Michael Bento (2019-11-01). Ecuador\'s uprising, visible and invisible — a commentary. workers.org The writer is of African descent from the United States, currently living in Quito. For more than 10 days at the beginning of October, Ecudorians across the nation revolted against President Lenín Moreno\'s austerity Decree 883 announced to satisfy part of the U.S.-based International Monetary Fund\'s loan conditions. As part . . . | Continue reading Ecuador\'s uprising, visible and invisible — a commentary at Workers.org

Ahmed Abdulkareem (2019-11-01). Five Years On, Saudi Attacks on Yemen\'s Farmers Are Pushing the Whole Country into Famine. mintpressnews.com Between March 2015 and March 2019, the Saudi-led Coalition launched at least 10,000 airstrikes in Yemen that struck farms, 800 that struck local food markets, and about 450 airstrikes that hit silos and other food storage facilities.

Lawrence Davidson (2019-11-01). Hillary Clinton\'s Hunt for \"Russian Assets\" counterpunch.org Conspiracy Theories All Around We know that in 2016 Americans elected a president who can\'t tell the difference between what\'s real and the stuff he makes up. He appears particularly susceptible to conspiracy theories. Indeed, he has espoused at least 24 of them since becoming president. We also know that in 2016 the presidential election was interfered More

Patrick Cockburn (2019-11-01). Why Killing \"High-Valued Targets\" Like Baghdadi Won\'t Destroy ISIS. counterpunch.org At the height of the al-Qaeda-led insurgency in Iraq in 2006-07, US commanders, whose troops were suffering serious casualties from roadside bombs, developed a strategy. They sought to identify, kill or capture the leaders of the cells planting the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in the belief that this would cripple the bombing campaign. Many such high-value More

Tom Canavan (2019-11-01). Rutgers softball coaches face accusations of abuse, intimidation. peoplesworld.org (AP)—Two Rutgers softball coaches, a husband and wife, have been accused of fostering a climate of fear, intimidation and abuse on the team. The university president said Thursday he wants an independent investigation of allegations made against softball head coach Kristen Butler and her husband, Marcus Smith, a volunteer assistant. Smith has since left the …

RT (2019-11-01). \'Thank God for Deep State\', ex-CIA boss says. Still think it\'s a conspiracy theory? rt.com In just a few short months, the US political establishment has gone from denying the existence of the \'Deep State\' and calling it a conspiracy theory, to praising it as the bulwark of the Republic against President Donald Trump. | \"Thank God for the \'Deep State,\'\" declared former CIA director John E. McLaughlin at an event this week, describing the diplomats and intelligence officers testifying before the congressional impeachment inquiry as \"people who are doing their duty or responding to a higher call.\" | Lavishing praise on the \'whistleblower\' intelligence officer whose complaint about Trump\'s phone call l…

Staff (2019-11-01). Impeachment Begins; Trump Panics as Facts Unfold. therealnews.com Even though it is becoming clear that Trump violated the Constitution, the partisan divide is only getting deeper.

Dave Lindorff (2019-11-01). Democrats Make a Huge Mistake If They Just Focus Impeachment on the Ukraine Scandal. counterpunch.org The impeachment theater on display today in the House, bracketed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi\'s maudlin reading of Article I of the Constitution, and by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy\'s ludicrous evocation of the Stalin purge trials to characterize the full House vote to establish impeachment rules and procedures, is increasingly looking like the first act More

Paul Street (2019-11-01). The Capitalist War on the Last American Commons. counterpunch.org The land in question in This Land is Christopher Ketcham\'s brilliant first book is the last wild \"American commons\": the federal public lands of the western United States. Comprising many millions of acres of grassland, forest, mountains, valleys, canyons, and steppe, this vast \"public trust\" is under the deeply compromised supervision of the U.S. Department More

Paul Street (2019-11-01). The Capitalist War on the Last American Commons. counterpunch.org The land in question in This Land is Christopher Ketchum\'s brilliant first book is the last wild \"American commons\": the federal public lands of the western United States. Comprising many millions of acres of grassland, forest, mountains, valleys, canyons, and steppe, this vast \"public trust\" is under the deeply compromised supervision of the U.S. Department More

RT (2019-11-01). 'Blade Runner\' showed us a depersonalized dystopia in 2019 — instead of a warning, we used it as an instruction manual. rt.com The real world has caught up to the dystopian sci-fi classic \'Blade Runner\', set in November 2019. While robots aren\'t quite passing for humans, they\'re silently taking over human jobs and roles. | The real Los Angeles of November 2019 bears more than a passing resemblance to the chilling future depicted in \'Blade Runner\', where ultra-realistic androids prowl the streets pretending to be human and corporations have taken on most of the functions of government. While the US doesn\'t have flying cars — yet — many of the other technologies seen in the 1982 adaptation of Philip K. Dick\'s novel \'Do Android…

RT (2019-11-01). Illegal opioid haul found in Ohio is so huge authorities called it \'chemical warfare\' (PHOTO). rt.com Ohio law enforcement agencies have revealed a huge drugs bust in which over 20 kilograms (44lbs) of suspected fentanyl, an addictive opioid more dangerous than heroin, was seized along with $30,000 cash and three guns. | \"Twenty kilograms of fentanyl is enough to kill the entire population of Ohio, many times over,\" said Vance Callender, Homeland Security Investigations special agent in charge for Michigan and Ohio. | Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost described the quantity of fentanyl involved in the case as amounting \"to chemical warfare and a weapon of mass destruction,\" and thanked all of the officers and ag…

Ed Rampell (2019-11-01). Film review: All aboard the freedom train with \"Harriet\" peoplesworld.org The stand-up-and-cheer biopic Harriet about legendary freedom fighter Harriet Tubman (British-born actress/singer Cynthia Erivo, who won the Best Leading Actress in a Musical Tony Award for The Color Purple in 2016) is arguably the most progressive feature film of the year. In a straight forward, conventional manner co-writer/director Kasi Lemmons (1997\'s Eve\'s Bayou) unfolds the …

Ady Barkan (2019-11-01). Ady Barkan: Elizabeth Warren\'s Plan Is a Massive Win for the Medicare for All Movement. theintercept.com Sen. Elizabeth Warren speaks to students and staff at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, Iowa, on Oct. 21, 2019. | Photo: Charlie Neibergall/AP | The movement for single-payer health care has taken some big strides forward in recent years. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., put the issue at the center of the Democratic Party\'s debate with his run for president in 2016. In partnership with the nurses union and other champions, he then got 19 senators to co-sponsor his bill in 2017. After Democrats took back the House of Representatives, we demanded and got hearings in multiple powerful committees on the fantastic b…

Manuel García, Jr. (2019-11-01). Life in the Ashes of Lotusland Dreams: the Kinkade Fire and the Future of California. counterpunch.org The Kincade Fire, currently burning in Sonoma County, California erupted at 9: 24 PM on October 23 during an extreme wind event, east of Geyserville (77 miles or 124 km north of San Francisco). An area of 400 acres (2 square kilometers, 2 km^2) burned that evening. By October 30 the fire had burned an area More

Ron Jacobs (2019-11-01). The Blues Had a White Baby and His Name was Michael Bloomfield. counterpunch.org Michael Bloomfield began playing in Chicago blues clubs while still in high school. By 1968 he was considered one of the best guitarists in the world along with Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. By that time, Bloomfield had joined and left the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, played on Bob Dylan\'s masterpiece album Highway 61 Revisited More

Louis Proyect (2019-11-01). The Political Economy of Homelessness. counterpunch.org In 2009, Hollywood tried to get us to care about the nearly 50,000 homeless people in Los Angeles by releasing a film titled \"The Soloist\". It starred Jamie Foxx as the real-life, trained classical musician Nathaniel Ayers who ended up on the streets as a result of schizophrenia. This chronic illness makes such people especially vulnerable when tax-starved municipal governments can no longer fund support networks. It was up to LA Times reporter Steve Lopez to tell his story, after happening upon him on the streets playing a cello (in the film, it was a violin). Ayers barely got by from the small donations he rece…

Barrett Brown (2019-11-01). On Putin and Press Failures. counterpunch.org I wrote this in 2010. As Stratfor liked it enough to steal it, I\'ll republish it here This is a March 2010 article I wrote for the old True/Slant outlet, which had its heyday circa 2009 before being bought by Forbes, which in turn promptly got rid of me, Michael Hastings, and other contributors of More

M. Palani Kumar (2019-11-01). In Rough Seas: the Seaweed Harvesters of Tamil Nadu. counterpunch.org They\'re up by 3 each morning. They\'ve got to be at work by 5 a.m. and need to complete all their household tasks before that. The commute to their vast, wet workplace is a short walk. They just step out of their homes, stride up to the sea — and dive in. Sometimes they take More

Betsey Piette (2019-11-01). Children and women lost, people dead in ICE custody. workers.org According to a report by the American Civil Liberties Union released Oct. 24, over 5,400 children have been separated from their families by U.S. immigration authorities at the Mexican border since July 2017. While a federal judge in San Diego on June 26, 2018, ordered that the children be reunited . . . | Continue reading Children and women lost, people dead in ICE custody at Workers.org

RT (2019-11-01). 4 killed, 4 injured at Halloween party shooting in Orinda, California — police. rt.com At least four people were killed and four more injured in a shooting at a Halloween party in Orinda, California, police have confirmed. The suspect is reportedly still at large. | According to initial reports, a heavy-set black male in an orange hoodie was seen indiscriminately firing what appeared to be a automatic pistol into the residence before fleeing the scene. | Police responded to reports of a person firing at partygoers at 10: 45pm local time on Thursday, and six ambulances were summoned to the home amid reports of a large number of dead and wounded. | Orinda Police Department and Contra Costa County O…

Staff (2019-11-01). Border Patrol Is Being Endowed With Frightening Powers. truthdig.com ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for ProPublica\'s Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox as soon as they are published. | Pushing further toward its goal of \"extreme vetting,\" the Trump administration is creating a new center in suburban Virginia that will allow immigration agents to access, for the first time, the sprawling array of information scooped up by America\'s intelligence agencies, from phone calls intercepted by the National Security Agency to material gathered by the CIA\'s s…

Harry Blain (2019-11-01). How the Courts are Chipping Away at the Legal Basis for the War on Terror. counterpunch.org In times of war, the law often does fall silent. The U.S. Supreme Court, in all its independence and courage, has endorsed concentration camps, censorship, sham military tribunals, and guilt by association at various points in its history. Textbooks and television sell us the caricature of heroic judges and inspiring courtroom debates, but in truth, More

Norman Solomon (2019-11-01). Adam Schiff is No Friend of Progressives. counterpunch.org A huge national spotlight is now on Adam Schiff, the member of Congress leading the impeachment inquiry. In his tenth term, Schiff is really going places. But where is he coming from? This year, as chair of the House Intelligence Committee, he has relentlessly built a case against a horrendous president. For progressives eager to More

Lynda Carson (2019-11-01). Trump impeachment inquiry, migrant vs migrant. indybay.org Earlier today in Oakland after the House of Representatives voted for the Trump impeachment inquiry resolution, I was curious in regards to how the migrants felt about this. Oakland is a land of migrants, and there are around 135 different languages spoken in this city.

John O\'Kane (2019-11-01). A Lottery of Equality Dispenses Dystopia. counterpunch.org A common refrain in the Democratic Party debates has been support for more equality, the inclusion of those yet to access the American Dream. Most candidates even want to include migrants in their target group and make them eligible for free college and medical care. Expanding the base of successful citizens is what has defined More

Ricardo Vaz (2019-11-01). Venezuelan Leftist Parties and Unions Stage Protest, Demand Gov\'t Answers. venezuelanalysis.com Dozens of activists demanded better wages and respect for collective bargaining rights.

teleSUR (2019-11-01). Greenpeace Fights \'Ocean Looters\' in Uruguayan Waters. telesurenglish.net Greenpeace activists met with fishermen in the Uruguayan port of Montevideo in a campaign against a lack of regulation on the world\'s oceans. | RELATED: | Uruguay\'s General Elections Exit-Polls Confirm Runoff Vote | The activists came ashore on several boats and kayaks from the Esperanza ship, the largest vessel in the international organization\'s fleet displaying a 25 meter-long banner with the message \"Ocean Looters.\" | The port regularly hosts vessels that fish in unregulated waters bey…

teleSUR (2019-11-01). Cuba: Anti-Imperialist Solidarity Meeting Kicks Off in Havana. telesurenglish.net Over a thousand delegates from 80 countries began on Friday the \"Anti-Imperialist Solidarity Meeting for Democracy and Against Neoliberalism\" at the Convention Center in Havana. | RELATED: | Cuba and Russia Plan New Joint Socio-Economic Ventures Ahead | During this three-day event, social activists, workers, peasants, women, indigenous peoples leaders, intellectuals and politicians will analyze the current offensive of the U.S. imperialism against the Latin American peoples. | A…

Derek Royden (2019-11-01). Risk assessment: Thoughts on \'a climate security plan for America\'. nationofchange.org \"A Climate Security Plan for America\", if it had been covered by the press, could actually make a difference in changing the minds of some in the political center more inclined to believe the U.S. military than scientists or activist groups.

teleSUR (2019-11-01). Argentines Demand Renewal of Food Emergency Bill. telesurenglish.net Activists marched in Buenos Aires on Thursday to demand that Argentina\'s outgoing conservative government act on lawmakers\' vote last month to renew a 17-year-old emergency food law. | RELATED: | Argentina: Fernandez Thanks Maduro For Congratulating Him | Enacted in 2002 as Argentines are suffering from Depression-level unemployment and poverty after a financial collapse and a series of neoliberal economic reforms, the food emergency law was reauthorized every few years until last De…

IMEMC & Agencies (2019-11-01). Peace Now : 2342 Settlement Housing Units Advanced. imemc.org The Higher Planning Council of the Civil Administration convened on the eve of Sukkot (10 October 2019) and approved plans for 2,342 housing units in the settlements, according to the minutes of the meeting published. 59% of the approved units are in settlements that Israel likely may evacuate under a …

Pepe Escobar (2019-11-01). Rebuilding Syria — Without Syria\'s Oil. globalresearch.ca What happened in Geneva this Wednesday, in terms of finally bringing peace to Syria, could not be more significant: the first session of the Syrian Constitutional Committee. | The Syrian Constitutional Committee sprang out of a resolution passed in January 2018 …

teleSUR (2019-11-01). Chile: \'Interference Accusation is US Dirty Game,\' Russia says. telesurenglish.net Russia\'s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Friday rejected U.S. accusations that Russia is trying to destabilize democracy in Chile. | RELATED: | Chile: Protestors March in Concepcion and Towards the Capital | \"The U.S. administration is taking advantage of Chile\'s difficult internal situation to continue its attempts to denigrate our country\'s forei…

Moira Birss (2019-11-01). BlackRock\'s Ghoulish Lack of Action for the Amazon. commondreams.org Protest outside BlackRock's headquarters in New York City. (Photo: Amazon Watch) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/blackrock.jpeg …

teleSUR (2019-11-01). Haiti: 42 Protesters Have Died and 86 Were Injured Over 8 Weeks. telesurenglish.net The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported that 42 people have died and 86 have been injured during protests that paralyze Haiti since mid-September. | RELATED: | Haiti: President Moise Asks US for Aid as Protests Intensify | \"The vast majority suffered gunshot wounds. Reports indicate that security forces were…

teleSUR (2019-11-01). Iraq Witnesses Largest Protests Since the Fall of Saddam. telesurenglish.net A massive demonstration took place in central Baghdad on Friday as tens of thousands of Iraqis thronged the capital city demanding the root-and-branch downfall of the political elite in the biggest day of mass anti-government demonstrations since the fall of Saddam Hussein. | RELATED: | 100 Killed, 5,500 Injured in New Wave of Protests in Iraq | Five people died from injuries sustained overnight after security forces used tear gas and rubber bullets on protesters camped out in the cap…

teleSUR (2019-11-01). Over 100,000 Algerians Protest on Independence War\'s Anniversary. telesurenglish.net More than 100,000 Algerians, double the number attending recent weekly protests, marched on Friday to demand a purge of the ruling hierarchy and an end to military involvement in politics, marking the 37th anniversary of the independence from the French colonial rule. | RELATED: | Algerian Lawyers Take to Streets To Demand Justice Reforms | Protesters…

WSWS (2019-11-01). Hamburg, Germany: SPD-Green state executive uses police violence to guard lecture by AfD founder. wsws.org Hundreds of Hamburg students have protested against the return of Bernd Lucke, founder of the far-right Alternative for Germany, to their university in the past two weeks.

Stephen Lendman (2019-11-01). House Dems Pass Procedural Impeachment Resolution. globalresearch.ca Establishment media support for what\'s going on is all about wanting undemocratic Dems gaining a political advantage ahead of 2020 presidential, congressional, state, and local elections. | The impeachment inquiry scam is unrelated to legitimate wrongdoing by Trump and his regime …

Stephen Lendman (2019-11-01). No Ceasefire/Ceasefire in Northern Syria. The Pentagon Will Use Overwhelming Force to Maintain US Control over Syrian Oil. globalresearch.ca From one or more illegally established airbases in Syria, as well as other other regional ones, Pentagon warplanes, attack helicopters, and drones continue terror-bombing Syrian sites at the discretion of its commanders. | US troops still occupy large parts of northern …

Stephen Lendman (2019-11-01). Impeachment Resolution Scam by House Dems. globalresearch.ca On Monday, anti-Trump Speaker Pelosi released the text of the undemocratic Dems\' impeachment resolution, aiming to remove Trump from office for the wrong reasons, ignoring legitimate right ones. | For Dems and supportive media, it\'s the second time around against …

Dave Lindorff (2019-11-01). Democrats Make a Huge Mistake If They Just Focus Impeachment on the Ukraine Scandal. counterpunch.org The impeachment theater on display today in the House, bracketed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi\'s maudlin reading of Article I of the Constitution, and by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy\'s ludicrous evocation of the Stalin purge trials to characterize the full House vote to establish impeachment rules and procedures, is increasingly looking like the first act More

Robert Fisk (2019-11-01). Baghdadi May be Dead, But Trump has Brought ISIS Back to Life. counterpunch.org Usually, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. But in the heavenly White House this weekend, it worked the other way round. Lord Trump took the life of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and then gave life back to Isis by telling us all that he\'d promised to send its surviving murderers to the borders of More

Staff (2019-11-01). Monsanto Wins $7.7 Billion Lawsuit in Brazil, But Farmers Continue to Fight. truthout.org A Brazilian appeals court has decided in favor of Monsanto, the global agribusiness conglomerate, in a landmark class-action lawsuit filed by Brazilian farmers\' unions. | The court\'s nine justices unanimously ruled on Oct. 9 that farmers cannot save seeds for replanting if the seeds are harvested from Monsanto\'s patented Ro…

Karine Eliane Peschard (2019-11-01). Monsanto Wins $7.7b Lawsuit in Brazil — but Farmers\' Fight to Stop Its \'Amoral\' Royalty System Will Continue. globalresearch.ca A Brazilian appeals court has decided in favor of Monsanto, the global agribusiness conglomerate, in a landmark class-action lawsuit filed by Brazilian farmers\' unions. | The court\'s nine justices unanimously ruled on Oct. 9 that farmers cannot save seeds for replanting …

United Nations (2019-11-01). UN migration agency appeals to South Sudan group to free volunteer worker and child. un.org The UN migration agency appealed on Friday for the immediate liberation of a volunteer and child who\'ve been missing since a gun battle in South Sudan at the weekend that claimed the lives of three agency workers.

Brett Wilkins (2019-11-01). For 9th Straight Year, US Grants Waivers to Countries Violating Anti-Child Soldier Law. commondreams.org Despite taking some steps to address the issue of child soldiers, the TIP states that the South Sudanese government \"continued to use and recruit child soldiers… at times by force,\" and did not fully implement its own action plan to demobilize children from security forces. (Photo: Charles Lomodong/AFP via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/gettyimages-463126782.jpg …

Robert Edwards (2019-11-01). Donald Trump, Mike Pompeo, and the Rise of the \'Shallow State\'. commondreams.org Secretary of State Mike Pompeo looks on as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House June 20, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/trump_bolton_pompeo_iran.jpg …

teleSUR (2019-11-01). Blumenthal Denounces: \"They Are Trying to Steal My Freedom\" telesurenglish.net Max Blumenthal, the journalist who covered the siege of the Venezuelan Embassy in the U.S. back in May, offered an interview to Russia Today shortly after being arrested and released for the alleged aggression against an opponent of the Bolivarian Government, a charge for which he will be tried. | RELATED: | 1st International Indigenous Congress Kicks Off in Venezuela | \"The right-wi…