the number of deaths from the coronavirus likely has been significantly undercounted. | Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed by the New York Times have revealed that 200,700 people died from March 15, when the pandemic took hold, to July 25. This is 54,000 higher than the confirmed death toll, averaged, for the same time period i…
popularresistance.org/analysis-covid-19-deaths-likely-undercounted-by-over-50000/

Deaths In Immigration Detention Are At A Record High
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-08-13
Two men died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody on August 5. One of the men died in a hospital after being diagnosed with COVID-19, while the other died in his cell of a massive intercranial hemorrhage. These tragedies increased the total deaths in ICE custody this fiscal year to 17, the highest number since 2006. Many–if not all–of the deaths that occur in ICE custody are avoidable. | More than twice as many people have died in ICE custody this year than last year. Unfortunately, with 1,065 active COVID-19 cases in ICE detention, that number will likely increase before the fisc…
popularresistance.org/deaths-in-immigration-detention-are-at-a-record-high/

'Western' Media Falsely Claim Russia's COVID-19 Vaccine Is Ready
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-08-13
After President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia's Covid-19 vaccine candidate had gained an approval from its regulator, 'western' media went into a anti-Russian frenzy to sow fear and doubt about it. Russia has not approved a vaccine against Covid-19 and it is not skipping large-scale clinical trials. | The Russia regulator gave a preliminary approval for a vaccine candidate to start the large-scale clinical trial. This is similar to an emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
popularresistance.org/western-media-falsely-claim-russias-covid-19-vaccine-is-ready/

Street Artists Rise To The Occasion
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-08-13
The massive protests in Los Angeles in response to the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and so many others organized through the Black Lives Matter movement generated an outpouring of engaging and provocative visual artworks. Open-air installations, murals, posters, "street art" works, and similar efforts abound, many in my Venice/Mar Vista neighborhood where I regularly jog. | I participated in many of those protests and saw some of these efforts personally. Cumulatively, these, and similar works throughout the United States and the world, have added to the burgeoning tradition of politica…
popularresistance.org/street-artists-rise-to-the-occasion/

Seattle Just Defunded Its Police — Sort Of
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-08-13
After a summer of explosive demonstrations that saw protesters take over several city blocks for weeks, the Seattle City Council approved a budget "revision" package on Monday that will cut $3 million from the police budget and eliminate up to 100 positions from the department. The move both fell far short of the demands of activists, and was so forcefully opposed by the city's establishment that the police chief resigned almost immediately. | Seattle police chief Carmen Best wrote a letter to members of the department announcing her retirement late Monday, effective September 2.
popularresistance.org/seattle-just-defunded-its-police-sort-of/

Lebanon: Bellwether, Battleground, And Bastard Child Of The Mideast
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-08-13
When I was a kid, "Beirut" became a cultural shorthand for any chaotic and violent urban setting. In the 1990s, my hometown rappers — the Wu Tang Clan — repeatedly shouted out the Lebanese city (plus one of its civil war antagonists, the P.L.O. — Palestinian Liberation Organization); but so did Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Neil Young, Snoop Dogg, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eminem, and the Dead Kennedys. In the 2001 Hollywood blockbuster Spy Game, CIA agents played by Brad Pitt and Robert Redford sprint through rubble and gunfire along the Green Line dividing war-torn 1980s Beirut's Christian East and Musl…
popularresistance.org/lebanon-bellwether-battleground-and-bastard-child-of-the-mideast/

Vote Democrat to wear a mask? Biden says Americans must mask up for AT LEAST 3 months as CDC warns of 'worst fall ever'
rt.com | 2020-08-13
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has urged all Americans to 'mask up' outdoors for the next three months – at the same time as health officials warned disobeying their Covid-19 orders will cause unprecedented suffering. | "Every single American should be wearing a mask when they are outside for the next three months at a minimum," Biden said during a press briefing on Thursday, adding in his characteristic awkward cadence that "every governor should mandate mandatory mask wearing." | A nationwide mask mandate would save "over 40,000 lives," according to the experts, Biden claimed. | Also on rt.com…
rt.com/usa/497974-biden-mask-cdc-doom-predictions/

'Americans must have their freedoms': Trump rejects Biden's call for MASK MANDATE, says states should decide
rt.com | 2020-08-13
President Donald Trump rejected his rival Joe Biden's call for a nationwide face mask mandate, saying he trusted elected governors to make science-based decisions about the Covid-19 pandemic that best fit their states. | Biden's approach is "regressive, anti-scientific and very defeatist," Trump said on Thursday during a White House press briefing, accusing the Democrat presidential candidate of hiding in his Delaware basement and wanting the same fate inflicted on all Americans. | The Trump administration is strongly recommending people to wear face masks when social distancing is not practical, but "American…
rt.com/usa/497976-trump-biden-mask-mandate-freedom/

Biden praises 'historic step' of Israel-UAE deal, but claims credit goes to Obama admin and doesn't mention Trump AT ALL
rt.com | 2020-08-13
Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden praised the "historic" decision by the United Arab Emirates to normalize relations with Israel, claiming part of the credit for himself and not mentioning President Donald Trump even once. | "Today, Israel and the United Arab Emirates have taken a historic step to bridge the deep divides of the Middle East," Biden said in a statement on Thursday. "The UAE's offer to publicly recognize the State of Israel is a welcome, brave, and badly needed act of statesmanship." | | Biden statement on the Isra…
rt.com/usa/497961-biden-uae-israel-trump/

'Americans must have their freedoms': Trump rejects Biden's call for MASK MANDATE, says states should decide
rt.com | 2020-08-13
President Donald Trump rejected his rival Joe Biden's call for a nationwide face-mask mandate, saying he trusted elected governors to make science-based decisions about the Covid-19 pandemic that best fit their states. | Biden's approach is "regressive, anti-scientific and very defeatist," Trump said on Thursday during a White House press briefing, accusing the Democrat presidential candidate of hiding in his Delaware basement and wanting the same fate inflicted on all Americans. | The Trump administration is strongly recommending people to wear face masks when social distancing is not practical, but "American…
rt.com/usa/497976-trump-biden-mask-mandate-freedom/

Vote Democrat to wear a mask? Biden says Americans must mask up for AT LEAST 3 months as CDC warns of 'worst fall ever'
rt.com | 2020-08-13
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has urged all Americans to 'mask up' outdoors for the next three months — at the same time as health officials warned disobeying their Covid-19 orders will cause unprecedented suffering. | "Every single American should be wearing a mask when they are outside for the next three months at a minimum," Biden said during a press briefing on Thursday, adding in his characteristic awkward cadence that "every governor should mandate mandatory mask wearing." | A nationwide mask mandate would save "over 40,000 lives," according to the experts, Biden claimed. | Also on rt…
rt.com/usa/497974-biden-mask-cdc-doom-predictions/

$600 billion: Despite Covid-19 crisis & falling oil prices, Russia's gold & foreign exchange reserves reach all-time high
rt.com | 2020-08-13
The value of Russia's gold and foreign currency holdings has risen by almost $9 billion in a week. This means it's sitting on $600 billion in forex reserves — an all-time record beating August 2008's previous high of $598 billion. | That was just before the global financial crisis, or 'Great Recession', which wreaked havoc worldwide towards the end of the 2000s. Back then, the slush fund started to dwindle rapidly, due to the economic crisis, and lost over $100 billion in value in the following three months. | Lightning's unlikely to strike twice, however, as Russia's transformed its holdings in the inte…
rt.com/russia/497956-russia-gold-exchange-high/

Trump suggests he's withholding post office funds to stop 'universal mail-in voting'
rt.com | 2020-08-13
Donald Trump is being accused of "trying to steal" the election after claiming talks with Democrats on Covid-19 economic relief was stalled when the president refused post office funding for "universal mail-in voting." | Asked by Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo what led to the standstill between the White House and Democrats on a coronavirus stimulus package, the president said one of the main points the left will not budge on is extra funding for the US postal service to handle universal mail-in voting, something he is staunchly against. | "They want three-and-a-half billion dollars for the mail-in votes. Unive…
rt.com/usa/497962-donald-trump-mail-in-voting/

'Big problem': Bill Gates rejects 'strange' Covid-19 vaccine conspiracies about him, says he wants to save lives
rt.com | 2020-08-13
Microsoft founder Bill Gates has revealed his thoughts about when the world will move on from the Covid-19 pandemic, and addressed the "strange" conspiracy theories surrounding his interest in funding a vaccine. | Despite investing $350 million in the search for a vaccine to Covid-19, Gates said in a new interview with Bloomberg that he doesn't believe the current pandemic will be over until "the end of 2021." He also doesn't have much faith in an initial vaccine pushed to the public. | "Well, the initial vaccine won't be ideal in terms of its effectiveness against sickness and transmission. It may not have a…
rt.com/usa/497942-bill-gates-coronavirus-vaccine/

Unconvinced by virtue signaling: Poll shows 8 in 10 Americans think corporate anti-racism statements in BLM era are disingenuous
rt.com | 2020-08-13
Efforts by corporations to kowtow to the woke crowd may avail little because few Americans see sincerity in the anti-racism messages pouring out of PR departments amid Black Lives Matter protests, a poll has revealed. | Only 19 percent of Americans believe genuine concern over the treatment of black people in the US was a major contributing factor behind companies speaking out about race, according to a Pew Research Center…
rt.com/usa/497869-blm-fake-corporations-campaigns/

Apple, Disney, Ford and Walmart among corporate giants pushing back against Trump's WeChat ban — report
rt.com | 2020-08-13
Major US companies have reportedly told the White House they are worried about losing access to the lucrative Chinese market after Trump signed an order targeting the popular Chinese WeChat app. | Citing sources familiar with the situation, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that "more than a dozen" US corporations had raised concerns in a recent call with White House staff about the "the potentially broad scope and impact" of the WeChat ban. According to the paper, Apple, Intel, Walmart, Disney, and Ford were among the companies that participated in the call. The companies declined to comment on the issue…
rt.com/usa/497926-wechat-ban-companies-report/

Three rockets fall inside Iraqi base housing US troops
rt.com | 2020-08-13
Three unguided projectiles have landed on the premises of Al-Balad military airbase, which houses US troops, Iraqi authorities confirmed. No information on damage or potential casualties was immediately available. | The military compound, located some 80 km (50 miles) north of the capital Baghdad, came under attack on Thursday. At least three projectiles landed on its premises, yet did not cause any "significant" damage, Iraq's Security Media Cell has said, promising to provide further detail to the public later.
rt.com/newsline/497970-iraq-balad-base-attack/

'No change' of West Bank annexation plans after Israel-UAE deal, Netanyahu says
rt.com | 2020-08-13
Israel is still committed to annexing parts of the occupied West Bank, PM Benjamin Netanyahu said, after a peace deal with the UAE was reached. As part of the deal, Tel Aviv agreed to suspend the annexation. | The revelation was made by Netanyahu in a televised speech on Thursday. | "There is no change in my plans to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, withfull coordination with the US," Netanyahu said, referring to parts of the West Bank region by their biblical names. | The remark came shortly after the peace deal between the United Arab Emirates and Israel was unveiled. Among other things, it contains…
rt.com/news/497967-west-bank-annexation-netanyahu/

Pompeo says US may impose sanctions & suspend oil deliveries for Belarus amid post-election crackdown
rt.com | 2020-08-13
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hinted that sanctions may be in store for Belarus following the state's heavy-handed response to opposition protesters, who have disputed the result of the recent presidential election. | Asked how Washington would respond to the opposition crackdown during an interview with Radio Free Europe on Wednesday, Pompeo said that both sanctions and trade penalties were on the table, suggesting the US could also halt oil shipments to the east European nation. | "What is it that we believe that we can do, not just the United States unilaterally, but in a multilateral way to deliver goo…
rt.com/usa/497873-pompeo-sanctions-belarus-crackdown/

'We don't need war' says Belarus parliament speaker, as police minister apologizes to people 'accidentally' caught up in crackdown
rt.com | 2020-08-13
After police in Belarus violently dispersed protests against election results, arresting thousands, the country's police minister apologized to 'random' people caught up in the violence, but not those he called rioters. | Opposition supporters have taken to the streets since Sunday, accusing the incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko of election fraud after Minsk officials announced he had been reelected with 80 percent of the vote. Belarusian police responded with sweeping arrests, marred by scenes of apparent brutality. | "I offer apologies for the injuries of random people who got caught up in the dispers…
rt.com/news/497963-belarus-police-chief-apologizes/

All protesters detained in Minsk amid Belarus post-election chaos to be released by Friday morning — police chief
rt.com | 2020-08-13
Belarusian deputy police chief Alexander Barsukov has vowed that all of those who were taken into temporary custody amid unrest that has gripped Minsk since Sunday's presidential election will be released by 6am local time on Friday. | The official made the announcement as he was visiting a temporary detention facility in one of the capital's boroughs, amid allegations that officers were brutalizing detainees there. Barsukov has rejected the claim. | Cities across Belarus have been swept by a wave of protests, occasionally escalating into violence and scuffles between demonstrators and law enforcement, after e…
rt.com/newsline/497979-belarus-protesters-set-free/

'Get the f**k out!': WATCH Chicago residents confront BLM protesters in tense standoff
rt.com | 2020-08-13
Residents of Chicago's Englewood community angrily accosted a group of Black Lives Matter protesters who showed up to demonstrate at a police station, where hostilities between locals and activists nearly boiled over into a brawl. | A BLM protest march from Englewood to Chicago's 7th District police station on Tuesday ended in a showdown with community members, at times devolving into shouting matches as locals insisted the demonstrators were giving their neighborhood a bad name. | "If you ain't from Englewood, get the f**k out of here!" longtime south side resident Darryl Smith was heard shouting at the prote…
rt.com/usa/497870-chicago-residents-blm-protest/

Black protector of Confederate statues dubbed a Dave Chappelle 'skit come to life' by Twitter users
rt.com | 2020-08-13
A black Alabama man vowing to defend symbols of the pro-slavery Confederate States of America went viral as his atypical persona reminded Internet community of a character from a sketch on comedian Dave Chappelle's show. | "Regardless of how the next person feels, I'm not going to take my flag down," Daniel Sims said on Wednesday to the local WHNT news in Alabama's Marshal county. He aims to protect the monuments to the US Civil War Confederacy from being taken down by vandals or any local authorities that may be pressured by the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests. "If I've got anything to do with it, ain't n…
rt.com/usa/497953-black-protector-of-confederate-statues/

Erdogan warns of 'high price' if Turkish ships are attacked, after French planes buzz Ankara's flotilla
rt.com | 2020-08-13
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened reprisals if anyone attacks the ship surveying disputed waters in the Mediterranean for oil and gas, after two French jets flew nearby during an exercise with the Greek fleet. | "We said that if you attack our Oruc Reis you will pay a high price, and they got their first answer today," Erdogan said on Thursday in a speech in Ankara, without offering any details as to what might have happened. | The vessel, named after a 16th-century Ottoman pirate, started survey work earlier this week near the island of Kastellorizo, which belongs to Greece but is located…
rt.com/news/497951-erdogan-threat-ship-france/

UK imposes 14-day self-quarantine for travelers from France & Netherlands, doubles fines for not wearing mask
rt.com | 2020-08-13
The UK government will add six new countries to its travel quarantine list, including France and the Netherlands, requiring two weeks of self-isolation for new arrivals while boosting fines for those who flout face mask rules. | The new restrictions were announced on Thursday evening in a tweet from Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, warning travelers that they will face a mandatory 14-day quarantine period should they arrive in the UK after 4am on Saturday, when the rule change will take effect. | "Data shows we need to remove France, the Netherlands, Monaco, Malta, Turks and Caicos and Aruba from our list of…
rt.com/uk/497977-uk-travel-france-netherlands/

Over 500,000 California ride-share drivers face uncertainty after Uber & Lyft threaten to PULL OUT of state over Dem-sponsored law
rt.com | 2020-08-13
Both Uber and Lyft have warned that a recent court decision in California may force them out of the state for good, after the companies were ordered to provide their combined 500,000-plus drivers with employment benefits. | "If the court doesn't reconsider, then in California, it's hard to believe we'll be able to switch our model to full-time employment quickly," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told MSNBC on Wednesday, two days after a judge granted an injunction requiring the two ride-sharing giants to reclassify their drivers from independent contractors to full-fledged employees. | While Uber and Lyft have vowe…
rt.com/usa/497872-uber-lyft-shut-down-california/

Actress Rose McGowan Blasts Biden's VP Kamala Harris For Accepting Harvey Weinstein Cash
sputniknews.com | 2020-08-13
Weinstein, a prominent movie producer who worked on over 300 films, was sentenced to 23 years in jail after he was convicted in March of sexual assault and rape. The disgraced Hollywood mogul donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Democratic Party, including to former US Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
sputniknews.com/us/202008131080158808-actress-rose-mcgowan-blasts-bidens-vp-kamala-harris-for-accepting-harvey-weinstein-cash/

Biden Calls For National Mandatory Mask Order to Assist US in Overcoming Pandemic
sputniknews.com | 2020-08-13
The presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee's comments come as the United States is witnessing a resurgence of coronavirus (COVID-19) infections since late June, with the nation seeing over 166,000 dead.
sputniknews.com/us/202008131080159375-biden-calls-for-national-mandatory-mask-order-to-assist-us-in-overcoming-pandemic/

US 'Satisfied' With China's Progress on Trade Deal, White House Adviser Says
sputniknews.com | 2020-08-13
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The United States is satisfied with the progress made by China on the trade deal between the two countries, although Beijing's political actions were still a sore point for President Donald Trump, White House Adviser Larry Kudlow said.
sputniknews.com/us/202008131080159697-us-satisfied-with-chinas-progress-on-trade-deal-white-house-adviser-says/

US Seizes Four Iranian Tankers, Now En Route to Houston – Report
sputniknews.com | 2020-08-13
US officials told the Wall Street Journal on Thursday that the US had seized four Iranian tankers on the high seas allegedly loaded with Iranian petroleum in violation of US sanctions. The four vessels are now en route to Houston, Texas, a major petroleum port.
sputniknews.com/world/202008131080159176-us-seizes-four-iranian-tankers-now-en-route-to-houston—report/

Pentagon Reportedly Establishes Investigative UFO Task Force
sputniknews.com | 2020-08-13
In June, US President Donald Trump teased that he might declassify some "very interesting" information regarding a UFO-related incident in Roswell, Nevada, that took place in 1974. Now, reports of aliens might be examined more closely, as the Pentagon is reportedly stepping into the investigation.
sputniknews.com/us/202008131080159667-pentagon-reportedly-establishes-investigative-ufo-task-force/

Cops & Politicians Demand Long Prison Sentences for Protesters
sputniknews.com | 2020-08-13
On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Aislinn Pulley, an organizer with the Black Lives Matter movement.
sputniknews.com/radio_loud_and_clear/202008131080159197-cops–politicians-demand-long-prison-sentences-for-protesters/

Making Excuses for Trump: Where Does the Buck Stop?
_____ | strategic-culture.org | 2020-08-13
One might make the case that Donald Trump was elected president on the antiwar vote. Running against Hillary the Hawk it was, of course, relatively easy to position oneself as a critic of the endless wars started and sustained under the Bush and Obama administrations. Even though we Americans had heard similar noises from those very same gentlemen when they were running for office, many socially conservative voters like myself were nevertheless attracted by yet another a presidential candidate who pledged to bring home the troops and might actually have meant what he said. | Well, the bloom is off the rose after…
strategic-culture.org/news/2020/08/13/making-excuses-for-trump-where-does-buck-stop/

Turnover slides at majority of UK businesses, ONS survey finds
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-08-13
More than half of UK firms have reported a fall in turnover, with more than a tenth saying it has at least halved, according to new figures. | The latest Office for National Statistics survey of the impact of coronavirus (Covid-19) revealed that 54% of firms said they saw a decrease in turnover for the two weeks to 26 July. | Firms in the North East of England were the worst-affected, with 61% of companies in the region saying that turnover has decreased. | Companies in Scotland were also particularly affected, with the new figures revealing that 57% of surveyed firms in the country saw turnover fall. | Meanwhile…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2020/08/13/turnover-slides-at-majority-of-uk-businesses-ons-survey-finds/

'Ludicrous' testing system needs to be more localised, says health official
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-08-13
A public health official suggested making Test and Trace more localised to help reach more people, as he described the centralised system as "ludicrous".Ivan Browne, director of public health for Leicester, also said the government needs to change its narrative when it comes to easing restrictions, as he expressed his concerns over schemes such as Eat Out To Help Out.His comments came as the latest weekly NHS Test and Trace figures showed a drop in the 24-hour turnaround target for coronavirus (Covid-19) "in-person" test results to just two-thirds, despite prime minister Boris Johnson pledging that all such tests…
thecanary.co/discovery/news-discovery/2020/08/13/ludicrous-testing-system-needs-to-be-more-localised-says-health-official/

Hundreds of thousands of A-level results downgraded in UK exam fiasco
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-08-13
Hundreds of thousands of pupils' results have been downgraded after this year's summer exams were cancelled because of coronavirus (Covid-19).The proportion of A-level entries awarded an A grade or higher has risen to an all-time high, with 27.9% securing the top grades this year, figures for England, Wales and Northern Ireland show.But exam boards downgraded nearly two in five (39.1%) pupils' grades in England, according to data from Ofqual — which amounts to around 280,000 entries being adjusted down after moderation.Teachers were told to submit the grades they thought each student would have received if t…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2020/08/13/hundreds-of-thousands-of-a-level-results-downgraded-in-uk-exam-fiasco/

Trump Campaign Appears to Be Hiding Massive Facebook Spending — But Why?
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-08-13
The Trump campaign has spent tens of millions of dollars on Facebook ads, but has not reported any of that spending to the Federal Election Commission, records show. | Along with a number of affiliated committees, the campaign appears to be funneling payments to Facebook through shell companies. Official committees affiliated with presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden have also apparently used shell companies to foot Facebook ads, but those committees have reported a much larger proportion of the…
truthout.org/articles/trump-campaign-appears-to-be-hiding-massive-facebook-spending-but-why/

In First Address as VP Candidate, Harris Slams Trump's Handling of Pandemic
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-08-13
As Kamala Harris, the first woman of color on a major presidential ticket, hits the campaign trail with Joe Biden for the first time, we play an extended excerpt of her address, in which she blasts President Trump's handling of the economy, immigration, racial justice and the coronavirus pandemic. "The case against Donald Trump and Mike Pence is open and shut," Harris says.
truthout.org/video/in-first-address-as-vp-candidate-harris-slams-trumps-handling-of-pandemic/

Trump's Executive Orders Are Designed to Make Him Look Like a Populist
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-08-13
When President Trump announced last week that he would unilaterally allocate billions of dollars of federal and state funds for an expanded unemployment benefits system; that he would push a federal evictions moratorium and delayed repayments on student loans; and — the kicker — that he would give employees a payroll tax deferral until year's end, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded b…
truthout.org/articles/trumps-executive-orders-are-designed-to-make-him-look-like-a-populist/

Billionaire-Funded Think Tanks Call for Pandemic Deregulation to Be Permanent
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-08-13
The reactionary right-wing juggernaut has quickly seized upon the coronavirus pandemic to accelerate its anti-government agenda. Every citizen's right to protest has been curtailed, massive amounts of industrial pollution have been deregulated and crucial rules governing Wall Street have been canceled. | Two billionaire-funded think tanks — the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and the Heritage Foundation…
truthout.org/articles/billionaire-funded-think-tanks-call-for-pandemic-deregulation-to-be-permanent/

As Politicians Play With Our Lives, It's Hard to Imagine a Future Beyond COVID
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-08-13
Honey, I know, I know, I know | Times are changing | It's time we all reach out for something new | That means you, too… | — Prince, " Purple Rain" | Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director Robert Redfield gave an interview to WebMD this week. If people don't take COVID-19 precautions seriously, if they refuse to wear masks and practice social distancing, Redfiel…
truthout.org/articles/in-this-covid-darkness-the-only-future-is-holding-it-together-today/

"Kinship" Isn't Enough — Harris Must Be Accountable to Black People
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-08-13
The writer and folklorist Zora Neal Hurston is credited with once saying " all my skinfolk ain't kinfolk." The phrase, now fairly common, refers to the fact that those individuals who share racial or ethnic similarities (like skin tone) are not necessarily united as family or comrades in a unified struggle. Unfortunately, Black Americans continue to learn this lesson on grand poli…
truthout.org/articles/kinship-isnt-enough-harris-must-be-accountable-to-black-people/

Joe Biden Wins… Then What?
Andrew Bacevich | commondreams.org | 2020-08-13
In this photo illustration, President Donald J. Trump shakes hands with Former vice president Joe Biden as Former president Barack Obama looks on at the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump on January 20, 2017. (Photo: Jonathan Newton /The Washington Post via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/trump_fascist_biden_0.jpg …
commondreams.org/views/2020/08/13/joe-biden-wins-then-what?cd-origin=rss

Trump: If I Lose to Biden, Get Ready to 'Have to Learn to Speak Chinese'
Justin Baragona | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
Ramping up his incendiary rhetoric towards his 2020 opponent, President Donald Trump claimed on Tuesday that China would be in control of the United States if former Vice President Joe Biden wins this November. Better get ready to speak Chinese, …
globalresearch.ca/trump-lose-biden-get-ready-learn-speak-chinese/5720995

The environmental legacy of Kamala Harris, Biden's newly-announced running mate
Olivia Rosane | peoplesworld.org | 2020-08-13
Former Vice President Joe Biden made a historic announcement Tuesday when he named California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate in the 2020 presidential election. Harris is now the first Black woman and the first person of Indian descent to run for national office for a major political party in the U.S., the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) …
peoplesworld.org/article/the-environmental-legacy-of-kamala-harris-bidens-newly-announced-running-mate/

Kamala Harris: Where Does Biden's Running Mate Stand on Middle East Issues?
Ali Harb | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
The American constitution does not grant the vice president much power. Other than the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote in the Senate, the VP's main responsibility is to assume the presidency in case of a sudden vacancy in the …
globalresearch.ca/kamala-harris-where-does-biden-running-mate-stand-middle-east-issues/5720998

Critic of Wildlife Department Removed Day Before Scheduled Meetings on Revisions to Wolf-killing Protocols
CounterPunch News Service | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-13
SEATTLE Environmental groups called on Gov. Jay Inslee today to reform wolf management in Washington after the sudden removal of conservationist Tim Coleman from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife's Wolf Advisory Group. Today's letter urges Inslee to reject the Department's resistance to reform and calls for the crafting of a new state wolf…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/13/critic-of-wildlife-department-removed-day-before-scheduled-meetings-on-revisions-to-wolf-killing-protocols/

Washington, DC transit system faces massive budget shortfall as it resumes near pre-pandemic service levels
wsws.org | 2020-08-13
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) is currently losing $2.5 million in revenue each weekday because of a 90 percent drop in ridership on its bus and rail lines.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/13/dctr-a13.html

China says US' Pompeo spreading 'political viruses'
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-13
China on Thursday slammed top US diplomat Mike Pompeo for spreading "political viruses and disinformation" as tensions between the two economic powers show no signs of abating.At a news conference in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the US secretary of state's persistent criticism of China and the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) stemmed from "a Cold War mentality and selfishness.""Wherever Pompeo goes, he brings political viruses and disinformation," he was quoted as saying by the daily Global Times.The reaction was in response to Pompeo's remarks on‚ÄØWednesday that…
yenisafak.com/en/world/china-says-us-pompeo-spreading-political-viruses-3536751

Priest who shared stage with Modi tests positive; India sees record number of cases
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-13
India reported another record jump in its surging coronavirus cases on Thursday with nearly 67,000 new infections, among them a religious leader who shared a stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a ceremony to launch construction of a grand temple.Nritya Gopal Das, an 82-year-old Hindu priest, was the latest public figure to test positive after a string of Modi's top cabinet colleagues were stricken with COVID-19, including interior minister Amit Shah.With Thursday's jump of 66,999 cases India now has nearly 2.4 million infections, according to the Health Ministry, behind only the United States and Brazi…
yenisafak.com/en/world/priest-who-shared-stage-with-modi-tests-positive-india-sees-record-number-of-cases-3536753

Israeli police indicted for assaulting Palestinians
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-13
Israel's Justice Ministry on Thursday filed indictments against five border police officers for assaulting and robbing Palestinians, said state media. | "Today, the Police Internal Investigations Department at the Ministry of Justice submitted indictments to the Beersheba District Court against five border guards," reported the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation. | The indictments included "crimes related to armed robbery, assault, conspiracy, assault in dangerous conditions, abuse, and other crimes against Palestinians." | The attacks were carried out against Palestinians seeking to go through Israeli milit…
yenisafak.com/en/world/israeli-police-indicted-for-assaulting-palestinians-3536750

Iran briefly seized oil tanker in Persian Gulf, says US
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-13
Iranian naval forces briefly seized and boarded a Liberian-flagged oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday, according to the US military.The US Central Command (CENTCOM) released a black-and-white video on Thursday showing special forces getting down from a helicopter and boarding the ship named MV Wila."Today in international waters, Iranian forces, including two ships and an Iranian "Sea King" helicopter, overtook and boarded a ship called the 'Wila'," CENTCOM said in a statement.The video was shot from a US warship some five kilometers (about three miles) away, according to Americ…
yenisafak.com/en/world/iran-briefly-seized-oil-tanker-in-persian-gulf-says-us-3536754

India rights groups seek independent probe into killings of Kashmiris
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-13
Human rights groups and rights activists in India have called for a "transparent" and "independent" probe into the case of three missing Kashmiris in Jammu and Kashmir, whom their family members say the Indian army killed in a fake gunfight."Amnesty International India calls for the extrajudicial execution to be investigated and prosecuted by independent civilian authorities. Civilian investigations and trials offer a degree of transparency and independence that is missing from the military justice system," Avinash Kumar, executive director of Amnesty International India, said in a statement on Wednesday.The stat…
yenisafak.com/en/world/india-rights-groups-seek-independent-probe-into-killings-of-kashmiris-3536755

EU eyes Belarus sanctions over disputed election, protests crackdown
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-13
The European Union will likely impose new sanctions on Belarus as soon as later this month, diplomats and officials said, after strongman President Alexander Lukashenko cracked down on protests triggered by a disputed vote.Germany, Lithuania, Latvia and Sweden have spoken publicly in favour of sanctions and Austria was another hawk, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers on Friday.With any EU decision on sanctions requiring unanimity of all 27 member states, Hungary was the main sceptic, according to the sources.
yenisafak.com/en/world/eu-eyes-belarus-sanctions-over-disputed-election-protests-crackdown-3536752

At least 3 terrorists neutralized in Turkey's southeast
yenisafak.com | 2020-08-13
At least three terrorists were neutralized in an air-backed domestic anti-terror operation in southeastern Turkey, authorities announced Thursday.The Interior Ministry said in a statement that as part of domestic security operations, Provincial Gendarmerie Command units conducted operation in rural areas of Bitlis province."Thus, six terrorists were killed in the last two days, including three in Hakkari [province] and three in Bitlis," the statement said.Operations are ongoing in the region, it added.Turkish authorities generally use the word "neutralized" to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were…
yenisafak.com/en/news/at-least-3-terrorists-neutralized-in-turkeys-southeast-3536748

COVID-19 provides more proof of corporate bloodsucking
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2020-08-13
Economy Peter BoyleIssue 1276 Australia National COVID-19 Commission Advisory Board Green Left Fighting FundAugust 13, 2020Every day the stress of the COVID-19 pandem…
greenleft.org.au/content/covid-19-provides-more-proof-corporate-bloodsucking

COVID-19 provides more proof of corporate bloodsucking
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2020-08-13
Economy Peter BoyleIssue 1276 Australia National COVID-19 Commission Advisory Board Green Left Fighting FundAugust 13, 2020Every day the stress of the COVID-19 pandem…
greenleft.org.au/content/covid-19-provides-more-proof-corporate-bloodsucking

Trump Administration Continues Assault on Climate, Americans' Health With Obama-Era Methane Rule Rollback
commondreams.org | 2020-08-13
______________________________…
commondreams.org/newswire/2020/08/13/trump-administration-continues-assault-climate-americans-health-obama-era?cd-origin=rss

EPA's New, Weakened Methane Rules Will Accelerate the Dangers of Climate Change
commondreams.org | 2020-08-13
______________________________…
commondreams.org/newswire/2020/08/13/epas-new-weakened-methane-rules-will-accelerate-dangers-climate-change?cd-origin=rss

Report: Workplace Coronavirus Tracing Apps Institute Dystopian Mass Surveillance by Default
commondreams.org | 2020-08-13
______________________________…
commondreams.org/newswire/2020/08/13/report-workplace-coronavirus-tracing-apps-institute-dystopian-mass-surveillance?cd-origin=rss

Watchdog Warns Unchecked Covid-19 Contact Tracing Apps Threaten Workers With 'Dystopian Mass Surveillance'
Lisa Newcomb, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-08-13
As competing bills aimed at privacy rights make their way through Congress, employers mull the use of apps to quell the spread of Coronavirus in the workplace. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/getty-covid_tracing_app.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2020/08/13/watchdog-warns-unchecked-covid-19-contact-tracing-apps-threaten-workers-dystopian?cd-origin=rss

As GOP Blocks Covid Relief, Experts Warn of 'Wave of Despair' and Devastating Anecdotes Show Crisis Already Here
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-08-13
As millions of Americans grapple with the consequences of federal lawmakers' failure to extend the $600 weekly unemployment benefit credited with temporarily lifting the poorest families out of poverty this spring, experts warned Thursday that the coronavirus pandemic could directly lead to a rise in suicides, drug overdoses, and despair across the country. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-1256539780_0.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2020/08/13/gop-blocks-covid-relief-experts-warn-wave-despair-and-devastating-anecdotes-show?cd-origin=rss

Trump and His GOP Enablers Are the Enemy: The Case for Unity Now
Jeffrey C. Isaac | commondreams.org | 2020-08-13
"Welcoming the efforts, and the support, of 'Never Trump' Republicans, does not mean celebrating their moral rectitude or embracing their policy positions or even liking them as people," writes Isaac. "It means welcoming their willingness to support a strong Democratic victory in November, and acknowledging, as I argued back in January, that while they have an agenda of their own, they are allies in the defense of democracy." (Photo: AP/Getty/Salon) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/screen_shot_2018-04-16_at_11.49.35_am_0.jpg …
commondreams.org/views/2020/08/13/trump-and-his-gop-enablers-are-enemy-case-unity-now?cd-origin=rss

"A Brazen Crime Committed in Broad Daylight" Democracy Initiative Says GOP Must Denounce Trump's Threat to Delay U.S. Mail During 2020 Election
commondreams.org | 2020-08-13
______________________________…
commondreams.org/newswire/2020/08/13/brazen-crime-committed-broad-daylight-democracy-initiative-says-gop-must?cd-origin=rss

'Screams of Torture' as Authoritarian Government in Belarus Continues Attacks on Protesters, Journalists
Lisa Newcomb, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-08-13
Following what pro-democracy advocates say was a rigged election, world leaders condemn the violence against protestors and the press, and the authoritarian regime's main opponent has fled the country. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/getty-belarusprotest.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2020/08/13/screams-torture-authoritarian-government-belarus-continues-attacks-protesters?cd-origin=rss

Oil Spill's Damage to Marine Area Around Mauritius 'Substantial' and Maybe 'Irreversible,' Expert Warns
Jessica Corbett, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-08-13
"There are very few such marine areas with such rich biodiversity left on the planet. An oil spill like this will impact almost everything there." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-12279675311.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2020/08/13/oil-spills-damage-marine-area-around-mauritius-substantial-and-maybe-irreversible?cd-origin=rss

Yellowstone Imperiled by Compromise
Joseph Scalia III | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-13
From Ramshorn Peak on the Gallatin Crest, the Buffalo Horn Creek drainage stretched majestically before us. Two colleagues of the Gallatin Yellowstone Wilderness Alliance and I had hiked there to reflect from that vantage point on the threat of loss of Wilderness protections for this crucial part of the Hyalite Porcupine Buffalo Horn Wilderness Study…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/13/yellowstone-imperiled-by-compromise/

Leaked: "Deadly" Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to treat Covid 19: How the World's Top Medical Journals, The Lancet and NEJM, Were Cynically Exploited by Big Pharma
Elizabeth Woodworth | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-13
Article first published by Gr on June 14, 2020 | Abstract and Background | A publishing scandal recently erupted around the use of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to treat Covid 19. It is also known as quinine and chloroquine, and is …
globalresearch.ca/leaked-deadly-hcq-world-top-medical-journals-lancet-nejm-exploited-big-pharma/5715859

Who Gets to Tell the Story of Wuhan's Lockdown?
Jaime Chu | thenation.com | 2020-08-13
Who Gets to Tell the Story of Wuhan's Lockdown?
thenation.com/article/culture/fang-fang-wuhan-diary-review/

The Brookings Hand Behind Russiagate Points Back to Rhodes Trust Coup on America
Matthew J.L. Ehret | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-08-13
An incredible report on Real Clear Politics by Paul Sperry on July 24 has revealed a new dimension to the Russiagate frenzy that contaminated American politics for the last four years. While all claims of Russian collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin have been thoroughly debunked over recent months, it was believed that …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/08/the-brookings-hand-behind-russiagate-points-back-to-rhodes-trust-coup-on-america/

The Brookings Hand Behind Russiagate Points Back to Rhodes Trust Coup on America
Matthew J.L. Ehret | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-08-13
An incredible report on Real Clear Politics by Paul Sperry on July 24 has revealed a new dimension to the Russiagate frenzy that contaminated American politics for the last four years. While all claims of Russian collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin have been thoroughly debunked over recent months, it was believed that …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/08/the-brookings-hand-behind-russiagate-points-back-to-rhodes-trust-coup-on-america/

Making sense of the ongoing anti-corruption protests in Israel
Abdul Rahman | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-13
Protests in Israel which began with the demand for prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's resignation over corruption charges are gradually changing in nature. Anti-occupation and pro-Palestinian groups are entering the space as well…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/13/making-sense-of-the-ongoing-anti-corruption-protests-in-israel/

Until you've drifted a mile in their tiny dinghy, don't even think about criticising the Channel crossers
John Ranson | thecanary.co | 2020-08-13
I can still remember the first bit of political graffiti I ever saw. It was in the 70s. I can't have been more than about four or five. Daubed scruffily on a bridge in Norwich were the words: "NO MORE BOAT PEOPLE". | Boat People: | Having no idea what on earth this meant, I asked my mum, who explained that it referred to people from countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia who were escaping war and trying to get into the UK. Well fair play to them I thought, dimly aware that those countries were somewhere near China and therefore a hell of a long way away. If they can make it all the way in a little boat (I…
thecanary.co/opinion/2020/08/13/until-youve-drifted-a-mile-in-their-tiny-dinghy-dont-even-think-about-criticising-the-channel-crossers/

Can This Crisis Be Used to Build a Better Future in Argentina?
Anita Pouchard Serra | thenation.com | 2020-08-13
Can This Crisis Be Used to Build a Better Future in Argentina?
thenation.com/article/world/coronavirus-argentina-solidarity/

Would Trump Go to War With Iran to Get Reelected?
Bob Dreyfuss | thenation.com | 2020-08-13
Would Trump Go to War With Iran to Get Reelected?
thenation.com/article/world/trump-war-iran/

Disparaging Stokely Carmichael, Bill Clinton attacks the black freedom struggle
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2020-08-12
During a historic upsurge of black activism, Bill Clinton attacked the late Stokely Carmichael/Kwame Ture, a leading black power revolutionary….
thegrayzone.com/2020/08/12/disparaging-stokely-carmichael-bill-clinton-attacks-the-black-freedom-struggle/

Democratic Establishment Commits to Status Quo with Kamala Harris VP Pick
Alan MacLeod | thealtworld.com | 2020-08-12
Just as America seemed to be in the midst of reckoning over-policing and racial justice, the Democratic establishment threw its support behind a hawkish former prosecutor with a questionable record. | MPN– There were mixed reactions to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden choosing Kamala Harris as his running mate last night. Many at the top of the party hailed the pick as a strong choice. "I'm thrilled to welcome Kamala Harris to a historic Democratic ticket," said Biden's predecessor Hillary Clinton…

Democratic Establishment Commits to Status Quo with Kamala Harris VP Pick

Former McCain Advisor and Iraq War Advocate Niall Ferguson Warns TikTok Is a Chinese Imperial Plot
Alan MacLeod | thealtworld.com | 2020-08-12
Ferguson argued that Tiktok is brainwashing 100 million mostly Generation Z Americans who use the platform into "becoming soldiers of Beijing's new revolution." | MPN– Writing in Bloomberg, Niall Ferguson, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential…

Former McCain Advisor and Iraq War Advocate Niall Ferguson Warns TikTok Is a Chinese Imperial Plot

Former McCain Advisor and Iraq War Advocate Niall Ferguson Warns TikTok Is a Chinese Imperial Plot
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-08-12
Ferguson argued that Tiktok is brainwashing 100 million mostly Generation Z Americans who use the platform into "becoming soldiers of Beijing's new revolution."
mintpressnews.com/niall-ferguson-warns-tiktok-chinese-imperial-plot/270349/

Democratic Establishment Commits to Status Quo with Kamala Harris VP Pick
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-08-12
Just as America seemed to be in the midst of reckoning over-policing and racial justice, the Democratic establishment threw its support behind a hawkish former prosecutor with a questionable record.
mintpressnews.com/democratic-establishment-commits-status-quo-kamala-harris-vp-pick/270327/

The Deforestation of Brazil's Amazon
Jenny Gonzales | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-12
The latest INPE (National Institute for Space Research) deforestation data for the Brazilian Amazon, released last Friday, comes as the result of the policies of President Jair Bolsonaro, say critics. According to DETER, INPE's real-time forest monitoring system, …
globalresearch.ca/amazon-tree-loss-worsens-political-pressure-grows-brazil-hedges/5720890

'Emergency Was a Sham': Top Democrat Says IG Report on Saudi Arms Deal 'Deeply Damning' for Pompeo
Andrea Germanos, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-08-12
"What sort of emergency makes itself known a few months in advance and can be resolved with weapons delivered years later?" | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/state-dept-oig-report-emergency-sham.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2020/08/12/emergency-was-sham-top-democrat-says-ig-report-saudi-arms-deal-deeply-damning-pompeo?cd-origin=rss

Twitter Spreads Paid U.S. Gov't Propaganda While Falsely Claiming It Bans State Media Ads
_____ | strategic-culture.org | 2020-08-12
Twitter says it bans ads from state-affiliated media outlets. However, US government propaganda organs like Voice of America's VOA Persian pay the social media corporation huge sums of money to spread disinformation against Iran and other foreign adversaries. | Ben NORTON | Twitter has demonstrated a clear, consistent bias in favor of the US government and its geopolitical interests. The social media giant has also repeatedly lied about its policies on state-backed media outlets. | Twitter unveiled a new feature on August 6 that labels government-affiliated media on the platform. Users immediately pointed out…
strategic-culture.org/news/2020/08/12/twitter-spreads-paid-u-s-govt-propaganda-while-falsely-claiming-it-bans-state-media-ads/

As Kamala Harris Makes History as VP Pick, Her "Top Cop" Record Faces New Scrutiny Amid BLM Protests
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-08-12
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's selection of California Senator Kamala Harris as his vice-presidential running mate for the November election makes her the first Black woman and the first Indian American on a major party presidential ticket. "It's hard to overstate how historic, how monumental this is," says Aimee Allison, president of She the People, which works to elevate the political voice and leadership of women of color. But in the midst of the largest protest movement in American history against racist policing, Briahna Joy Gray, the former national press secretary for the Bernie Sanders pres…
www.democracynow.org/2020/8/12/joe_biden_kamala_harris_vp_pick

What the Nazis Learned from Jim Crow: Author Isabel Wilkerson on the U.S. Racial Caste System
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-08-12
In her extensively researched new book, "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents," Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson argues the United States' racial hierarchy should be thought of as a caste system, similar to that in India. In a wide-ranging interview, she describes how she also looks at the ways Nazi Germany borrowed from U.S. Jim Crow laws. "The Nazis needed no one to teach them how to hate," Wilkerson says. "But what they did was they sent researchers to the United States to study Jim Crow laws here in the United States, to study and to research how the United States had managed to subordinate…
www.democracynow.org/2020/8/12/caste_isabel_wilkerson

With Biden-Harris Ticket Set, Climate Groups Demand 'Transformative Action From Day One' If Elected
Jessica Corbett, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-08-12
"Let's do our part to end this era of chaos and defeat Republicans up and down the ballot. Then, let's turn up to make a Biden-Harris administration lay the groundwork for a Green New Deal." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/kamala_reversal_cnn_climate_forum_0.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2020/08/12/biden-harris-ticket-set-climate-groups-demand-transformative-action-day-one-if?cd-origin=rss

The Other Americans: Indigenous Activists Are Being Targeted in Honduras
Jeff Abbott | progressive.org | 2020-08-12
As attacks on the Garifuna, an Afro-Indigenous community, increase, Trump ignores the violence.
progressive.org/dispatches/indigenous-activists-targeted-honduras-abbott-200812/

Chile's Militarisation of the Araucania Influences Racism Against the Mapuche Population
_____ | strategic-culture.org | 2020-08-12
As Chile shifted its attention to the coronavirus pandemic, which brought out the country's widespread social inequalities, the state's aggression towards the Mapuche people went on unhindered. In June, President Sebastian Piñera dispatched 80 members of its special forces to Temuco in the Araucania region, as resistance to state violence against the indigenous populations increased. Earlier in the same month, a Mapuche leader, Alejandro Alberto Treuquil, was murdered by "individuals outside the community", as…
strategic-culture.org/news/2020/08/12/chiles-militarisation-of-araucania-influences-racism-against-mapuche-population/

Lebanon's Leaders Resign over deaths of 200, but Trump refuses Accountability for 163,462 Deaths
Juan Cole | zcomm.org | 2020-08-12
Trump by his peculiar combination of narcissism, contrarianism, irrationality, and political guile, has polished off more Americans than died in the entire Vietnam War…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/lebanons-leaders-resign-over-deaths-of-200-but-trump-refuses-accountability-for-163462-deaths/

UN human rights chief condemns use of violence in Belarus against protesters, after '6,000 people detained in 3 days'
rt.com | 2020-08-12
The United Nations human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, on Wednesday condemned the use of violence by the Belarusian authorities to quash peaceful protests. | After President Alexander Lukashenko claimed a landslide victory in Sunday's election, Bachelet said police were reported to have used excessive force, firing rubber bullets, using water cannon, and throwing stun grenades, Reuters reports. | "Reports suggest that [approximately] 6,000 people have been detained in the last three days, including bystanders, as well as minors, suggesting a trend of massive arrests in clear violation of international human…
rt.com/newsline/497844-belarus-human-rights-un/

Illegal terror against im/migrants continues
| workers.org | 2020-08-12
By B.L.S. San Antonio, Texas "They told me not to tell my family where I was," a Haitian asylum-seeker recounted. "I heard people being taken away in the hall [of the hotel] screaming, 'I'm not going! I'm not going!'" An im/migrant Haitian mother and her daughter are incarcerated by ICE . . . | Continue reading Illegal terror against im/migrants continues at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/08/50530/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=illegal-terror-against-im-migrants-continues

Wednesday 8/12: Action: Demand Congress Include All Immigrants in the Next COVID Stimulus Bill
United We Dream | indybay.org | 2020-08-12
Online action…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/12/18835880.php

Meatpacking Workers Continue To Struggle During The Pandemic
_____ | popularresistance.org | 2020-08-12
Five thousand plant workers have tested positive for COVID-19 in Nebraska, representing nearly 20 percent of cases statewide, and at least 21 of those workers have died. Plants predominantly employ immigrants and refugees, consisting mostly of Latinos, but also Sudanese, Bhutanese, Vietnamese, and other groups. Even though workers' pay increased at the plants, so too did their workload. With many still out sick, workers have been expected to keep up with line speeds operating at full capacity. Many workers live in multigenerational homes, and the coronavirus case and death figures cited by Sen. Vargas do not acco…
popularresistance.org/meatpacking-workers-continue-to-struggle-during-the-pandemic/

Using Royal Navy to tackle refugee crossings 'declaration of maritime war' — Calais mayor
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-08-12
Sending the Royal Navy into the English Channel to deal with migrant crossings is a "declaration of maritime war", the mayor of Calais has said. | Natacha Bouchart told France 3 that the British government must take responsibility. She called on Priti Patel's French counterpart to push them on the issue. Her fierce words came as more refugees arrived in the UK on Wednesday 12 August. | Meanwhile, at least 19 refugees who arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel in small boats, and were due to be deported on Wednesday 12 August, have had their removals paused, the PA news agency has learned. | Unwanted ref…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2020/08/12/using-royal-navy-to-tackle-refugee-crossings-declaration-of-maritime-war-calais-mayor/

A Message to the Left About Kamala Harris—And Us
Richard Eskow | commondreams.org | 2020-08-12
Kamala Harris addresses the media about migrant children in front of a detention center in Homestead, Florida on June 28, 2019. (Photo: Rhona Wise / AFP / Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/kamala_harris_0.jpg …
commondreams.org/views/2020/08/12/message-left-about-kamala-harris-and-us?cd-origin=rss

Serbia's Intention to Buy Chinese Weapons. US Concerns
Paul Antonopoulos | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-12
Belgrade's announcement that it may purchase the Chinese FK-3 anti-aircraft missile system was enough for the U.S. to express concern about Serbia's future, not only with Europe, but with the entire world. | The U.S. Embassy in Belgrade said that | "procuring | …
globalresearch.ca/us-concerned-about-serbia-intention-buy-chinese-weapons/5720915

Turkey Marks 100 Years Since Treaty of Sèvres. Renewed Hostilities with Greece
Paul Antonopoulos | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-12
Yesterday marked the 100-year anniversary from when the Treaty of Sèvres was signed. The Treaty of Sèvres saw the Ottoman Empire dismembered, with Greece, Syria and Armenia gaining old lost lands, an independent Kurdistan established, and France, Britain and Italy …
globalresearch.ca/turkey-marks-100-years-since-treaty-sevres-renew-hostilities-greece/5720871

The Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic: The Real Danger is "Agenda ID2020"
Peter Koenig | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-12
WHO has most likely received orders from "above", from those people who also manage Trump and the "leaders" (sic) of the EU, European Union. The final decision to go ahead NOW with COVID-19 pandemic, was taken in January 2020 at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos – behind very much closed doors.
globalresearch.ca/coronavirus-causes-effects-real-danger-agenda-id2020/5706153

TG5 Biden picks Kamala Harris — More Dem business as usual
Philip Giraldi | thealtworld.com | 2020-08-12
Peter Lavelle is joined by Philip Giraldi — former CIA counter-terrorism specialist. We discuss what she brings to the ticket and importantly what a Biden-Harris foreign policy would look like.

TG5 Biden picks Kamala Harris – More Dem business as usual

The Likud Conspiracy: Israel in the Throes of a Major Political Crisis
Ramzy Baroud | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-12
Protests against Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, have raged on for weeks, turning violent sometimes. Israelis are furious at their government's mediocre response to the coronavirus pandemic, especially as COVID-19 disease is experiencing a massive surge throughout the country. Netanyahu warned protesters, thousands of whom have been rallying outside his residence in Jerusalem, against…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/12/the-likud-conspiracy-israel-in-the-throes-of-a-major-political-crisis/

The Politics of War: What is Israel's Endgame in Lebanon and Syria?
Ramzy Baroud | mintpressnews.com | 2020-08-12
Israel's strategic interests in the Syria conflict go beyond Netanyahu's need for a cheap victory. The outcome of the Syria war has the potential of yielding a nightmare scenario for Israel.
mintpressnews.com/the-politics-of-israel-endgame-in-lebanon-syria/270361/

The US Contracts Out Its Regime Change Operation in Nicaragua
John Perry | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-12
Masaya, Nicaragua. An extraordinary leaked document gives a glimpse of the breadth and complexity of the US government's plan to interfere in Nicaragua's internal affairs up to and after its presidential election in 2021. The plan,[1] a 14-page extract from a much longer document, dates from March-April this year and sets the terms for a…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/12/the-us-contracts-out-its-regime-change-operation-in-nicaragua/

Video: Crisis in Belarus as Sign of Global Division
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-12
Over the past days, Belarus, an eastern European state bordering with Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, has become a scene of a new regime change attempt on the territory of the former USSR. | On August 9, the country held presidential …
globalresearch.ca/video-crisis-belarus-global-divisin/5720851

Who is Democratic Senator Kamala Harris?
wsws.org | 2020-08-12
In this political profile of Harris, published in July 2019, the World Socialist Web Site summed up her career as a representative of the US criminal justice system and a reliable defender of corporate and intelligence state interests.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/12/intro-a12.html

Video: Lights, Camera, Action: Staging of Protests in Belarus
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-12
In Belarus presidential elections were held. According to the Central Election Committee, the turnout was quite high and amounted to about 84% of the population. The results of the exit poll confirm the victory of the current President of Belarus, …
globalresearch.ca/video-lights-camera-action-staging-protests-belarus/5720815

Joe Biden Picks Kamala Harris as Running Mate. Biden-Harris vs. Trump-Pence. Who is Kamala Harris?
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-12
Whenever US presidential and congressional elections are held, voters get to choose between two pro-war, pro-corporate empowerment, anti-progressive right wings of the one-party state. | Names and faces change, results always the same. Dirty business as usual wins every time — …
globalresearch.ca/biden-picks-anti-progressive-kamala-harris-running-mate/5720921

Mass Looting in Chicago, My Neighborhood Under Siege
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-12
I awoke Monday morning to distressing news, alerted me by pre-dawn email from my residential building's management. | I and other building residents were told about overnight vandalism and mass looting of retail shops along Chicago's Magnificent Mile in our neighborhood …
globalresearch.ca/mass-looting-chicago-neighborhood-under-siege/5720847

'Vital Democracy Reform' Takes Hit in Oregon After US Supreme Court Undermines Another Ballot Initiative
Lisa Newcomb, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-08-12
A state-level effort to put redistricting in the hands of the people amid the pandemic was set back after the nation's highest court intervened. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/getty_supreme_court_crop.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2020/08/12/vital-democracy-reform-takes-hit-oregon-after-us-supreme-court-undermines-another?cd-origin=rss

An anti-racist vote for class unity
Editor | workers.org | 2020-08-12
Rashida Tlaib of Detroit made history on Nov. 7, 2018, when she became the first Palestinian American woman elected to Congress. This year, in the weeks leading up to the Michigan Democratic Party primary on Aug. 4, the capitalist media questioned whether she would get a shot at reelection. "Congressperson . . . | Continue reading An anti-racist vote for class unity at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/08/50527/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=an-anti-racist-vote-for-class-unity

Beirut: A tragedy that threatens the region with war and chaos
Vanessa Beeley | thealtworld.com | 2020-08-12
On the 4th August 2020 an apocalyptic event took place in the main port of Lebanon's capital city, Beirut. Two explosions tore the city apart. The first explosion was registered on multiple mobile phone videos. The second ripped through the city with terrifying force, killing an estimated 220 and injuring more than 7000. Many victims are still missing as the search for survivors and bodies continues in the aftermath of thirty seconds that has left Beirut and Lebanon reeling with shock. | Three hundred thousand people are reported to be homeless although it is suspected that all estimated numbers are conservative.

Beirut: A tragedy that threatens the region with war and chaos

Growing Force Is Charging That Bolsonaro Has Committed Crimes Against Humanity
Vijay Prashad | zcomm.org | 2020-08-12
The lawsuit says that Bolsonaro's disregard for the danger of the pandemic has put "the Brazilian people at the edge of the abyss."
zcomm.org/znetarticle/growing-force-is-charging-that-bolsonaro-has-committed-crimes-against-humanity/

Brexit, COVID and the continuing ambiguity in Britain
Newsclick | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-12
Vijay Prashad, Executive Director, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, talks to Musician Pandit G of the Asian Dub Foundation speak of the power of music and community in fighting the evils of society.
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/12/brexit-covid-and-the-continuing-ambiguity-in-britain/

Exposing US Color Revolution in Thailand Aimed at China
Tony Cartalucci | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-12
Western media — after claiming recent protests in Thailand were "leaderless" and comprised of "students," decries arrest of US-funded lawyer leading them — never mentions US funding. | *** | The Western media was quick to decry the arrest of 34 year-old …
globalresearch.ca/exposing-us-color-revolution-thailand-aimed-china/5720574

New Report Reveals U.S. Special Forces Active in 22 African Countries
_____ | strategic-culture.org | 2020-08-12
While there is much talk, (or more accurately, condemnation) in Western media of China's imperialist motives in Africa, there is less discussion of the U.S.' continuing role. While China operates one base in the Horn of Africa and has greatly increased its economic role on the continent, the thousands of American troops operating in dozens of countries are overlooked.
strategic-culture.org/news/2020/08/12/new-report-reveals-us-special-forces-active-in-22-african-countries/

Bailing on Boeing: Order Cancellations Exceed New Sales for Sixth Straight Month
Zero Hedge | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-12
The embattled manufacturer saw customers abandon plans to buy 43 of its 737 MAX planes in July, where cancelled orders once again outpaced the company's sales, according to CNBC. | Boeing has net negative orders of 836 planes this year…
globalresearch.ca/bailing-boeing-order-cancellations-exceed-new-sales-sixth-straight-month/5720894

How Kamala Harris as VP Can Be a Win for Progressives
Ruth Conniff | progressive.org | 2020-08-12
With the choice of Harris, Democrats are saying: bring it on.
progressive.org/dispatches/kamala-harris-biden-vp-conniff-200812/

With Harris pick, Biden reaches out to young Black Americans
SFIDCB | nationofchange.org | 2020-08-12
Harris joining up with Biden may have made the Democratic ticket more attractive to younger Black Americans, who now comprise what we define as a critical set of swing voters.
nationofchange.org/2020/08/12/with-harris-pick-biden-reaches-out-to-young-black-americans/

Biden picks former law-and-order prosecutor Kamala Harris to be his Democratic running mate
wsws.org | 2020-08-12
Harris satisfies the advocates of identity politics while reassuring big business with her law-and-order record and close ties to the moneyed elite.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/12/harr-a12.html

Lebanon should look East and abandon the West
Pepe Escobar | thealtworld.com | 2020-08-12
Post-blast Lebanon has everything to gain from rejecting the West's neoliberal demands and embracing China's Belt and Road | As much as Covid-19 has been instrumentalized by the 0.001% to social-engineer a Great Reset, Beirut's massive port explosion is already being instrumentalized by the usual suspects to keep Lebanon enslaved. | Facing oh-so-timely color-revolution-style "protests," the current Lebanese government led by Prime Minister Hassan Diab has already resigned. | Even before the onshore portion of the port blew up, Beirut had requested a US$10 billion…

Lebanon should look East and abandon the West

AEP 59: The American Trap sprung on Tiktok and Huawei, with Carl Zha
Justin Podur | mronline.org | 2020-08-12
Back with Carl Zha of Silk & Steel podcast, who we last saw in our episode on the India-China border conflict.
mronline.org/2020/08/12/aep-59-the-american-trap-sprung-on-tiktok-and-huawei-with-carl-zha/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=aep-59-the-american-trap-sprung-on-tiktok-and-huawei-with-carl-zha

MSM Smear Merchants Target Critics Of Establishment China Narratives
Caitlin Johnstone | thealtworld.com | 2020-08-12
slow-motion third world war against unabsorbed governments continues to accelerate, narrative management campaigns are getting more and more frenzied. We see this exemplified in two recent smear pieces published by imperial spinmeisters about critics of the establishment-authorized narratives about what's happening in China. | The oligarch-funded Axios has published a new article titled " The American blo…

MSM Smear Merchants Target Critics Of Establishment China Narratives

Selective Maritime Rules: The United States, Diego Garcia and International Law
Binoy Kampmark | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-12
There are few more righteous sights than the paunchy US Secretary of State savaging the People's Republic of China with his next volley on Chinese territorial aspirations. In July, Mike Pompeo released a statement putting any uncertain minds at ease on where Washington stood on the matter.
counterpunch.org/2020/08/12/selective-maritime-rules-the-united-states-diego-garcia-and-international-law/

Leaked documents reveal what TikTok shares with authorities — In the U.S
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-08-12
A glimpse at what the social media platform does in the U.S. underscores that data privacy issues extend beyond China.
mronline.org/2020/08/12/leaked-documents-reveal-what-tiktok-shares-with-authorities-in-the-u-s/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=leaked-documents-reveal-what-tiktok-shares-with-authorities-in-the-u-s

Reformers Aim to End Prison Firefighters' 'Indentured Servitude' in California
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-08-12
California's incarcerated firefighters program plays a central role in fighting climate change-fueled wildfires. With exploitative pay and history rooted in colonialism, activists are pushing for a career path for those who serve.
therealnews.com/columns/reformers-aim-to-end-prison-firefighters-indentured-servitude-in-california

Analysis shows 54,000 "excess deaths" in US, pointing to coronavirus death toll of 200,700
wsws.org | 2020-08-12
A new analysis shows that the number of deaths from the coronavirus has likely been undercounted by 37 percent.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/12/exce-a12.html

Over a million jobs lost in Spain amid coronavirus pandemic
wsws.org | 2020-08-12
Another 1 million workers are still furloughed in Spain, and will likely be cast onto unemployment rolls when this scheme comes to an end in the autumn.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/12/jobs-a12.html

Coronavirus and schools: Access to handwashing facilities key for safe reopening
news.un.org | 2020-08-12
Nearly 820 million children worldwide do not have basic handwashing facilities at school, putting them at increased risk of COVID-19 and other transmittable diseases, according to a report published on Thursday by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/08/1070072

Peru hit hard by second wave of COVID-19
Tanya Wadhwa | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-12
Peru has been hit by a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the country began to ease lockdown restrictions at the beginning of July, in the same month it experienced a slight increase in the number of coronavirus cases. In the first ten days of August, the daily new cases have spiked sharply. With a population of 33 million, Peru is reporting more than 7,000 new cases everyday. Following the concerning surge in infections, President Martín Vizcarra has reimposed a state of emergency with general quarantine measures and curfews until the end of this month. | Currently, Peru is the third worst-hit country i…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/12/peru-hit-hard-by-second-wave-of-covid-19/

"We Didn't Bleed Him Enough": When Normal is the Problem
P. Sainath | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-12
Bloodletting was a common medical treatment for nearly 3,000 years. It developed around an idea, originating with Hippocrates and later wildly popular in Europe of the Middle Ages: that an imbalance of the four humours of the body — blood, phlegm, black bile, yellow bile — caused illness. Around 500 years after Hippocrates, Galen declared…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/12/we-didnt-bleed-him-enough-when-normal-is-the-problem/

Within Health Care USA, Risk and Reward Have Never Been More Out of Kilter
Sam Pizzigati | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-12
How's pandemic life been going for you? If you work in America's health care industry, that depends. That totally depends. If you happen to provide health care services to actual Covid-19 patients — as a nurse or a doctor, an orderly or a physician's assistant — this has been the year from hell. Amid the…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/12/within-health-care-usa-risk-and-reward-have-never-been-more-out-of-kilter/

It Could Have Been Different
Tom Engelhardt | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-12
Let me be blunt. This wasn't the world I imagined for my denouement. Not faintly. Of course, I can't claim I ever really imagined such a place. Who, in their youth, considers their death and the world that might accompany it, the one you might leave behind for younger generations? I'm 76 now. True, if…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/12/it-could-have-been-different/

Kamala Harris? Really? Desperate Times, Desperate Measures
Riva Enteen | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-12
Kamala Harris might be the perfect lens to reveal who the Democrats really are. A good run-down on her track record highlights her assertion that "It is not progressive to be soft on crime."
counterpunch.org/2020/08/12/desperate-times-desperate-measures-dump-the-democrats/

Santa Davis and the "Stalag 17" Riddim
Stephen Cooper | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-12
Relatable to reggae music lovers everywhere, Pulitzer Prize-winning Poet Mary Oliver once wrote: "Rhythm is one of the most powerful pleasures, and when we feel a pleasurable rhythm we hope it will continue. When it does, the sweet grows sweeter. When it becomes reliable, we are in a kind of body-heaven." On June 30 I was…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/12/santa-davis-and-the-stalag-17-riddim/

Teaching Palestinian Children to Love Beethoven, Bizet, and Mozart is a Threat to a Depraved Israeli Society
Raouf Halaby | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-12
The subject box of a mid-March email from Jerusalemite Palestinian author and scholar read: "Simply Reflecting." Samia Khoury's 16/March/2020 message was a concise and tellingly prescient homily on the pathetically worsening universal condition of humanity as well as the depraved banality to which Israel's Jewish leaders have descended. The topics included the spread of Covid-19,…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/12/teaching-palestinian-children-to-love-beethoven-bizet-and-mozart-is-a-threat-to-a-depraved-israeli-society/

The Road to Portland: The Two Decades of 'Homeland Security'
Khury Petersen-Smith | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-12
Troops have stood down in Portland and, for now, the city is quiet — which may say something about who was driving the violence there. For weeks, masked men in the city were recorded throwing protesters into unmarked cars, firing tear gas and projectiles at contingents of mothers, fathers, and veterans, and generally carrying on with impunity. But the repression in…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/12/the-road-to-portland-the-two-decades-of-homeland-security/

The Improbability of CO2 Removal From the Atmosphere
Manuel García, Jr. | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-12
The concentration of carbon dioxide gas in today's atmosphere is 417ppm (parts per million). There are 10^44 gas molecules in the entire atmosphere (78% diatomic nitrogen, 21% diatomic oxygen, 1% everything else), so 1ppm is equivalent to 10^38 gas particles. The 417ppm of CO2 represents a total of 4.17?10^40 molecules. Some people hope for new…
counterpunch.org/2020/08/12/the-improbability-of-co2-removal-from-the-atmosphere/

Kamala Harris? Really? Desperate Times, Desperate Measures
Riva Enteen | counterpunch.org | 2020-08-12
Kamala Harris might be the perfect lens to reveal who the Democrats really are. A good run-down on her track record highlights her assertion that "It is not progressive to be soft on crime." As a San Francisco social worker, I sat on the school district committee that met with families of chronically truant students.
counterpunch.org/2020/08/12/desperate-times-desperate-measures-dump-the-democrats/

Political strike shuts down Bolivia
Michael Otto | workers.org | 2020-08-12
Ibarra, Ecuador Do Bolivian lives matter? The Bolivian masses are experiencing a perfect storm of social, health and economic crises. A U.S.-backed military coup overthrew President Evo Morales Ayma in November 2019 — Morales called it a lithium coup. To Wall Street, only the great reserves of Bolivian lithium matter. . . . | Continue reading Political strike shuts down Bolivia at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/08/50536/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=political-strike-shuts-down-bolivia

Armed forces and fascist gangs mobilized against blockades in Bolivia
wsws.org | 2020-08-12
The demand for the immediate fall of the àÅñez regime, brought to power in last November's US-backed coup, is gaining increasing popular support.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/12/boli-a12.html

Vietnam donates 10,000 masks to Maryland to fight COVID-19
Vietnam News Agency | peoplesworld.org | 2020-08-12
WASHINGTON–The Embassy of Vietnam in the United States presented 10,000 face masks to the state of Maryland at a ceremony held on August 7. At the handover ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador to the U.S. Ha Kim Ngoc voiced his hope that the face masks will contribute to containing the spread of COVID-19 in Maryland. He added …
peoplesworld.org/article/vietnam-donates-10000-masks-to-maryland-to-fight-covid-19/

Hospital fire in southern India kills 10 COVID-19 patients
wsws.org | 2020-08-12
With the pandemic spreading rapidly in the country, the circumstances of the fire point to criminal negligence on the part of governments and hotel and hospital authorities.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/12/vija-a12.html

Lebanon: WFP racing to help vulnerable, prevent food shortages
news.un.org | 2020-08-12
The World Food Programme (WFP) is racing to prevent food shortages in Lebanon as the country continues to reel from the triple shock of the devastating blast in Beirut, economic meltdown and the COVID-19 pandemic.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/08/1070062

Ford Chicago Assembly workers launch Rank-and-File Safety Committee to save lives
wsws.org | 2020-08-12
Our coworkers are falling ill and even dying, but management and the union refuse to tell us the truth about how many have been exposed to or become infected with COVID-19.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/12/rank-a12.html

Amid COVID-19, UN commitment to peace 'more urgent than ever'
news.un.org | 2020-08-12
COVID-19 threatens not only hard-won development and peacebuilding gains, but also "risks exacerbating conflicts or fomenting new ones", the UN chief reminded the Security Council on Wednesday, during a briefing on the challenges to achieving sustainable peace, while pandemics ravage communities worldwide.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/08/1070082

The Medical Assessment of Covid: America Desperately Needs a "Second Opinion"
Jeff Harris | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-12
Doctors are human and subject to human mistakes. Even doctors with exceptional "expert" credentials are still human and like all humans fallible. That's why patients often seek a second or even third opinion from other expert physicians BEFORE implementing a …
globalresearch.ca/america-needs-second-opinion/5720897

What do we know about the Russian COVID-19 vaccine?
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-12
Dr. Satyajit Rath talks to Peoples Dispatch about the recent announcement made by Russian president Vladimir Putin declaring that the country has developed a vaccine for COVID-19.
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/12/what-do-we-know-about-the-russian-covid-19-vaccine/

Meet Alabama's feminist doctor protecting women giving birth under COVID-19
Francesca Visser | zcomm.org | 2020-08-12
"The US is the most dangerous place to give birth in the developed world."
zcomm.org/znetarticle/meet-alabamas-feminist-doctor-protecting-women-giving-birth-under-covid-19/

Union intervention wins back garment workers' jobs in Myanmar
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-12
The intervention by the Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar has led to the reinstatement of 168 garment workers who had been laid off by two companies during the COVID-19 lockdown in March and April…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/12/union-intervention-wins-back-garment-workers-jobs-in-myanmar/

Systemic corruption, mismanagement worsen Zimbabwe's economic crisis
Pan Africanism Today Secretariat | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-12
The spread of COVID-19 has further exposed an already failing system, leading to an intensified political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe. The government, however, seems busy cracking down on critics…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/12/systemic-corruption-mismanagement-worsen-zimbabwes-economic-crisis/

The 'Wall of Vets' Continue Long Legacy of Veteran Activism
Brian Trautman | zcomm.org | 2020-08-12
Veterans are mindful of the crimes that an authoritarian government and occupying military force are capable of. They know that we have a civic duty to stand up to these existential threats to democracy, freedom and liberty…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/the-wall-of-vets-continue-long-legacy-of-veteran-activism/

This Is Not A Drill Live
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-08-12
The sprint to November 2020 is underway. The question that remains for left organizers is, who will we bring in to our growing coalition organized around racial justice and radical economic democracy? The overlapping political and economic crises of our time have opened the door to growing far beyond our normal base of support. How…
therealnews.com/stories/this-is-not-a-drill-live

The Hiroshima Myth
John V. Denson | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-12
This article was crossposted from LewRockwell.com where it was originally published in 2006. | Every year during the first two weeks of August the mass news media and many politicians at the national level trot out the "patriotic" political myth that …
globalresearch.ca/hiroshima-myth/5720903

A Courageous Family Needs Your Help to Seek Justice for the Murder of Their Son on 9/11
Richard Gage | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-12
I'm writing this article today because a courageous family needs your help — and their struggle for justice offers what I believe is the best opportunity the 9/11 Truth Movement has ever had to break through on a global scale….
globalresearch.ca/courageous-family-needs-your-help-seek-justice-murder-son-911/5720879

Is a "Color Revolution" Possible in Belarus?
Lucas Leiroz de Almeida | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-12
The political crisis in Belarus is getting worse day after day. As a result of elections in the country, a violent wave of protests began in several cities. The focus of the demonstrations is Minsk, the country's capital. In the …
globalresearch.ca/could-color-revolution-possible-belarus/5720891

Is the Face Mask Epidemic "Bringing on the Dumbing Down of Society?"
John C. A. Manley | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-12
"The mask is just as detrimental to society as vaccinations," says Rose Davidson in a viral video.
globalresearch.ca/is-face-mask-epidemic-bringing-dumbing-down-society/5720867

This Is America: Where Fascism, Totalitarianism and Militarism Go Hand in Hand
John W. Whitehead | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-12
"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem, government IS the problem."–Ronald Reagan | There's a pattern emerging if you pay close enough attention. | Civil discontent leads to civil unrest, which leads to protests and counterprotests….
globalresearch.ca/amerika-fascism-totalitarianism-militarism-go-hand-hand/5720869

Crisis of Civilization. The Manifestation of the Beauty of Humanity. The Legacy of Ancient Chinese Philosophy
Jenn Zhu | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-12
I have once written a long story based on part of my own life experiences and some other real materials which might have caused some stir among the people who happened to have read it, in which the protagonist is …
globalresearch.ca/benevolence-righteousness-proper-rite/5720813

The U.S. Presidential Election: A Referendum on Donald Trump's Character or a Campaign on Law-and-Order?
Prof Rodrigue Tremblay | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-12
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." –Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), 16th President of the United States, 1861-65. | "We must reject any thinking of our cities as a 'battlespace' …
globalresearch.ca/us-presidential-election-referendum-donald-trump-character-campaign-law-order/5720901

Guyana Geopolitics: Washington's New Game Plan Against Venezuela
Lucas Leiroz de Almeida | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-12
Having gained its political independence a few decades ago, Guyana is a small South American country with little international relevance. Without major economic or geopolitical projections, the country has agriculture and mining as its main activities, not being a fully …
globalresearch.ca/guyana-new-american-bet-against-venezuela/5720874

Macron Lectures Lebanon: The Condescending Politics of Aid
Dr. Binoy Kampmark | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-12
The explosion in a Beirut portside warehouse containing over 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate on August 4 has done its bit to light more fires under Lebanon's ruling powers. With the blast still bloodily fresh and traumatic — the destruction …
globalresearch.ca/macron-lectures-lebanon-condescending-politics-aid/5720862

80 Years Ago: Fall of France, the Wehrmacht's Advance Through the Ardennes Forest
Shane Quinn | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-12
Eight decades ago in the late summer of 1940 the Wehrmacht's generals, at Adolf Hitler's behest, were beginning preparations for a massive invasion of the USSR. Morale within the German Army was very good indeed, for obvious reasons. Within six …
globalresearch.ca/80-years-ago-fall-france-wehrmacht-advance-through-ardennes-forest/5720860

#WhiteHouseSiege — This Group Plans to "Lay Siege to" and "Occupy" the White House Next Month
Daisy Luther | globalresearch.ca | 2020-08-12
The group that takes credit for the Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011 has a new and even more outrageous plan in mind. They intend to "occupy" the White House. | Adbusters, an online magazine that describes itself as "a global …
globalresearch.ca/whitehousesiege-group-plans-lay-siege-occupy-white-house-next-month/5720797

Trump turning state-owned VOA into personal propaganda arm
Staff | therealnews.com | 2020-08-12
USAGM's pro-Trump CEO Michael Pack is implementing Trump's anti-immigration agenda and purging VOA and other USAGM affiliates of international staff by refusing J-1 visa renewals, landing dozens of foreign journalists in limbo…
therealnews.com/columns/trump-turning-state-owned-voa-into-personal-propaganda-arm

Families of missing Kashmiri men allege they were killed in a staged encounter
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-12
Three men were killed by security forces in Shopian district of Kashmir on July 18. A few days ago, their pictures appeared on social media and were identified by their family members who said they were laborers who were searching for jobs…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/12/families-of-missing-kashmiri-men-allege-they-were-killed-in-a-staged-encounter/

Anti-Laundering Bill Targeting Shell Companies Stalled in Senate as Big Banks Caught Cooking Books
Raul Diego | mintpressnews.com | 2020-08-12
The Anti-Money Laundering Act would expose the owners of shell companies now sits alone on a shelf in the US Senate while the Federal Reserve shrugs its shoulders in the face of blatant manipulation by the too-big-to-fail banks.
mintpressnews.com/key-anti-laundering-bill-stalled-senate-big-banks-caught-cooking-books/270378/

Looking for an Excuse to Crackdown, Police Departments are Pitting Protesters Against Each Other
John Whitehead | mintpressnews.com | 2020-08-12
Civil discontent leads to civil unrest, which leads to protests and counterprotests, and instead of restoring order, local police stand down. Tensions rise, violence escalates, and federal armies move in.
mintpressnews.com/crackdown-police-departments-intentionally-pitting-protesters-against-each-other/270315/

Yemen: State Department Clears Bomb Peddler Pompeo of Wrongdoing in Civilian Deaths Investigation
Raul Diego | mintpressnews.com | 2020-08-12
A report issued by the State Department's Inspector General found that US arms sales raise the possibility of civilians getting killed, but also finds that the guy who sells the guns, Mike Pompeo, did nothing wrong.
mintpressnews.com/yemen-state-department-clears-bomb-peddler-pompeo-wrongdoing-civilian-deaths-investigation/270338/

Podcast: The Beirut Explosion, Economic Terror and the Drumbeat of War Against Hezbollah
Mnar Muhawesh Adley | mintpressnews.com | 2020-08-12
Lebanese journalists Laith Marouf and Marwa Osman recount their experience living through the recent blast that destroyed much of Beirut, an explosion that not only occurred during a period of rapid economic decline but of increasing public outrage over corruption and Western sanctions that have squeezed Lebanon dry.
mintpressnews.com/podcast-beirut-blast-economic-terror-drumbeat-of-war-against-hezbollah/270369/

The Beirut Port Explosion: A Comprehensive Analysis
Leonid Savin | thealtworld.com | 2020-08-12
On the evening of 4 August, there were two explosions in Beirut's port area. The first was relatively small and was caused by ignited fireworks, which the fire brigade went to extinguish. Enormous clouds of smoke attracted a large number of onlookers, who caught the second explosion on camera. This one was like the detonation of a tactical nuclear device. The explosion was so powerful that all the buildings in the city's business district and even the airport, which is in a different part of the city, were damaged by the blast wave. | By the evening of 5 August, the death toll had reached 135, with nearly 5,000 w…

The Beirut Port Explosion: A Comprehensive Analysis

After White House, Congress cut aid to unemployed, evictions and food lines spread across the US
wsws.org | 2020-08-12
As eviction filings increase to pre-pandemic levels, workers and their families are left to fend for themselves.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/12/unem-a12.html

MST Quilombo Campo Grande camp resists eviction in the midst of the pandemic
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-12
The Quilombo Campo Grande camp is resisting an eviction which began early on August 12. The camp is home to 450 landless families who have been living, producing and working there for over 2 decades.
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/12/mst-quilombo-campo-grande-camp-resists-eviction-in-the-midst-of-the-pandemic/

Canada's military launched operation to "shape" opinion amid pandemic
wsws.org | 2020-08-12
Sparked by fears of "civil unrest," the operation included plans for military personnel to broadcast government-approved propaganda over loudspeakers and temporary radio stations.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/12/cami-a12.html

Black Lives Matter rally in Waupaca, WI takes the street
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-08-12
Waupaca, WI – Nearly 100 people turned out for a Black Lives Matter (BLM) rally in the rural Wisconsin town of Waupaca. This huge turnout for an action in such a small town came in the wake of two earlier events that faced a growing amount of harassment from police and white supremacists. | The violent arrest of activist Matt Banta at a march on August 2 and the subsequent rise in racist threats toward others contributed to the organizing of this larger event. Organizers of previous BLM actions in Waupaca have been targeted by white supremacists, with a mass armed counter-protest allegedly being planned. | Hosted…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/8/12/black-lives-matter-rally-waupaca-wi-takes-street-0

Protests, crackdown follow Belarus elections
wsws.org | 2020-08-12
Western imperialism is seeking to exploit the Lukashenko government's violent suppression of protests to fuel its war drive against Russia.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/08/12/bela-a12.html

Algerian journalist Khaled Drareni sentenced to three years in prison for Facebook posts
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-12
An Algiers court handed journalist Khaled Drareni a three-year prison sentence. The verdict has been widely condemned by human rights groups and Hirak movement protesters…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/12/algerian-journalist-khaled-drareni-sentenced-to-three-years-in-prison-for-facebook-posts/

Protesting Thai students call for prime minister's resignation and reforms to monarchy
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-08-12
Thousands of students participated in anti-government demonstrations at the Thammasat University near Bangkok on Tuesday. Students have been protesting for the past few days demanding reforms…
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/08/12/protesting-thai-students-call-for-prime-ministers-resignation-and-reforms-to-monarchy/

Beirut Blast Aftermath–MES EP.67
Marwa Osman | thealtworld.com | 2020-08-12
The majority of Lebanese people put the blame squarely on the political elite and the corruption and mismanagement for the Beirut Explosion on August 4rth. However, only the US backed politicians in Lebanon began parroting from the first hour of the blast that Hezbollah is to blame for this disaster and sent in their protestors that same week to start riots in the capital while hundreds were still missing and thousands remain in hospitals getting treated as hundreds were laid for their final rest. To discuss this issue with us from Beirut is Mr. Maan Bachour Former secretary general of the Arab National Congress.

Beirut Blast Aftermath–MES EP.67

Belarus: UN rights chief condemns violence against protesters, calls for grievances to be heard
news.un.org | 2020-08-12
The flow of free information is "crucial" in a democratic society, the UN human rights chief said on Wednesday, spotlighting the landlocked eastern European nation of Belarus, "especially in a context of crisis and social unrest".
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/08/1070112

Podcast: The Beirut Explosion, Economic Terror and the Drumbeat of War Against Hezbollah
Mnar Muhawesh | thealtworld.com | 2020-08-12
Lebanese journalists Laith Marouf and Marwa Osman recount their experience living through the recent blast that destroyed much of Beirut, an explosion that not only occurred during a period of rapid economic decline but of increasing public outrage over corruption and Western sanctions that have squeezed Lebanon dry. | elcome to MintCast — an interview series featuring dissenting voices the establishment would rather silence– I'm your host Mnar Muhawesh Adley. | Lebanon is re…

Podcast: The Beirut Explosion, Economic Terror and the Drumbeat of War Against Hezbollah

Replaying the 'Syria Scenario' in Lebanon
Abdel Bari Atwan | thealtworld.com | 2020-08-12
The US and its clients are trying to exploit the crisis to advance their plans to destroy Hezbollah. They should know better. | Let us start at the end, without getting bogged down in the details and analyses that fill the Lebanese and Arab media these days: The current ferment in Lebanon, which resulted in the resignation of Hassan Diab's government over the Beirut Port explosion, will eventually lead to the demise of Lebanon's corrupt ruling elite and the 1989 Taif Agreement that brought it to power and established the sectarian carve-up system that sustains it. | The Lebanese people want genuine democratic ref…

Replaying the ‘Syria Scenario’ in Lebanon

Russia wants neither 'rethink' nor 'reset' if it means restoring American supremacy & returning to Cold War diplomacy
Scott Ritter | thealtworld.com | 2020-08-12
Some 136 American "experts" on US-Russian relations recently debated the merits of "rethinking" US policy on Russia. What these specialists failed to consider is that Moscow may not be interested in their plans. | In the span of a week, Politico, a non-partisan global news and information company whose stated mission is "providing accurate, nonpartisan impactful information to the right people at the right time," published two pieces that addressed the topic of US-Russian relations. | The first, which appeared on August 5, was an "open let…

Russia wants neither ‘rethink’ nor ‘reset’ if it means restoring American supremacy & returning to Cold War diplomacy

El uso de la tecnología por parte del estado: un problema para el movimiento
Ben Carroll | workers.org | 2020-08-12
La información está en todas partes. En el 2020, la tecnología es una parte omnipresente de la vida cotidiana de muchos trabajadores en este país y en todo el mundo. Usamos las redes sociales y el correo electrónico para mantenernos en contacto con familiares y amigos. Vemos transmisiones en vivo . . . | Continue reading El uso de la tecnología por parte del estado: un problema para el movimiento at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/08/50524/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=el-uso-de-la-tecnologia-por-parte-del-estado-un-problema-para-el-movimiento

Beirut mega-blast unleashes political tsunami
John Catalinotto | workers.org | 2020-08-12
Aug. 10 — An earthquake-size explosion in the port of Beirut on Aug. 4 killed 200, wounded 6,000 and left 300,000 people homeless in that densely populated city. It also unleashed a political tsunami that pulled in regional and imperialist powers as well as Lebanese political forces. Lebanese emergency workers . . . | Continue reading Beirut mega-blast unleashes political tsunami at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/08/50533/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beirut-mega-blast-unleashes-political-tsunami

The Heat: Biden picks Sen. Kamala Harris as running mate
Anand Naidoo | america.cgtn.com | 2020-08-12
Democrat Joe Biden has chosen Kamala Harris as his running mate to take on Donald Trump in the U.S. Presidential election.
america.cgtn.com/2020/08/12/the-heat-biden-picks-sen-kamala-harris-as-running-mate

Bomb blast in W Afghanistan kills four policemen
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-12
TEHRAN, Aug. 13 (MNA) — Four members of local police forces were killed and ten civilians were injured in a bomb blast in the western province of Farah in Afghanistan.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162211/Bomb-blast-in-W-Afghanistan-kills-four-policemen

Iran to set up pavilion at Chinese high-tech. fair
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-12
TEHRAN, Aug. 13 (MNA) — Iranian knowledge-based companies are planning to set up a pavilion at 22nd edition of China Hi-Tech Fair (CHTF), which is going to be held on November 11 to 15 at Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center, Shenzhen, China.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162193/Iran-to-set-up-pavilion-at-Chinese-high-tech-fair

Iran COVID-19 update: 2,510 cases, 188 deaths
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-12
TEHRAN, Aug. 12 (MNA) — The Iranian Health Ministry announced 2,510 new cases of infection with the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, putting the total number of cases in the country at 333,699.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162189/Iran-COVID-19-update-2-510-cases-188-deaths

VIDEO: Russia registers world's 1st COVID-19 vaccine
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-12
TEHRAN, Aug. 12 (MNA) — Russia registered the world's first Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday. It marks a milestone in the fight against the new coronavirus but amid safety concerns in the West over the country's accelerated clinical evaluations.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162176/VIDEO-Russia-registers-world-s-1st-COVID-19-vaccine

Parliament's open session on Wed
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-12
TEHRAN, Aug. 13 (MNA) — Iranian lawmakers held an open session on Wednesday and did not give the vote of confidence to Hossein Modarres Khiabani as the new industry minister.
en.mehrnews.com/photo/162188/Parliament-s-open-session-on-Wed

Exports via Qom province top $50 million in four months
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-12
TEHRAN, Aug. 13 (MNA) — More than 49,000 tons of commodities worth around $56 million were exported through the customs of Qom province, central Iran, during the first four months of the current fiscal (March 20 -July 21), a senior official said.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162194/Exports-via-Qom-province-top-50-million-in-four-months

'Driving Lessons' wins at Beirut Intl. Women Film Festival
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-12
TEHRAN, Aug. 12 (MNA) — Iranian Short 'Driving Lessons' has won at Beirut International Women Film Festival.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162182/Driving-Lessons-wins-at-Beirut-Intl-Women-Film-Festival

Police dismantle 3 drug-smuggling bands in Tehran
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-12
TEHRAN, Aug. 12 (MNA) — According to Tehran's Police Chief, the anti-narcotics police of the province have dismantled three drug-smuggling gangs and seized over 2 tons of illicit drugs in the Iranian capital during separate operations.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162180/Police-dismantle-3-drug-smuggling-bands-in-Tehran

Sidelines of Cabinet meeting
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-12
TEHRAN, Aug. 12 (MNA) — On the sidelines of the Cabinet meeting, some of the Iranian ministers and officials answered reporters' questions on Wednesday.
en.mehrnews.com/photo/162177/Sidelines-of-Cabinet-meeting

Qatar says stances of PGCC Sec. Gen. not of council members
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-12
TEHRAN, Aug. 12 (MNA) — Qatari special envoy Majed Al-Qahtani said that the stances of the Secretary-General of the PGCC Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf about the extension of Iran's arms embargo can not be generalized to other council members.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162178/Qatar-says-stances-of-PGCC-Sec-Gen-not-of-council-members

FAO supplies Iran with more desert locust equipment
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-12
TEHRAN, Aug. 12 (MNA) — FAO delivers two more consignments of desert locust control equipment and materials to Iran to further enhance national technical capacity to prevent and decrease the damages caused by this migratory pest.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162181/FAO-supplies-Iran-with-more-desert-locust-equipment

'Inner Love' goes to Italian film festival's final
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-12
TEHRAN, Aug. 12 (MNA) — Iranian short 'Inner Love' has made it into the final stage of the 8th edition of Spi Stories Film Festival in Italy.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162186/Inner-Love-goes-to-Italian-film-festival-s-final

US clings personal position of PGCC's SG 'regional consensus'
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-12
TEHRAN, Aug. 12 (MNA) — Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the United States, in desperation, calls the position of the Secretary General of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) as 'regional consensus'.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162206/US-clings-personal-position-of-PGCC-s-SG-regional-consensus

Iranian documentary wins at Ierapetra filmfest of Greece
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-12
TEHRAN, Aug. 12 (MNA) — Mahmoud Reza's documentary 'Kiarostami and His Missing Cane' has won an award at the 2020 edition of Ierapetra International Documentary Film Festival in Greece.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162184/Iranian-documentary-wins-at-Ierapetra-filmfest-of-Greece

IRGC, Army commanders hold seasonal meeting
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-12
TEHRAN, Aug. 12 (MNA) — High-ranking commanders of the Iranian Army and the Islamic Revolution Guard Crops held a seasonal meeting on Wednesday.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162192/IRGC-Army-commanders-hold-seasonal-meeting

Police seize 460 kg of narcotics in SE Iran
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-12
TEHRAN, Aug. 12 (MNA) — The police force of Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province have seized 460 kg of illicit drugs in Saravan County.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162210/Police-seize-460-kg-of-narcotics-in-SE-Iran

Zarif says US determines EU's trade partners not Union itself
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-12
TEHRAN, Aug. 12 (MNA) — Criticizing the EU's dependency on the US, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that this is the United States Department of the Treasury that determines EU's trade partners, not Europe itself.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162190/Zarif-says-US-determines-EU-s-trade-partners-not-Union-itself

Iran symbol of power in region: Brig. Gen. Heidari
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-12
TEHRAN, Aug. 12 (MNA) — Commander of the Iranian Army's Ground Forces said that Islamic Republic of Iran is a symbol of power in the region and the Global Arrogance must leave the West Asia.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162209/Iran-symbol-of-power-in-region-Brig-Gen-Heidari

Introduction, farewell ceremony of Markazi prov. IDO's chief
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-12
ARAK, Aug. 12 (MNA) — An introduction and farewell ceremony of the director general of Islamic Development Organization (IDO) in Markazi province and introduction of new head of Mehr news agency's office in this province was held on Tue. evening.
en.mehrnews.com/photo/162165/Introduction-farewell-ceremony-of-Markazi-prov-IDO-s-chief

US needs terrorists in region: Bashar al-Assad
Mehr News Agency | en.mehrnews.com | 2020-08-12
TEHRAN, Aug. 12 (MNA) — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that the United States is in desperate need of terrorists in the region including ISIL terrorist group and seeks to support terrorists using Caesar sanctions law against Syria.
en.mehrnews.com/news/162212/US-needs-terrorists-in-region-Bashar-al-Assad

Santa Cruz for Bernie Endorses Brown, Hill and Kumar for Santa Cruz City Council
Santa Cruz News Network | indybay.org | 2020-08-12
Santa Cruz County for Bernie Sanders has announced their organization is endorsing three progressive candidates for Santa Cruz City Council in the November 2020 election: Sandy Brown, Kelsey Hill, and Kayla Kumar.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/08/10/18835817.php