(2020-08-21). FSO Safer: Stricken Oil Tanker Off Yemen Coast Could Cause Explosion Dwarfing Beirut Blast. mintpressnews.com 
The FSO Safer, a moored oil tanker on the verge of explosion or a catastrophic spill, has become yet another bargaining chip in the ongoing war in Yemen, with the Houthis, UN, US and Saudi Arabia all vying to take possession of the valuable oil onboard.
(2020-08-21). Carefully Choreographed Convention Confirms Progressive Policies Not Central to Biden Bid. mintpressnews.com The key message from this year's DNC is the emphasis the Biden campaign is putting on reaching out to so-called "moderate Republicans," presenting Trump as an aberration and Biden as the cure.
(2020-08-21). "A disturbing milestone": America's top 12 plutocrats now own $1 Trillion in wealth. mronline.org 
New figures from the Institute for Policy Studies show that, despite a pandemic that has stunted the economy for months, America's billionaire class is becoming richer than ever, adding nearly $700 billion to their fortune since the nationwide lockdown in March.
(2020-08-21). Mail Sorting Machines Across America Dismantled Ahead of November Election. mintpressnews.com Some 671 mail sorting machines have already been decommissioned ahead of the upcoming presidential election, where record numbers of Americans are expected to vote by mail.
(2020-08-21). NATO Poses a Threat to Belarus: Why Did Russia Reaffirm Its CSTO Support to Belarus but Not to Armenia? globalresearch.ca Russia's reaffirmation of its CSTO mutual defense obligations to Belarus was made in response to Lukashenko's claims that NATO poses a threat to Belarus, which Moscow evidently believes are at least credible enough to remind the alliance about its red …
(2020-08-21). On Fox, The Grayzone's Anya Parampil rips 'criminal neocons' in Biden & Trump camps. thegrayzone.com The Grayzone's Anya Parampil joins Tucker Carlson Tonight to address the revival of Iraq war neocons and militarists by both the Biden campaign and Trump White House.
(2020-08-21). The Black Led "Defund the Police" Movement Wins Great Breakthrough in Los Angeles: An Organizer's Interpretation. counterpunch.org 
At 11 PM on Tuesday June 30—after 13 hours of public testimony and board deliberations and yes, years of organizing—the Black Lives Matter and Defund the Police movement in Los Angeles and nationally took a great leap forward. The Los Angeles School Board, led by Board Member Monica Garcia, with the support of board members
(2020-08-21). The Black Led "Defund the Police" Movement Wins Great Breakthrough in Los Angeles. zcomm.org The people's victory, the Black victory, on June 30, 2020 to cut the LASPD budget by $25 million and 35% was a damn hard fought and wonderful victory that the whole movement should celebrate, propagate, and emulate…
(2020-08-21). Belarus: Why Is Lukshenko Being Color Revolutioned Just Now? globalresearch.ca The globalist Powers That Be have clearly decided to topple the long-standing sole-ruler of Belarus, President Aleksander Lukashenko. The question is why at just this time? There is a case to be made that one reason is he is …
(2020-08-21). About My "Facilitation of, and Collaboration with, Fascism" counterpunch.org A Response to the Lying Slanderers of the RCP I notice that a recent column of mine (Aug. 13) has occasioned…
(2020-08-21). How to Rig an Election: an Interview With Greg Palast. counterpunch.org 
Greg Palast does not mince words about the 2020 elections. Only the voter fraud he warns about is not by the voters, as President Trump insists. It's by the vote-stealers in the Republican Party. And they've been at it for a long time, unbeknownst to the American people.
(2020-08-21). Drug Trafficking Militias Massacre Social Leaders in Colombia. globalresearch.ca In Colombia, a terrible wave of violence affects the people and especially traditional indigenous communities. According to United Nations data, more than 40 murders of social leaders have occurred this year alone. | Last Tuesday, August 18, three Indians of the …
(2020-08-21). The DNC is over. What's next for progressives? therealnews.com 
DNC member Jim Zogby, who helped run Jesse Jackson's campaign in 1984, joins The Real News Network for historical perspective and analysis of Democrats and the future we face.
(2020-08-21). Mismanagement of the Covid Crisis: Governments and Their Agencies Are Killing Their Own People? globalresearch.ca Governments subservient to globalist diktats are willfully killing their own people in the name of fighting a misnamed "pandemic". | SARS-COV-2, the virus said to be the causative agent of COVID-19, has been neither isolated nor purified. Nevertheless, even according to …
(2020-08-21). Fired for striking, grad students win reinstatement. workers.org 
Graduate student workers at the University of California-Santa Cruz, represented by United Auto Workers Local 2865, have won the rehiring of 41 teaching assistants fired in February for striking. "In large part, this is a win for Santa Cruz workers — for workers in general," said Veronica Hamilton, the UAW . . . |
(2020-08-21). 1848: Marx's school of revolution. mronline.org 
The revolutionary wave of 1848 began with a joyous struggle for democracy. But it ended with violent struggles between workers and capitalists, liberals and socialists, revolutionaries and reformers. The experience was a decisive influence on the development of Marx's theory of revolution.
(2020-08-21). Latino leaders: Trump's hatred goes beyond DACA and throwing kids in cages. peoplesworld.org 
It's not just DACA. And it's not just having ICE agents yanking little kids away from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border and throwing them into cages. No, leaders of top Hispanic-American organizations say, GOP President Donald Trump's hate of anyone with a Hispanic name, the undocumented, migrants, and asylum seekers extends far beyond those …
(2020-08-21). Infomercial Over: Not Good, But It Could Have Been A Lot Worse. counterpunch.org 
Before long, this year's Democratic Party convention, its infomercial, will be a distant memory. The production values were good. For the most part, I found it watchable, even when the focus was on Biden rather than Trump. In view of what the Democrats are selling, it could have been a lot worse. There was, of
(2020-08-21). Democratic outreach to Jewish voters cites rising anti-Semitism under Trump. peoplesworld.org 
One afternoon breakout session of the Democratic National Convention that took place on the afternoon of August 18, the first full day of the quadrennial nomination ritual, addressed the Jewish American community in support of the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris ticket. A reported 2000 viewers had registered for this livestreamed two-hour-plus session. The Jewish American vote …
(2020-08-21). Teamsters union gives thumbs up to Biden-Harris ticket. peoplesworld.org 
DETROIT (PAI)—The Teamsters board unanimously voted to endorse the Democratic election duo of Joe Biden for president and Kamala Harris for VP, union President Jim Hoffa announced Aug. 20. The endorsement, two days before Biden's acceptance speech to the Democratic National Convention, carries a lot of weight. The union has more than a million members …
(2020-08-21). Only Medicare For All Can Beat Covid. counterpunch.org 
The horrible irony is that the one candidate, Sanders, who could have done the most good for pandemic victims, lost the race just when he was most needed. Since then his somewhat muted support for Medicare for All and how uniquely helpful it would be at this historic juncture, is dispiriting. The thought that this relative silence originates in a desire not to offend the candidate, Biden, whom he now supports, is downright depressing.
(2020-08-21). Why Payroll Taxes Are the Achilles Heel of Social Security. counterpunch.org 
On August 8th, Donald Trump took four executive actions on coronavirus relief. One was a memorandum deferring, to the end of the year, payment of the employee portion of the payroll tax for employees making less than $4000 biweekly. (Employer payments had already been deferred in the CARES act.) He did this, according to the
(2020-08-21). Cornel West & Ben Jealous on the DNC and Whether Progressives Can Push Joe Biden Leftward. democracynow.org 
Harvard professor Cornel West and Ben Jealous, president of People for the American Way and former president of the NAACP, discuss the 2020 DNC, Joe Biden's vow to fight systemic racism and "overcome this season of darkness in America," the historic nomination of Kamala Harris as his partner on the ticket, and how the convention was a showcase for a broad anti-Trump coalition, including prominent Republican figures given plum speaking slots, but few voices from the party's insurgent left wing. "At this moment, with the decline and fall of the American empire, it looks as if the system is unable to generate enough…
(2020-08-21). Virtual 2020 DNC Wraps with Calls for Empathy, Unity & a Broad Coalition to Rally Around Joe Biden. democracynow.org 
The 2020 Democratic National Convention has wrapped up, with speakers on the final night including California Governor Gavin Newsom, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker and 13-year-old Brayden Harrington, who talked about how Joe Biden had personally helped him with his stutter. We air highlights from the evening's addresses.
(2020-08-21). Headlines for August 21, 2020. democracynow.org Joe Biden Accepts Presidential Nomination, Pledging End to "Season of Darkness", CDC Director: Up to 60 Million U.S. Residents Were Infected with Coronavirus, White House Declares Teachers "Essential Workers" as Unions Threaten Strikes over Coronavirus, Stock Markets Surge Even as 1.1 Million U.S. Workers File New Unemployment Claims, Protesters Call on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to #MakeBillionairesPay, Postmaster General to Face Congressional Grilling over "Sabotage" of Postal Service, Massive California Wildfires Leave 5 Dead, 700,000 Acres Burned, Steve Bannon Arrested, Charged with Pocketing Private Border W…
(2020-08-21). "Light Is More Powerful Than Dark": Biden Vows to Fight COVID, Climate, Racism & Economic Meltdown. democracynow.org 
We air highlights from Joe Biden's highly anticipated speech on the final night of the Democratic National Convention, in which he formally accepted the Democratic presidential nomination, focused on the dangers of President Trump's reelection and pledged to address the four simultaneous crises of systemic racism, the pandemic, the economic downturn and the climate crisis. "United, we can and will overcome this season of darkness in America," Biden said. The 25-minute speech was delivered from his home state of Delaware.
(2020-08-21). Save the US Postal Service and Defend the Vote. zcomm.org No cuts in service, hours or staffing for 6 months, and make it a public bank too…
(2020-08-21). Roaming Charges: Conventional Weapons at the DNC. counterpunch.org 
I can't recall a GOP convention that was as saturated with religious symbolism, moral posturing and spiritual gaslighting as the one the Democrats just inflicted on us…and they didn't even let Marianne Williamson near a camera.
(2020-08-21). Israel's Blockade of 2 Million Palestinians in Gaza is making it Uninhabitable. zcomm.org Gantz, Netanyahu and others know for sure that Gazans have nothing to lose as life is unbearable under the ongoing 14-year siege, while peace on Israeli terms is a mirage…
(2020-08-21). In Further War Crime, Israelis cut Electricity to Gaza, Idling 50,000 Factory Workers. zcomm.org Source: Informed Comment The government of far right Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu cut off fuel for the sole power plant in the Gaza Strip, a small Palestinian territory surrounded on three sides by and blockaded by Israel. As a result, on Monday the Gaza Strip's sole power plant went dark, Al Jazeera reports. The
(2020-08-21). Why Starbucks wouldn't let us say 'Black Lives Matter'. liberationnews.org 
More than media backlash, what corporations fear the most is a united workforce.
(2020-08-21). The Day After Election Day. counterpunch.org 
The view passed down from on high in the U.S. is that elections are the effective and legitimate means of collective decision-making in the realm of the political. Conversely, on matters of war and peace, economic distribution, environmental wellbeing, healthcare, education, housing, and social welfare— the areas where collective outcomes matter, these are either considered
(2020-08-21). Return to Leopold: Dare We Speak Up for Yellowstone? counterpunch.org 
The watchword defending what's come to be called the "collaboration and compromise" model of conservation is "practical." When confronted with its abandonment of the land ethic and conservation aesthetic that Aldo Leopold bequeathed us in the 1940's, the mainstream and best-funded conservation community defends its approach by pointing out the obvious, that the world has
(2020-08-21). On the Portland Beating: The Ubiquity of Phones is Arresting. counterpunch.org 
Portland, Oregon It's a weird position to find oneself in, a pacifist scanning video feeds for hours to detect "intentions of violence." How is it that one can spend 12 hours—on and off—reading accounts of a violent confrontation on a street corner involving many chaotic actors and by the end of it know as little
(2020-08-21). What Portland Protesters Think of the Feds. counterpunch.org 
This image was taken on July 24, 2020, when the battle was up close at the reinforced iron fence surrounding the Mark Hatfield Federal Courthouse. These protesters had no respect for the U.S. Global Empire. You can certainly see the extremely high intensity energy in this image. Now, just imagine how horrendously loud this was,
(2020-08-21). 'Black Suns' at Louvre Lens: Coal mines transformed into gift shops. peoplesworld.org 
Lens, a small town, but a highly important one in the industrial era of the late 19th century, located in the former French-Belgian coal belt, is now the home of the Louvre satellite museum Louvre-Lens and the site of the first major post-COVID lockdown exhibition in France and perhaps the first in the world. Soleils …
(2020-08-21). "Save Mercy" rally protests hospital closure in Chicago. liberationnews.org 
"…if you look at all the data that came before COVID hit, it was a very busy hospital with very sick patients. It can't close."
(2020-08-21). Understanding India's low COVID-19 death rate. peoplesdispatch.org 
Contrary to the Narendra Modi government's claims, India's low case fatality rate in the COVID-19 pandemic is not because of any well-thought out strategy. It is rather due to a relatively young population and some statistical tricks…
(2020-08-21). Murders of women rising in Turkey; government does nothing. peoplesworld.org 
Nearly 250 women have been killed in Turkey so far this year, new statistics suggest, prompting a call for international solidarity from women's organizations in a bid to save lives. Four women were detained in Istanbul Thursday after they unveiled a banner in Taksim Square charging that the "patriarchal state" was responsible for the death …
(2020-08-21). Añez intensifies persecution of social leaders. mronline.org 
Those who took part in the protests against…
(2020-08-21). Submitting Photos to People's World: Basic Guidelines. peoplesworld.org 
This guide was prepared by People's World staff member Al Neal. Please contact him for further information and answers to your questions about photography and check out his photo portfolio. THE BASICS Guidelines for good photographs: 1. A clear subject or theme: Every image should tell a story or convey emotion. 2. Focused attention on …
(2020-08-21). How America's Broken Education System Perpetuates Social Injustice. dissidentvoice.org 
Any conditions that compel the teacher to take note of failures rather than of healthy growth give false standards and result in distortion and perversion. — John Dewey,1 Academic Fredrik deBoer has written a book, The Cult of Smart: How Our Broken Education System Perpetuates Social Injustice (All Points Books, 2020), that questions the enormous …
(2020-08-21). Democratic convention: $4 trillion infrastructure bank would create 25 million jobs. peoplesworld.org 
Pending legislation to establish a $4 trillion National Infrastructure Bank would rebuild the nation's rusting bridges, roads, and power grid and create 25 million union jobs desperately needed as the nation sinks into the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. That was the message from building trades union leaders, economists, and community activists, speaking …
(2020-08-21). Houston car caravan demands a safe reopening for students and workers. liberationnews.org 
Across the nation, schools are reopening despite surging cases.
(2020-08-21). Convention: Having squelched left, DNC pivots hard right. liberationnews.org 
Convention highlights war makers, marginalizes progressives.
(2020-08-21). Black August honors the legacy of militant rebellion. therealnews.com 
Lumumba and Monifa Bandele talk about the history of Black August, continuing the legacy of freedom fighters and the Black August Hip Hop project.
(2020-08-21). Deep State Throats: Towards a Franker Lingua. dissidentvoice.org 
You should never judge a book by its title, but with whistleblower Edward Snowden's Permanent Record the reader gets as close s/he can possibly get to the soul of a narrative before actually reading it. He means it: The American government, with help of its data-gathering 5 Eyes partners, is gathering up information on every …
(2020-08-21). Representation Doesn't Equal Rights. therealnews.com 
Stir Crazy! Episode 80: Today we are joined by journalist, organizer, and founding executive director of Crushing Colonialism Jen Deerinwater, Miwok journalist and community organizer Desiree Kane, and journalist and community builder Johnnie Jae. Hosted by Kim Brown.
(2020-08-21). Karlin Itchoak on Wildlife Refuge Drilling, Steven Rosenfeld on How to Vote. fair.org 
Media…
(2020-08-21). Democratic "convention" shaped by Trump White House. liberationnews.org The Democratic National Convention proves exactly how far right the Democrat Party continues to move.
(2020-08-21). Tell the people that the struggle must go on. mronline.org 
Young children marvel at an obvious contradiction in capitalist societies: why do we have shops filled with food, and yet see hungry people on the streets? It is a question of enormous significance; but in time the question dissipates into the fog of moral ambivalence, as various explanations are used to obfuscate the clarity of …
(2020-08-21). Build solidarity with prisoners: Fight for abolition! workers.org 
This slightly edited talk was given at an Aug. 13 Workers World Party webinar, "From Black August to Black Lives Matter," hosted by the WWP Prisoners Solidarity Committee. Texas: Credit: Kavin Rashid Johnson Revolutionary greetings from Houston, Texas, a city that contains the country's third largest jail. The Harris County Jails . . . |
(2020-08-21). A 75th anniversary salute to Vietnam's August Revolution. workers.org 
We live in tumultuous times, and it is during times like this that we as socialists must look to the struggles and successes of our predecessors to give us inspiration to continue our struggle. As a Vietnamese-American, I take heart in remembering the struggles of my people in their fight . . . |
(2020-08-21). Long live the memory of Ka Randy! workers.org 
By the Communist Party of the Philippines Workers World is reprinting the following statement from the Communist Party of the Phillipines that condemns the murder of Randall Echanis on Aug. 10. Since the 2016 presidential election in the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte has carried out numerous assassinations of peace activists and . . . |
(2020-08-21). Florida education workers organize week of action. workers.org 
By Sharon Paige Tallahassee, Fla. To protect school staff, bus drivers, students and parents during the COVID-19 crisis, Workers World Party-Central Gulf Coast and the Party for Socialism and Liberation-Central Gulf Coast teamed up to call "Six Days of Actions: Florida Fights Back!" across the state on Aug. 3-8. . . . |
(2020-08-21). Six million people in UK are behind on bills due to coronavirus, study finds. thecanary.co 
Six million people across the UK have fallen behind on household bills due to coronavirus (Covid-19), a new study has found. Research from Citizens Advice shows that one in nine people in the UK are behind on bills, with around a fifth of these individuals having to go without essentials including food. | Disparity: | The study finds that carers, those who were shielding during the pandemic, and key workers are twice as likely to have fallen behind on bill payments due to coronavirus. It also found that Black people, those aged between 18 and 34, and disabled people are at least twice as likely to be in a…
(2020-08-21). Experts 'do not have confidence that R is currently below 1 in England'. thecanary.co 
There is a risk the overall coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic in the UK is growing as figures for the reproduction number (R value) suggest it has risen above 1.0. Data released on Friday by the Government Office for Science and the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) shows the estimate for R across the UK is now between 0.9 and 1.1. This is an increase from the range of between 0.8 and 1.0 one week ago.Transmission: The growth rate of coronavirus transmission, which reflects how quickly the number of infections is changing day by day, has also changed slightly across the UK since last week, wit…
(2020-08-21). Half of young people want a job in the green economy, survey finds. thecanary.co 
Published on the eve of so-called Earth Overshoot Day, a survey of 1,000 people aged 18 to 34 found 50% wanted a job in the green economy. Earth Overshoot Day marks the point at which humanity has used up all the resources the planet can provide for a year.This year, the date was pushed back by three weeks due to a reduction in carbon emissions and commercial forestry caused by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. It had previously been falling earlier and earlier — arriving in July for the first time in 2019.Overshot: The Global Footprint Network calculates that humans currently use 60% more resource…
(2020-08-21). MPs slam ministers for paying 'scant regard' to data protection during pandemic. thecanary.co 
The UK's information rights body must act to ensure the government stops "playing fast and loose" with people's health, it has been claimed.A cross-party group of MPs has written to information commissioner Elizabeth Denham raising concerns over the government's approach to data protection and privacy.In a letter, the group accused ministers of paying "scant regard" to both privacy concerns and data protection duties during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.Government "appears unwilling to understand its legal duties": The group accused the government of engaging with private contractors that have "probl…
(2020-08-21). Syrian NHS cleaner's plea on Channel-crossing refugees beamed onto White Cliffs of Dover. thecanary.co 
An emotional plea for compassion for refugees crossing the English Channel has been beamed onto the White Cliffs of Dover.The landmark was lit up with a giant video of NHS cleaner Hassan Akkad, a Syrian refugee who crossed to Britain several years ago.He highlighted the "terrifying and devastating" journeys that so many people are undertaking to reach the UK by boat. He also blamed the government for using the crisis as a distraction from the coronavirus pandemic.The giant projection is the latest stunt by Led By Donkeys, a group of activists famed for their giant billboards of politicians' tweets. | A message fr…
(2020-08-21). Biden: "I will be an ally of light, not darkness" peoplesworld.org 
WILMINGTON, Del.—Asking the country to "choose hope over fear," former Vice President Joe Biden formally accepted the Democratic Party's presidential nomination on Thursday night. "Here and now, I give you my word: If you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us not the worst. I will be an ally …
(2020-08-21). U.S. cities, states look to socialist Cuba for COVID-19 help. workers.org 
With the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 expected to surpass 200,000 by the end of August, governing bodies in U.S. cities and states are taking matters into their own hands. They are calling for U.S.-Cuba scientific and medical collaboration against the pandemic. On July 21, the San Francisco Board of . . . |
(2020-08-21). China and the US: the 21st Century's "Great Game" counterpunch.org 
From 1830 to 1895, the British and Russian empires schemed and plotted over control of Central and South Asia. At the heart of the "Great Game" was England's certainty that the Russians had designs on India. So wars were fought, borders drawn, and generations of young met death in desolate passes and lonely outposts. In
(2020-08-21). Marquee Moon — LUNA. counterpunch.org 
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(2020-08-21). New push to lift 33-year-old ban on uranium mining in NSW. greenleft.org.au 
(2020-08-21). No fee hikes! Student fightback national day of action. greenleft.org.au 
The federal government is push to raise the cost of Ar…
(2020-08-21). Peter Dutton: the logic behind the evil. greenleft.org.au 
(2020-08-21). How Israel Wages War on Palestinian History. counterpunch.org 
When the Palestinian actor Mohammed Bakri made a documentary about Jenin in 2002 — filming immediately after the Israeli army had completed rampaging through the West Bank city, leaving death and destruction in its wake — he chose an unusual narrator for the opening scene: a mute Palestinian youth. Jenin had been sealed off from
(2020-08-21). The Specter of a Fascist Coup by Trump Haunts the US, But There's Worse to Worry About. counterpunch.org Spreading faster than COVID-19 among those on the portside, warnings of a fascist-style coup by Trump are rampant this presidential campaign season. Should Trump fail to carry the Electoral College, Noam Chomsky admonishes, "he could send Blackshirts out in the streets… preparation for a plan to try to bring the military in to carry out
(2020-08-21). Palestine burning in fire of Zionist regime's impudence. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 21 (MNA) — Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said that innocent Palestine is still burning in the fire of the Zionist regime's impudence and incursion and the treason of certain Arab rulers.
(2020-08-21). 'Palestine is Still the Issue': UN Vote Exposes, Isolates Canada. counterpunch.org The notion that 'Canada is better', especially when compared with US foreign policy, has persisted for many years. Recent events at the United Nations have, however, exposed the true nature of Canada's global position, particularly in the matter of its blind and unconditional support for Israel. On June 17, Canada lost its second bid for
(2020-08-21). "Palestine is Still the Issue": UN Vote Exposes, Isolates Canada. dissidentvoice.org The notion that 'Canada is better', especially when compared with US foreign policy, has persisted for many years. Recent events at the United Nations have, however, exposed the true nature of Canada's global position, particularly in the matter of its blind and unconditional support for Israel. On June 17, Canada lost its second bid for …
(2020-08-21). Chinese Peacekeepers Provide Aid After Explosion In Beirut. popularresistance.org Chinese peacekeepers will provide medical aid to Beirut following the deadly explosion on Tuesday | that killed at least 135 people and injured 5,000 others. | Upon the request of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the 18th batch of Chinese peacekeeping troops to Lebanon organised an emergency team of nine medical personnel from fields including surgery, internal medicine, burns and anaesthesiology, state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday. | The personnel and vehicles would head to Beirut, carrying medical supplies and protective equipment, the medical unit said.
(2020-08-21). Agenda ID2020: The Diabolical Agenda within the Agenda. "Genetically Modified Humanity" globalresearch.ca "A Wakeup Call to the World" — this is what Dr. Carrie Madej calls the hidden agenda within the barely talked about ID2020. | What is envisaged is a "genetically modified humanity" (GMH) so as to better control, command the world …
(2020-08-21). A UN Vote Exposed Canada's Blind and Unconditional Support for Israel. mintpressnews.com While Canada's support for Israel is, to a certain extent, consistent with Canada's own colonial past and present interventionist foreign policy, the Canadian people and the international community remain major obstacles, challenging the toxic affinity between Ottawa and Tel Aviv.
(2020-08-21). Scheer Intelligence: Something's Rotten In The Corporate States Of America. popularresistance.org Beginning with the slave trade and leading all the way up to the climate crisis, author Barbara Freese's "Industrial Strength Denial" examines eight of private industries' most egregious crimes against humanity. On this week's installment of "Scheer Intelligence," the author and former assistant attorney general of Minnesota joins Robert Scheer to discuss what the host calls "heinous behavior" on the part of the corporations involved in each case, and, most importantly, how the corporatization of the United States has allowed unfettered greed to cause irreversible harm and an astounding loss of life.
(2020-08-21). Dorothy Day Found Her Calling Fighting The 1918 Flu Pandemic. popularresistance.org In 1917, having dropped out of college and moved to New York with her family, Dorothy Day took her first New York job, with a daily Socialist news paper, The Call, and settled into her own one-room apartment on Cherry Street. She was 19 years old and quickly overcome by the poverty she encountered and the smell of that poverty inside the tenements she frequented. At this point, she mentions, for the first time, in her major autobiography, "The Long Loneliness," that she could feel "the spell of the long loneliness descend" on her.
(2020-08-21). Video: Idlib Is Burning. New Proxy War in Deir Ezzor. globalresearch.ca The series of unfortunate events involving the US-led coalition, Turkey and Turkish proxies continues in Syria's Greater Idlib. | Late on August 19 and early on August 20, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) shelled positions of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham near Haranabush …
(2020-08-21). Russia/US New START Extension Talks, No Resolution of Major Differences. globalresearch.ca In not renewed, New START expires on February 5, 2021. | Months earlier, Trump falsely called it a "bad deal." | He never read it and knows no more about it than what Pompeo and other regime hardliners told him. | The decade-ago …
(2020-08-21). Landlords Pressuring Tenants To Pay Rent Are Getting Pandemic Relief. popularresistance.org The first time she remembers protesting in the region, about 10 years ago, Tara Maxwell was outside the Virginia home of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. His wife Virginia, the target of Maxwell's ire that day, is a prominent right-wing lobbyist and current adviser to President Donald Trump's administration. | "If I can protest at Clarence Thomas' house, I can protest at anybody's house," Maxwell says dryly. "It doesn't bother me." | So when Maxwell, an independent contractor with experience in law enforcement and political consulting, moved into the Park 7 Apartments on Minnesota Avenue NE last August, she…
(2020-08-21). U.S. Judge Urges Supreme Court to End U.S. Police State It Imposes. strategic-culture.org This article reports important news-events that are not being reported in America's mainstream news-media and that are crucial for understanding both the murder of George Floyd and the current U.S. Presidential contest: | A black U.S. District Court Judge in Mississippi — one of America's most bigoted-against-Blacks states — issued on August 4th a
(2020-08-21). Biden's speech stirs up sense of déjà vu — same old lies disguised as new promises, little more than a wolf in sheep's clothing. thealtworld.com One speech, well written and read well, does not a president make. At the end of the …
(2020-08-21). Lesser Evil is Still Evil. counterpunch.org Every four years America is presented with a false choice, each one essentially a continuation of the status quo by different means, politically and economically related, but optically opposed. Biden had already said that nothing will fundamentally change if he is elected president, so why should any American bother to vote for this specific lesser
(2020-08-21). The Burden of the Debt: Lessons for Biden Adviser Ted Kaufman. zcomm.org he idea that we would not address pressing needs, like climate change, child care, and health care because we are concerned about the debt burden is close to crazy. As long as the economy is not near its capacity, there is zero reason not to spend to address these priorities…
(2020-08-21). Still Triangulating After All These Years. counterpunch.org While it's stunning to watch the DNC repeat the losing strategy of 2016, we should know this is part of a decades-long history of moving toward the right: aka Triangulation. It's not that the Democrats don't want to win — Wall Street, billionaires and the war profiteers are depending on them — it's just that
(2020-08-21). Steve Bannon is Arrested for Nonprofit Fraud After Using an Octopus of Nonprofits to Help Elect Trump. counterpunch.org One of the key right-wing architects of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, Stephen K. (Steve) Bannon, was arrested early yesterday morning while cruising in the Long Island Sound on a 150-foot yacht owned by the fugitive Chinese billionaire, Guo Wengui, according to law enforcement officials. Bannon had served as CEO of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential
(2020-08-21). How does China plan to counter US sanctions? peoplesdispatch.org In the second part of the conversation on the US tech war on China, Charles Xu from Qiao Collective talks about the short and medium-term strategy of Huawei and China in general to deal with the US sanctions.
(2020-08-21). Dems Must Address Climate Crisis. zcomm.org DNC Drops Pledge to End Fossil Fuel Subsidies…
(2020-08-21). Architect of Sweden's coronavirus policy advocated keeping schools open to reach "herd immunity" more quickly. wsws.org Chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell's callous disregard for human life is not an individual phenomenon, rather his chilling email correspondence reflects the thinking of the ruling elites in every country.
(2020-08-21). The Real Problem with COVID-19 Vaccines. globalresearch.ca Before even debating the efficacy, safety, and necessity of different vaccines — one must get past the fact that the most corrupt corporations on Earth hold a monopoly over their development (and the profits made from them). | Forbes in their …
(2020-08-21). Kumho Tire workers beat company intimidation and win union. fightbacknews.org Macon, GA – Workers at Kumho Tire in Macon won their battle to join the United Steelworkers (USW) despite the corporation's relentless and illegal campaign to thwart their organizing rights. | On August 11 the National Labor Relations Board declared the union drive victorious after processing the final 13 ballots from an election last fall. | Workers sought USW representation to fight low wages, hazardous working conditions and abusive treatment at Kumho, which ruthlessly harassed and bullied union supporters in an attempt to derail the organizing campaign. | "These workers voted to unionize even though Kumho tri…
(2020-08-21). A Virtual Cinema Potpurri. counterpunch.org AMC has announced that its theaters will be opening soon with Christopher Nolan's "Tenet", a typical summer blockbuster. Social distancing will be followed with no more than 30 percent of the seats filled and the staff wearing masks. I suppose that Nolan will be a magnet for fans of his movies, an experience roughly equivalent
(2020-08-21). Colleges Remain Unchartered Territories. counterpunch.org In a few weeks, I begin my semester as a teaching assistant in an undergraduate sociology class. I am not sure what to expect. Last March, when our school sent the students home, everything happened suddenly. We weren't sure what time zones our students would be in. We didn't know if each student had a
(2020-08-21). Anything to Salvage From the Trump Nightmare? counterpunch.org Our two party system which has operated as a duopoly on economic issues, especially in regard to letting Wall Street and business leaders shape what globalization is, can't cover the complexity of forces now surging in the U.S. President Trump is an outlier in that duopoly and as such he's been the nemesis of the
(2020-08-21). Amid French occupation pro-imperialist coup topples Malian president KeàØta. wsws.org The coup leaders exploited growing anger among workers and youth at KeàØta, but then declared they would support France's neo-colonial occupation of their country.
(2020-08-21). A feminist response to the pandemic. zcomm.org The COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the essential roles care work and reproductive labor fulfill in our societies. But will it lead to gender liberation?>
(2020-08-21). The 'Snapback' Iran Stunt Will Blow Up in Pompeo's Face. globalresearch.ca Following last week's humiliating rebuke of the U.S. at the Security Council, Mike Pompeo is
(2020-08-21). The Fault Dear Citizens… Elections… globalresearch.ca " … Is not in our stars but in ourselves". Paraphrased right out of Shakespeare (Julius Caesar) you have it in a nutshell, for all of you, like myself, who actually vote. | It seems that during each and every major …
(2020-08-21). US to Tighten Venezuela Sanctions after Gasoline Seizure. globalresearch.ca The Trump administration is reportedly considering ending all Venezuela oil sanctions exemptions in October. | "Whatever oil business is left has to be completed (by the deadline)," an anonymous source told …
(2020-08-21). A Labor and Immigration Policy that Empowers all Workers. dissidentvoice.org Read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, and Part VIII. Workers are the bedrock of every nation on earth. Even autocratic and fascist societies and those that repress workers depend upon them nevertheless. The nature of work may change with technology, and the dichotomy between worker and …
(2020-08-21). Iran rejects US bid to reimpose sanctions. peoplesdispatch.org The United States, despite no longer being part of the JCPOA or the Iran nuclear deal, has been seeking the resumption of sanctions against Iran for supposed violations of the provisions of the deal…
(2020-08-21). Rockets hit U.S. base in Syria. fightbacknews.org According to Iran's authoritative FARS News Agency, several rockets exploded on Tuesday, August 18 at a U.S. military base north of Syria's Deir Ezzur province. The base is located near the Conoco oil field controlled by American troops. | "This is the first-ever attack on one of the 12 military facilities, created by the United States since 2015 in Syria's provinces of al-Hasakah, Raqqa and Deir Ezzur. U.S. forces, together with Kurdish groups, control oil-rich areas on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, including the oil fields of Al-Omar, Tanak, Al-Jafra and Conoco, which accounted for 80% of all oil pro…
(2020-08-21). Iraq: UN Mission condemns killings of activists in Basra. news.un.org The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) has strongly condemned the killing of two activists and attacks against others in the southern city of Basra, urging increased efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice.
(2020-08-21). Libyan warring factions announce immediate ceasefire, to be followed by national elections. peoplesdispatch.org Both the Government of National Accord and the House of Representatives which supports the Libyan National Army made announcements indicating an end to all hostilities, as well as the demilitarization of the cities of Sirte and Al-Jufrah…
(2020-08-21). Hungarian activists groups demand implementation of law to ensure affordable housing. peoplesdispatch.org The Viktor Orban government recently passed a law that gives municipalities the power to regulate online renting of homes. Activists say that this law can be used to place restrictions which will bring down housing cost…
(2020-08-21). Union leader in Trinidad and Tobago warns that racial tensions "serve the interest of the elite class" peoplesdispatch.org The Oilfields Workers' Trade Union rejected the racial discourse and stressed that the racial divisions between Afro-Trinbagonians and Indo-Trinbagonians were created intentionally by politicians and the elites to divide the working class…
(2020-08-21). Movement for community control of the police wins big in Jacksonville primary elections. fightbacknews.org Jacksonville, FL – On August 18, Jacksonville held primary elections where movement candidates won big. Angie Nixon, a trade union leader with SEIU and a community organizer, defeated incumbent State Representative Kimberly Daniels in District 14 by a margin of 60% to 40%. Nixon, a longtime supporter of progressive movements here in Jacksonville, spoke at historic massive rallies over the summer organized by the Jacksonville Community Action Committee after the George Floyd rebellion. She pledged her support for repealing the Law Enforcement Bill of Rights, a statewide statute that hinders cities in Florida from…
(2020-08-21). Mapuche spiritual leader ends hunger strike. peoplesdispatch.org Mapuche political prisoner and spiritual leader, Machi Celestino Córdova, on August 18, announced to end Córdova has repeatedly denounced that Mapuche prisoners face discrimination and harassment in Chilean prisons and…
(2020-08-21). White Nationalist Organization Forms Racist, Antisemitic Political Party. splcenter.org White nationalist organization The Right Stuff (TRS) announced Wednesday the formation of a political party called the National Justice Party, which includes a cluster of known white supremacists and has a platform shaped around a conspiracy theory suggesting that whites are being deliberately eliminated in the U.S.
(2020-08-21). Trump administration brands educators "critical infrastructure workers" to force schools to open. wsws.org The move comes in response to the growing opposition of educators, parents and students to the catastrophic reopening of schools, which has already infected over 2,500 students and staff across the country.
(2020-08-21). English landowners have stolen our rights. It is time to reclaim them. zcomm.org Landed power, built on theft, slavery and colonial looting, crushes our freedoms. A new campaign seeks to decolonize the countryside…
(2020-08-21). UN rights office 'appalled' at violence against human rights defenders in the Philippines. news.un.org The UN human rights office, OHCHR, has called for effective measures to protect rights defenders in the Philippines, amid a spate of deadly attacks against them.
(2020-08-21). 5 years later, Chicano nearly killed by LAPD is not done fighting. fightbacknews.org Los Angeles, CA – On August 22, 2015 Alfredo Santibañez almost lost his life. Around 11: 30 p.m., Santibañez was walking along Soto Street near the 24-hour McDonalds, when he noticed two white, bald men in a Ford Crown Victoria approaching him. Santibañez says he immediately thought they were white gang members. | "Not once did they identify themselves," said Santibañez recalling the events leading up to his shooting. "One of them asked me without warning, 'Are you strapped?'" | Santibañez did not know that the two white men in the car were undercover Los Angeles Police officers David Bunch and Boyan Brkic in plai…
(2020-08-21). Weekly jobless claims again top one million as mass evictions loom. wsws.org The number of new unemployment claims rose unexpectedly last week as workers facing mounting economic pressures due to the ending of federal supplemental jobless benefits and the end of eviction bans.
(2020-08-21). Former Trump aide Steve Bannon indicted on charges of embezzlement. peoplesdispatch.org Steve Bannon and three others launched a campaign that raised nearly USD 25 million to build a private border wall but allegedly used a portion of these funds for their personal expenses…
(2020-08-21). If you are reading this, you might be a Conspiracy Theorist. dissidentvoice.org a permanent modern scenario: apocalypse looms . . . and it doesn't occur. — Susan Sontag, AIDs and its Metaphors, 1989 I should not misuse this opportunity to give you a lecture about, say, logic. I call this a misuse, for to explain a scientific matter to you it would need a course of lectures …
(2020-08-21). Steve Bannon arrested on fraud charges involving border wall fundraising scheme. wsws.org The former top adviser to President Trump was arrested on Thursday along with three others on fraud charges in connection with a scheme to defraud donors who gave money to a right-wing "We Build the Wall" fundraising campaign.
(2020-08-21). Flint's $600 million water settlement—a pittance to whitewash a massive social crime. wsws.org The ruling class is eager to finally put the Flint water poisoning behind them and hope the multi-million-dollar payout will appease workers, at least temporarily.
(2020-08-21). Muharram mourning in Mosalla of Tabriz. en.mehrnews.com TABRIZ, Aug. 22 (MNA) — Observing health protocols and social distancing due to coronavirus, a mourning ceremony for Imam Hussein (PBUH), was held on Friday in the Mosalla of Tabriz concurrent with the start of mourning Islamic month of Muharram.
(2020-08-21). 'Selfie with Democracy' to take part at US' SFFILM Festival. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 21 (MNA) — Iranian feature 'Selfie with Democracy', directed by Ali Atshani, will take par at the San Francisco International Film Festival in the US.
(2020-08-21). 3 Iranian hostages held by Somali pirates released. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 21 (MNA) — Three Iranian fishermen who were taken hostage by Somali pirates five years ago and released this week, arrived in Tehran on Friday.
(2020-08-21). Thursday 8/27: Supporting Voting Rights in California Jails: A Community Training. indybay.org Online via Zoom…
(2020-08-21). GLIDE Expands Access to its Free, Low-barrier Tenderloin Neighborhood COVID Testing Site. indybay.org GLIDE expands access to its free, low-barrier Tenderloin neighborhood COVID testing site and continues to provide essential services to meet the growing needs of vulnerable residents.
(2020-08-21). On Facebook Banning Anarchist and Antifascist Pages & the Digital Censorship to Come. indybay.org Today Facebook deleted a variety of far-Right militia and Qanon accounts along with anarchist and antifascist pages, including It's Going Down and CrimethInc. The following is a joint statement in response.
(2020-08-21). Saturday 8/22: Meetup: How we will Place a Moratorium on Murder. indybay.org Online Zoom…
(2020-08-21). Thursday 8/20: Rideshare Drivers to Protest Across CA as Uber, Lyft Threaten to Abandon Drivers. indybay.org 1455 Market St San Francisco, CA 94103…
(2020-08-21). "Pay Us Benefits" & "No On Prop 22" UBER Workers Protest At SF UBER World HQ. indybay.org Uber and Lyft workers and supporters protested at the UBER World Headquarters to demand worker benefits and also to oppose Proposition 22 which would undermine AB5 which forces ridedshare companies to pay workers comp, disability and social security,…
(2020-08-21). Wednesday 9/16: Oakland Privacy: Fighting Against the Surveillance State. indybay.org Online, via Zoom…
(2020-08-21). Save Social Security and the Postal Service. indybay.org Save Social Security, Now!
(2020-08-21). Pass AB 1436 to stop evictions and foreclosures. indybay.org This is the short version of a request sent via email from Tenants Together, a statewide renters support group to pass legislation to protect tenants and homeowners survive this crisis without losing their homes.
(2020-08-21). Saturday 8/22: Jeremiah Wright's America. indybay.org Join Zoom Meeting | zoom.us/j/96790644732?pwd=Z1ByS25DMW01NnRpMWpZMDV2ekE4Zz09 | Meeting ID: 967 9064 4732 | Passcode: 9KNjPY…
(2020-08-21). Tetra Tech Corruption Scandal From Uniontown Ohio To Hunters Point/Treasure Island. indybay.org The systemic corruption of the EPA including the criminal cover-up of testing at the Hunters Point Shipyard and Treasure Island by Tetra Tech is exposed in these articles…
(2020-08-21). California Moves to Protect Declining Leatherback Sea Turtles. indybay.org Prehistoric Reptiles Threatened by Fishing…
(2020-08-21). Thursday 8/20: On Common Ground: Para Nosotros, Por Nosotros August 20, 2020. indybay.org Online/Virtual Event…
(2020-08-21). California Needs More Renewables Online to Match the Demands of Fire Season. indybay.org If California had more renewables online to match the demands of fire season the state would be combating greenhouse gasses that fuel extreme temperatures. Gov. Brown failed to do so, no Gov. Newsom appears to be doing the same.
(2020-08-21). Saturday 8/22: Save the Post Office Rally. indybay.org This will be at the Novato Post Office at 1537 S. Novato Blvd.
(2020-08-21). Tuesday 8/25: Giants and Warriors Workers Fight Back. indybay.org ORACLE PARK (Giant's ballpark) | PICKET LINE: Willie Mays statue, 3rd & King Streets | CAR CARAVAN: ILWU parking lot, 2nd & King Streets…
(2020-08-21). The End Of The Hariri Trial. popularresistance.org Judges at a U.N.-backed tribunal said Tuesday there was no evidence the leadership of the Hezbollah militant group and Syria were involved in the 2005 suicide truck bomb assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. … | The trial centered on the alleged roles of four Hezbollah members in the suicide truck bombing that killed Hariri and 21 others and wounded 226 people. Prosecutors based their case largely on data from mobile phones allegedly used by the plotters to plan and execute the bombing. Based on that 'almost entirely circumstantial' evidence the tribunal found that only one of the accu…
(2020-08-21). New York Teachers Union To Strike Against School Reopening. popularresistance.org Despite Donald Trump's administration pressure for schools reopening, several states and institutions postponed the resume of learning activities or issued not-in-person strategies due to new spikes of COVID-19 cases. | The U.S New York United Federation of Teachers (UFT) on Wednesday said the organization would strike or sue district authorities if they do not enforce an accurate precautionary plan before schools reopening. | "The minute we feel that the mayor is trying to force people into a situation that is unsafe, we go to court, we take job action," UFT President Michael Mulgrew said.
(2020-08-21). Police Use Violence On Protesters Against Police Violence. popularresistance.org A group of protesters gathered again Wednesday evening at the Point Breeze home of Pittsburgh mayor Bill Peduto to protest the snatching of a protest marshal off the street over the weekend by heavily armed police officers in an unmarked white van. This was the second consecutive night of protests. On Tuesday evening, an even larger crowd showed up at Peduto's front door and spent the night until they were ordered by Police to leave at 10 a.m. Wednesday morning. | A different scene unfolded Wednesday evening though, as the group was met by Peduto sitting on his front porch, waiting to talk.
(2020-08-21). 600 Million Dollar Settlement In Flint Water Case. popularresistance.org The state of Michigan has reached a settlement agreeing to pay $600 million to the victims of the Flint water crisis. Most of this money will be allocated to children in the city who were exposed to lead-contaminated water in their household pipes. | The details of this settlement will be officially announced on Friday, but according to EcoWatch, it is expected that tens of thousands of residents will be eligible for compensation, which is subject to approval by a federal judge in Michigan. | The settlement will be one of the largest in the state's history, reports The Detroit News.
(2020-08-21). Jailer Who Organized Assault On An Inmate Sentenced To Prison. popularresistance.org A former deputy jailer has been sentenced to four years in federal prison after pleading guilty to violating the civil rights of an inmate at the Shelby County Detention Center. | William Anthony Carey, 31, admitted to asking an inmate to assault another inmate that Carey didn't like, according to his plea agreement. | Corey Lynn Hopper, 30, the inmate Carey asked to carry out the assault, pleaded guilty in January to aiding and abetting the violation of an inmate's civil rights. Hopper admitted to enlisting several other inmates to help him beat and kick the man, leaving him with serious injuries.
(2020-08-21). Whose Century Is It? Don't Ask Donald Trump. strategic-culture.org Dilip HIRO | For the Trump administration's senior officials, it's been open season on bashing China. If you need an example, think of the president's blame game about " When it comes to China, in fact, the ever more virulent criticism never seems to stop. | Between the end of June and the end of July, four members of his cabinet vied with each other in spewing anti-Ch…
(2020-08-21). The Carney/Freeland Green Reset Shapes Canada's 'New Normal'. strategic-culture.org Surprising ruptures have shaken the Canadian political landscape this week as Trudeau's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland announced that she would add "Finance Minister" to her portfolio the day after scandal-ridden Bill Morneau stepped down from the position on the evening of August 16th. As Freeland gave her remarks to the press, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also announced that Ottawa's parliament would be requesting that the Queen's Governor General prorogue parliament until the end of September whereby a new Throne speech would announce a new green "economic restart" for the Canadian economy. | (In the…
(2020-08-21). Four-week extension of eviction ban confirmed amid fears of homelessness surge. thecanary.co The eviction ban has been extended for four weeks and landlords will have to give the majority of tenants six months' notice to protect vulnerable renters hit by the coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis from a winter eviction. | 28 days: | The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) announced the move after charities warned there could be mass evictions around Christmas and said tens of thousands of outgoing tenants could be unable to access affordable homes, prompting a "devastating homelessness crisis". | Renters have been protected during the virus crisis by a ban announced in March and…
(2020-08-21). Post-Brexit trade deal talks approaching deadlock over key issues. thecanary.co Post-Brexit trade talks between the UK and EU are approaching deadlock, with progress "frozen" as both sides refuse to back down on the key issues of fisheries and state aid. | EU negotiator Michel Barnier warned that agreeing a deal before the 31 December deadline currently "seems unlikely". He suggested Britain is "wasting valuable time". | His UK counterpart David Frost also warned "there has been little progress" after the conclusion of the seventh round of talks on Friday 21 August. | "Frozen": | Both sides accept time is running out to broker a deal before the transition period comes to a close at t…
(2020-08-21). US Postal Service becomes a battleground ahead of elections. peoplesdispatch.org With presidential elections just months away, the functioning of the US Postal Service has emerged as a key issue.
(2020-08-21). COVID-19 vaccine to seek regulatory review in October. yenisafak.com German-based biotech firm BioNTech announced late Thursday that vaccine candidate for COVID-19 with US drug giant Pfizer was on track for regulatory review as early as October."Assuming clinical success, Pfizer and BioNTech are on track to seek regulatory review of BNT162b2 as early as October 2020," said the company statement."If regulatory authorization or approval is obtained, currently plan to supply up to 100 million doses worldwide by the end of 2020 and approximately 1.3 billion doses by the end of 2021," it added.The companies also released additional data from phase 2/3 trial of the BNT162b2 mRNA-based v…
(2020-08-21). Turkey discovers gas reserve in Black Sea, says Erdogan. yenisafak.com Turkey's drilling ship Fatih has found 320 billion cubic meters of natural gas, Erdogan addedThe Turkish ship has been operating since late July in an exploration zone known as Tuna-1, about 100 nautical miles north of the Turkish coast in the western Black Sea.Details to follow…
(2020-08-21). UK public debt crosses $2T for first time in history. yenisafak.com The UK's public debt has crossed £2 trillion ($2.6 trillion) for the first time in its history, the country's official statistics agency said on Friday.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the public debt increased £227.6 billion at the end of July compared to the same time last year.Borrowing hit a record £150.5 billion this year, which the ONS said was $128.4 billion more than between April and July last year.British Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: "This crisis has put the public finances under significant strain as we have seen a hit to our economy and taken action to support millions o…
(2020-08-21). What you need to know about the coronavirus right now. yenisafak.com Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: New, milder, virus variant foundResearchers in Singapore have discovered a new variant of the COVID-19 coronavirus that causes milder infections, a study published in The Lancet medical journal found.The study showed that COVID-19 patients infected with the variant of SARS-CoV-2 had better clinical outcomes, with a lower proportion developing low blood oxygen or requiring intensive care.The study also showed the variant elicited a more robust immune response.The variant, which likely came from Wuhan, China, was detected in a cluster of infections from J…
(2020-08-21). 'Bangladesh needs other testing methods for COVID-19'. yenisafak.com Experts in Bangladesh suggested that alternative testing methods be introduced alongside the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis amid low COVID-19 testing and sample collection, which has raised fears over the further spread of the deadly disease in the country.The time has come for utilizing antibody and antigen testing to detect the coronavirus as a supporting method as such testing involves less effort and is hassle free, they observed.Bangladesh is now the 16th worst affected country in the world in terms of total infections. Meanwhile, there is an over 20% infection rate in dail…
(2020-08-21). Libyan government calls for cease-fire. yenisafak.com The Libyan government on Friday announced a cease-fire and ordered the military to stop all combat operations.The Tripoli-seated Government of National Accord said that the "cease-fire requires the areas of Sirte and al-Jufra to be demilitarized within security arrangements."It called for presidential and parliamentary elections in March.For his part, Aguila Saleh, speaker of pro-Khalifa Haftar Libyan parliament, called on all parties for immediate cease-fire.He said the truce will make Sirte a temporary seat for a new presidential council to be guarded by police forces from various regions in the country.UN welc…
(2020-08-21). Europe's travel recovery stalls in August. yenisafak.com Europe's travel recovery stalled at the start of August after a stronger performance in July, as quarantine rules and warnings over rising infection rates created uncertainty and deterred tourists from booking trips abroad.In July, ticket numbers for cross-border air travel within Europe stood at 28% of 2019's levels, as Europeans began to travel again after months of lockdown.But by the first week of August, volumes had fallen to 18%, according to data provided by travel analysis group ForwardKeys.Britain brought back quarantine rules for arrivals from Spain on July 26, just over two weeks after saying travel th…
(2020-08-21). Russia has not contacted us, Belarusian opposition politician Tsikhanouskaya says. yenisafak.com Belarusian opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said on Friday that Russia had not made contact with her campaign, speaking at her first press conference since fleeing into exile last week following a disputed presidential election.Tsikhanouskaya has led the biggest challenge to President Alexander Lukashenko's 26-year rule of Belarus. Mass protests broke out against Lukashenko, accusing him of rigging the August 9 election, which he denies. Russia has warned the West not to intervene and offered military help to Minsk.
(2020-08-21). EU-UK talks hit a snag again. yenisafak.com The 7th round of the EU-UK negotiations on the partners' future ended without progress, EU's chief negotiator announced Friday. | "I am frankly disappointed, concerned and surprised as well," Michel Barnier told journalists summarizing the talks that had taken place in Brussels this week. | Despite the promises of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on speeding up the process, "the British haven't shown any willingness to move forward with topics crucial for the EU", he said. | "It feels like as if we were going backward rather than forward. At this stage, any agreement seems unlikely. I don't see why we are was…
(2020-08-21). Siberian hospital diagnoses Kremlin critic Navalny with metabolic disease. yenisafak.com The head doctor at the Siberian hospital treating Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said on Friday he had been diagnosed with a metabolic disease caused by low blood sugar.Alexander Murakhovsky, the head doctor at the hospital treating Navalny in the city of Omsk, added that traces of industrial chemical substances had been found on the 44-year-old's clothes and fingers.Navalny, a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin, is in a serious condition after drinking tea on Thursday morning that his allies believe was laced with poison.
(2020-08-21). Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny hospitalized as crisis in Belarus deepens. wsws.org Navalny's hospitalization comes amid an escalating crisis around the protests and mass strikes in Belarus which have heightened tensions in Europe and Russia.
(2020-08-21). Underpaying Casual Staff and Forgetting Education: The Australian University Formula. dissidentvoice.org Scandalous underpayment has become common fare at Australia's universities. An inverse relationship can be identified here: the wealthier the institution, the more likely it will short change staff and avoid coughing up the cash. If anything is coughed up, it will be meagrely rationed. We are not all in this together. The casualization of the …
(2020-08-21). Lancetgate: Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to Treat Covid-19 Patients. Why Was this "Monumental Fraud" Not a Huge Scandal? globalresearch.ca A high-profile and highly influential scientific
(2020-08-21). [Letter] Police use of force during street protests: A pressing public mental health concern. thelancet.com Street protests are a common means of civic expression and occur across the globe. In the past few years, millions of citizens have attended street protests worldwide. Sometimes however, street protests can constitute significantly stressful and violent contexts. Research has highlighted the physical health impact of street protests due to clashes between protesters and law enforcement or use of CS gas [1]. In addition, police use of less-lethal weapons, such as rubber pellet launchers, is known to cause severe ocular injuries [2].
(2020-08-21). The Fox is Still in the Henhouse at the Post Office. counterpunch.org Skyleigh Heinen, a U.S. Army veteran who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and anxiety, relies on…
(2020-08-21). Can Joe Biden Unrig the Economy? thenation.com Can Joe Biden Unrig the Economy?
(2020-08-21). Will Public Schools Survive Covid-19? thenation.com Will Public Schools Survive Covid-19?
(2020-08-21). The Burden of the Debt: Lessons for Team Biden. counterpunch.org Top Biden adviser, and long-time personal friend, Ted Kaufman was seen in the Wall Street Journal warning that the debt run up by the Trump administration will seriously limit what Biden will be able to do as president. This is wrong big time, and it is the sort of silly thing that no one in
(2020-08-20). New FOIA Docs Expose Conditions in Private Immigration Prison So Bad That Even ICE Was Shocked. mintpressnews.com 
Documents obtained through Freedom of Information requests show a consistent pattern of abuse at the privately-run ICE facility in Farmville, where detainees suffered abuse, neglect, and threats of retaliation if they complained.
(2020-08-20). Amazon workers describe spread of COVID-19 at warehouse in Romulus, Michigan. wsws.org Wayne County, Michigan, where the warehouse is located, is the state's epicenter for the virus, with 29,242 confirmed infections and 2,841 deaths as of this writing.
(2020-08-20). Steve Bannon Arrested for Fraud Related to Role in Privatized Border Wall Scheme. commondreams.org The "We Build the Wall" campaign, led by Iraq War veteran Brian Kolfage, raised over $25 million. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/bannon-arrested.jpg …
(2020-08-20). The Geopolitics Of The Belarusian Crisis: Anti-Russian, Neutral To China, Pro-Polish. thealtworld.com The Belarusian Crisis is an American Hybrid War against Russian interests in support of Poland's US-backed regional ones related to the "Three Seas Initiative", which won't harm China's interests even in the worst-case scenario despite Beijing's plans for the Eurasian Land Bridge to transit through the Color Revolution-beleaguered former Soviet Republic since the People's Republic has already pioneered several complementary East-West corridors that it could rely on instead. | Geopolitical Basics | The "
(2020-08-20). The Belarusian Labor Strike Movement Could Bring Down Lukashenko. globalresearch.ca Belarus' disproportionate budgetary dependence on five big businesses makes it extremely vulnerable to economic destabilization if the tiny percentage of the country's population employed in those companies join in the nationwide labor strike movement to remove Lukashenko. | "The Economic Factor …
(2020-08-20). Biden's Headquarters Rents A Fence To Stop The Poor People's Army. popularresistance.org Cheri Honkala is a founder and coordinator of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC) . We spoke after she was arrested outside Biden campaign headquarters on the opening day of the virtual Democratic National Convention. | Ann Garrison: I see you marched from Philadelphia's Liberty Bell to Biden's Philly headquarters and got arrested yesterday. What did you do to once again menace the foundation of our American institutions? | Cheri Honkala: We challenged American institutions by saying they shouldn't be run by corporations.
(2020-08-20). New Senate Intelligence Committee volume on "Russian interference" smears WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. wsws.org The one-thousand-page fifth volume of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence investigation is largely devoted to building an elaborate and false narrative against WikiLeaks.
(2020-08-20). Torturing Assange: An Interview with Andrew Fowler. counterpunch.org 
It seems quite clear that there is an attempt by the British and US administrations to destroy Assange, either driving him to suicide or a psychological breakdown. He has had a lung condition for a number of years, which has not been properly treated, and is clearly suffering from huge stress. During his last court appearance over a video link, there were long pauses between his words, even when speaking his own name.
(2020-08-20). USAID Document Exposes New US Plot to Overthrow Nicaragua's Elected Socialist Government. globalresearch.ca A disturbing new document outlines plans for a US regime-change scheme against Nicaragua's elected leftist government, overseen by USAID, to bring about a "market economy" and a purge of Sandinistas. | *** | A newly released document exposes a US government operation …
(2020-08-20). How the US Helped Push Lebanon to the Brink of Collapse, and Now Threatens More Sanctions. globalresearch.ca While the media blames the crisis in Lebanon solely on corruption, the US government unleashed a "maximum pressure" campaign to push regime change and crush Lebanese resistance with sanctions and aggressive hybrid warfare. | *** | As the people of Lebanon suffer …
(2020-08-20). The Assassination of Yasser Arafat was Ordered by The Israeli Cabinet: "We will Choose the Right Way and the Right Time to Kill Arafat." globalresearch.ca First published on November 19, 2013. | Author's Note | Who killed Hariri, Who killed Arafat? | According to the August 18, 2020 verdict by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) in The Hague Salim Ayyash was found guilty of killing Prime Minister …
(2020-08-20). Headlines for August 20, 2020. democracynow.org Kamala Harris Accepts Democratic Party's Nomination for Vice President, Hundreds of Wildfires Choke California, as Coronavirus Sidelines Prisoner Firefighters, U.S. Records Nearly 1,300 New Coronavirus Deaths as PPE Shortages Persist, NYC Teachers' Union Threatens Strike If Schools Reopen Without Safety Measures, New Zealand Deploys Troops to Enforce Quarantine; Zambian Vice President Positive for Coronavirus, Emails Reveal Swedish Epidemiologist Urged Coronavirus Spread to Attain Herd Immunity, Iran's Official COVID-19 Death Toll Passes 20,000 as Trump Pushes for New Sanctions, European Union Readies Sanctions A…
(2020-08-20). "I Know a Predator When I See One": Kamala Harris Takes Aim at Trump, Accepts Historic VP Nomination. democracynow.org 
Senator Kamala Harris has formally accepted the Democratic vice-presidential nomination, becoming the first woman of color to run on a major party presidential ticket. We feature part of her historic speech.
(2020-08-20). Before Kamala Harris, There Was Charlotta Bass: Remembering 1st Black Woman to Run for VP in 1952. democracynow.org 
Senator Kamala Harris is the first Indian American and first Black woman to be nominated for vice president on a major party ticket, but, as many historians have noted, Harris is not the first Black woman to run for vice president. That distinction belongs to the journalist and political activist Charlotta Bass, who was the editor of The California Eagle for nearly 30 years, one of the country's oldest Black newspapers, which covered women's suffrage, police brutality, the Klu Klux Klan, and discriminatory hiring and housing practices. Bass joined the Progressive Party ticket in 1952 on an antiracist platform tha…
(2020-08-20). "Don't Let Them Take Away Your Power": Obama Slams Trump at DNC & Warns U.S. Democracy Is at Risk. democracynow.org 
On the third night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, party leaders argued that U.S. democracy is at risk if President Trump is reelected in November, with a lineup of speeches from former Congressmember Gabby Giffords, senator and former presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren and former President Barack Obama, who grew emotional describing the stakes of the election and urged people not to "let them take away your democracy." We air excerpts from the night's events.
(2020-08-20). Abolitionist Derecka Purnell on Historic Kamala Harris VP Pick & Why Black Progressives Feel Torn. democracynow.org 
As Kamala Harris makes history as the first woman of color to run on a major party presidential ticket, many Black progressive women remain ambivalent, says Derecka Purnell, a human rights lawyer, abolitionist and columnist for The Guardian newspaper. "It's just unfortunate that you have to protect someone because of their identity … while at the same time if you care about the masses of Black people, the masses of poor people, the masses of immigrants in this country, you know that you have to speak truth and be honest about their record," Purnell says.
(2020-08-20). Memoir of a World Watcher: Diana Johnstone. globalresearch.ca We discuss Diana Johnstone's memoir, "Circle in the Darkness": | Yugoslavia under Tito; bombing of Serbia; Camp Bondsteel; spook revelation journalism; | Paris in 1968; anti-war movement of the '60s; legacy of Charles de Gaulle; Europe occupied since WWII; | the Greens; …
(2020-08-20). Global South Calls For Sanctions On Apartheid Israel. popularresistance.org Israel's decades-old regime of apartheid and theft of Palestinian land is continuing unabated. Reports that Israel is "suspending" formal annexation are a smokescreen for continued colonisation and piecemeal ethnic cleansing of Indigenous Palestinians. | Around the world, advocates for justice are pushing back.The Global South response, initiated by South African civil society, brings together notable figures, intellectuals, policy makers, civil society leaders and experts from Africa, Latin America and Asia, in a joint effort to promote lawful sanctions on Israel to end its decades-old oppression of the Palestin…
(2020-08-20). Celebrity, War, and Presidential Elections. counterpunch.org On May 30, 1979, a letter appeared in 5 major newspapers in the US assailing the human rights record of Vietnam, a nation where the US killed about 3 million people and where about 58,000 of its own soldiers died. In bordering Cambodia, where the US war has spread besides a vicious air war over Laos, millions
(2020-08-20). German NGO sends in ambulance plane to pick up 'poisoned' Kremlin critic Navalny at Pussy Riot co-founder's request. rt.com 
The Berlin-based Cinema for Peace Foundation has readied an ambulance aircraft, specialized for transporting coma patients, to pick up Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny to transfer him to Germany for treatment. | The NGO said the plane will fly to Russia late on Thursday. The activists noted the transfer was requested by Navalny's fellow opposition figure, Pyotr Verzilov, best known as the co-founder of the punk band Pussy Riot. | "For humanitarian reasons, at Pussy Riots Pyotr Verzilov's request, we will send at midnight an air ambulance with medical equipment and specialists with which Navalny can be…
(2020-08-20). Battelships in Beirut —MES EP.68. thealtworld.com Several European navies have deployed vessels to Beirut port under the pretext of providing disaster relief and humanitarian assistance following the catastrophic explosion at the port of Beirut. The French Marine Nationale, British Royal Navy, German Deutsche Marine and Hellenic Navy have all dispatched vessels to Beirut as Lebanese people fear the return of 1982. To discuss this issue with us from Paris is Jean Pierre Duthion, political commentator. | Iraq cancelled a ministerial visit and summoned Turkey's ambassador last week as it blamed Ankara for a drone attack that killed two high-ranking Iraqi military o…
(2020-08-20). Bolivia's right-wing coup government is facing resistance. mronline.org 
On 28 July, tens of thousands took to the streets of El Alto, the predominantly working-class and Indigenous city that overlooks La Paz, in a mobilisation called by the Bolivian Workers Centre (Central Obrera Boliviana, or COB), the country's chief trade union federation, together with other worker, peasant and Indigenous organisations (gathered under the title …
(2020-08-20). Aboriginal Rights and the Discrepancy Between Profit and Heritage. strategic-culture.org Following the destruction of two heritage sites in Juukan Gorge by the Australian mining company Rio Tinto in May, Aboriginal communities are facing another threat to their quest to protect their heritage and culture. Western Australia's Federal government has been asked to take a step back by Australian mining companies when it comes to legislation protecting Aboriginal heritage. | The Native Title Act (NTA) currently allows six months for Aboriginal communities to reach an agreement with mining companies over any projects that can harm indigenous territory, thus placing mining companies at a constant advantage…
(2020-08-20). Trump's Disgraceful Assault on the Post Office. counterpunch.org Lagging in the polls, Donald Trump has launched a campaign to discredit the upcoming election and disparage the United States Postal Service. He's repeated the utterly baseless claim that voting by mail — the safest way to vote in a pandemic — will lead to massive fraud. He's opposed aid to states that would help
(2020-08-20). Red line? Biden rejects DNC guest Linda Sarsour's endorsement over her 'anti-Semitism' & BDS support. rt.com 
Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden hasn't encountered many far-left policies he won't embrace — from free healthcare for illegal aliens to free college — but he found one leftist supporter he won't abide: Linda Sarsour. | Sarsour, a Muslim activist and co-founder of the Women's March, endorsed Biden last week and spoke on Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention's "Muslim Delegates and Allies Assembly." Biden responded by denouncing her. | "Joe Biden has been a strong supporter of Israel and a vehement opponent of anti-Semitism his entire life, and he obviously condemns [Sarsour's] view…
(2020-08-20). 'Urgent need' to scale up search and rescue in the Mediterranean. news.un.org UN agencies have called for search and rescue to be stepped up in the central Mediterranean, in the wake of a tragic shipwreck that claimed the lives of 45 migrants and refugees, including five children.
(2020-08-20). EU rejects UK demand for right to return migrants. yenisafak.com The UK has wanted to extend the Dublin system after the end of the transition period at the end of the year. | The system allows countries to return refugees and migrants to the EU country from where they came, and is the basis of the current EU asylum system. | The Guardian reported that the EU rejected extending the system outside the EU, which the UK would be post-Brexit. | The UK offered the same system vice versa, so that they would have to accept migrants who landed in the EU from the UK, except those who arrive by airplane. | The EU said the plan was "very unbalanced," as southern Europe takes in 10 tim…
(2020-08-20). When It Comes to Trump v. Biden Yoga Berra is Right: It Ain't Over Till it's Over. counterpunch.org 
While most of the prediction models understand the electoral college issue, they nonetheless still fail to appreciate that polling needs to be done at the state if not even at the county level to understand the micro trends impacting presidential elections. As I have repeatedly pointed out, and do so again this year, it is a few swing voters in a few swing counties in a few swing states that will decide the presidential election.
(2020-08-20). Biden won't save us / Keep it in the streets! workers.org 
As the November election approaches, pressure will mount on revolutionary organizations within the U.S. to fall in line with the Democratic Party and endorse Joe Biden. The argument often made is that a Democratic president is needed to counter reactionary policies put in place by a Republican administration. Does this . . . |
(2020-08-20). The Tight Rope #DemConvention Watch Party Ro Khanna Zephyr Teachout Howie Hawkins. therealnews.com 
Cornel West and Tricia Rose bring you live coverage and commentary of the final night of the 2020 #DemConvention featuring Joe Biden's speech from Wilmington, Delaware and confirmed guests Congressman Ro Khanna, Zephyr Teachout, Howie Hawkins, and Angela Walker.
(2020-08-20). Donald Trump is Losing His Tech War with China and Doesn't Even Know It. counterpunch.org 
For the Trump administration's senior officials, it's been open season on bashing China. If you need an example, think of the president's blame game about "the invisible Chinese virus" as it spreads wildly across the U.S. When it comes to China, in fact, the ever more virulent criticism never seems to stop. Between the end
(2020-08-20). Woe to the Powerless! Once Again Palestinians Are Paying the Price. counterpunch.org 
During this century, 2020 seems like a year we would like to remove from our memory. With life being toppled upside down for everybody all over the world due to the Corona Pandemic, forces of evil still find a way to strike again and again We hardly got over the shock of the explosion in
(2020-08-20). Prague's Fights Over Kundera: Biography From the Files of the Secret Police. counterpunch.org 
In 2008, while I was staying in Prague, a scandal broke out involving the Czech writer Milan Kundera, who has lived in Paris since 1975. Respekt magazine published an article claiming that Kundera had informed on a foreign spy of Czech extraction who was staying that night in the students' residence of which Kundera was
(2020-08-20). On Vacation. No Internet. No News. counterpunch.org 
Last time I went on vacation without access to news, I was in Greece, on Ithaca, and Chernobyl happened. I found out about it a week later when I got to Athens to catch my flight back to Hamburg. There was an English language newspaper there — Daily American perhaps, or that was the paper
(2020-08-20). Hands off Lebanon: Macron's Self-serving 'New Pact' Must Be Shunned. counterpunch.org 
French President, Emmanuel Macron, is in no position to pontificate to Lebanon about the need for political and economic reforms. Just as thousands of Lebanese took to the streets of Beirut demanding "revenge" against the ruling classes, the French people have relentlessly been doing the same; both peoples have been met with police violence and arrests.
(2020-08-20). A Note on Lost GDP During the Shutdown. counterpunch.org 
Some folks have complained about the loss of GDP over the last five months and questioned whether the shutdowns have been worth the price. While people often toss around huge numbers in the trillions of dollars as the cost of the shutdown, these big numbers are often both inaccurate and misleading. Measuring Lost GDP The
(2020-08-20). Giants and Warriors Workers Fight Back. counterpunch.org 
The San Francisco Giants returned home on Friday, August 14 and found themselves being picketed by the workers who normally sell garlic fries and beer to the fans. This must have been bad karma, as both Friday and Saturday the Giants blew a big lead over the Oakland A's in the ninth inning, then got blown away by the
(2020-08-20). A new rapid spit test for COVID-19 could be the game changer we need. therealnews.com 
Are known cases just the tip of the iceberg? A new test holds promise – and peril – for how we fight back against the disease.
(2020-08-20). Obama warns: Re-elect Trump and U.S. democracy dies. peoplesworld.org 
PHILADELPHIA — Re-elect Donald Trump, Barack Obama warns, and U.S. democracy dies. That, in a nutshell, was the stark message Obama delivered about his successor to the entire country in a speech from the U.S. Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Wednesday night. "I have sat in the Oval Office with both of the men who …
(2020-08-20). Racists outnumbered at Stone Mountain. liberationnews.org 
This summer of mass protests against police brutality and the brutality of this capitalist system more broadly has stirred up a predictable reaction from the far-right, leading several of Georgia's most notorious racists to plan an Aug. 15 march up Stone Mountain, about 30 minutes east of Atlanta, to prove the vitality of the racist …
(2020-08-20). Detainees during the Pandemic. mronline.org 
It is a common practice all over the world that when those incarcerated face a threat to life, the authorities send them home.
(2020-08-20). Planned Parenthood's Margaret Sanger problem. workers.org 
Planned Parenthood of Greater New York issued a strong statement July 21 that condemned Margaret Sanger's relationship with eugenics theory and practice. "By saying this, we disarm a tool anti-abortion opponents use to shame women of color, especially Black women, from seeking the full spectrum of sexual and reproductive health . . . |
(2020-08-20). Venezuela: The real enemy. mronline.org 
We became an unusual and extraordinary threat to U.S. imperialism in 1999. From that moment on, our enemy declared war, not a conventional war, but war nonetheless.
(2020-08-20). Prisoners' lives matter! 'Inmates cannot social distance'. workers.org 
Makinni Iyapo By Makini Iyapo This edited talk was given at an Aug. 13 Workers World Party webinar, "From Black August to Black Lives Matter," hosted by the WWP Prisoners Solidarity Committee. I am so honored to be here, in the company of people of like minds. I feel rejuvenated . . . |
(2020-08-20). The Heat: U.S. politics and COVID-19 in Latin America. america.cgtn.com 
Politics and the pandemic. Plus — Latin America passes Europe as the region with the most Covid deaths the world.
(2020-08-20). Journalism professor melts down after seeing Trump ads on Washington Post website, accusing the paper of SELLING ITS SOUL. rt.com 
Seeing the front page of his beloved Washington Post plastered with campaign ads for President Donald Trump sent one journalism professor into a fit of rage. And the angrier he got, the more people in the comments laughed. | "No, @washingtonpost, no, no NO. How dare you? Were these pieces of silver worth the price of your soul?" City University of New York journalism professor Jeff Jarvis tweeted on Thursday, after seeing an ad slamming Joe Biden emblazoned across the banner of the Washington Post's website. | No,
(2020-08-20). Obama shreds Trump's 'reality show' presidency, vows his former VP Biden will save US democracy & solve all America's problems. rt.com 
Former US president Barack Obama said the Trump administration had turned the presidency into a "reality show" in his speech to the Democratic convention, holding up Joe Biden as a panacea for all of the country's troubles. | Addressing the third night of his party's national convention on Wednesday, the ex-POTUS took an uncharacteristically harsh tone on President Donald Trump, saying he hadn't "grown into the job because he can't" while laying blame for the Covid-19 crisis squarely on his administration. | "I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job…
(2020-08-20). 'Take it from me': Still bitter Hillary Clinton warns Americans that Trump & 'foreign adversaries' could steal election AGAIN. rt.com 
Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton again sounded alarms about election-meddling "foreign adversaries" in her speech to the Democratic convention, while urging voters to take revenge for her bitter 2016 loss to Donald Trump. | "For four years, people have said to me, 'I didn't realize how dangerous he was,' 'I wish I could go back and do it over,' or worse, 'I should have voted,'" Clinton said in her address to the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night, taking voters to task for not sending her to the Oval Office in the last presidential contest. | Well, this can't be another woulda coulda sh…
(2020-08-20). 'Where's the war? I don't see the war': Trump says Obama & Hillary marched the US into conflict while he 'kept us out' of new wars. rt.com 
President Donald Trump has boasted that by replacing Barack Obama and defeating Hillary Clinton, he saved the US from war with North Korea. An unlikely dove, Trump has often accused his rivals of clamoring for conflict. | Speaking on Thursday from Old Forge, Pennsylvania — just two miles from Joe Biden's hometown of Scranton — Trump tore into his opponent, calling Biden a "puppet of the radical left movement" who wants to "hike your taxes" and "take away your guns," among other by now well-worn criticisms. | After rounding on Biden, Trump boasted of his own accomplishments in office, including his se…
(2020-08-20). 'Trump is destroying our country!' Billie Eilish targets young voters with pro-Biden rant & new song performance at Dem convention. rt.com 
American pop star Billie Eilish tore into US President Donald Trump before performing a new song at the Democratic convention, in an apparent attempt to attract young voters to the party's 77-year-old nominee, Joe Biden. | "Donald Trump is destroying our country and everything we care about… We need leaders who will solve our problems like climate change and Covid, not deny them… It starts with voting against Donald Trump and for Joe Biden," Eilish said before performing her new track, 'My Future,' at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night. | You don't need me to tell you things are a mess.
(2020-08-20). LA Mayor Garcetti crowned Covid-19 'dictator' after shutting off utilities at TikTok star's Hollywood party mansion. rt.com 
Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti has been labeled a despotic hypocrite by social media, after he cut off water and power at a TikTok influencer's residence where gatherings were held in violation of coronavirus orders. | In a tweet, Garcetti The residence in question has reported…
(2020-08-20). Big Brother ain't so bad, after all? Almost half of Muscovites support city's ever-expanding facial recognition system. rt.com 
Moscow's CCTV system, recently used to catch people violating the Covid-19 quarantine, continues to split opinion. A survey has revealed that just under half of the capital's residents support the expansion of facial recognition. | According to research conducted by the Levada Center, 42 percent of Muscovites oppose the installation of facial recognition cameras, with 47 percent supporting it. The Russian capital has an extensive citywide CCTV system, allowing the authorities to track and find criminals wanted by law enforcement. In recent months, the cameras were used to detect and punish citizens for breakin…
(2020-08-20). Please clap: DNC mocked for failing to find 30 people to cheer for Kamala Harris as duplicates spotted on live feed. rt.com 
When Kamala Harris was receiving applause at the end of her DNC speech, it became apparent that some of the virtual clappers seemed just to have been duplicated images of the same audience members, leading to a laugh riot online. | The vice presidential nominee's address to the Democratic National Convention was supposed to be the grand finale of Wednesday's event as she accepted the much-hyped vice-presidential nomination. Because the gathering was virtual, due to Covid-19 safety measures, Harris was provided with an online video audience to applaud and underscore the speech's importance. | Having delivered i…
(2020-08-20). Portland police use tear gas to disperse protesters after mob targets ICE building (PHOTOS, VIDEOS). rt.com 
Federal officers tussled with protesters in Portland after a crowd vandalized an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in the city. Police declared the assembly a riot and deployed tear gas. | Several hundred demonstrators marched to the ICE building on Wednesday night, where they proceeded to shine lights and lasers at federal officers inside the premises. According to a statement released by the Portland Police Bureau (PPB), the crowd began kicking and banging on the building's doors, and tagged the government office with graffiti. The office's windows were also damaged. | Federal agents exited th…
(2020-08-20). US formally requests 'snapback' of UN sanctions against Iran, even though it exited nuclear deal. rt.com 
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has sent a formal request to the UN Security Council to 'snap back' sanctions against Iran, claiming Tehran violated the 2015 nuclear deal that Washington has unilaterally ditched. | The letter accuses Iran of "significant non-compliance" with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 arrangement negotiated with Tehran by the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany. | The deal was codified by the UNSC Resolution 2231, which the US is now citing as grounds for invoking the "snapback" provision, even though the Trump administration unilaterally lef…
(2020-08-20). 'No apologies whatsoever!' Chicago mayor defends ban on protests in HER neighborhood, vows to do anything to protect home & family. rt.com 
Progressive Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has insisted that a ban on demonstrations in her neighborhood is necessary to ward off any threats to her family, despite vocal support for citizens' right to peacefully protest elsewhere. | The Chicago Police Department has ordered officers to bar protesters from Lightfoot's Logan Square neighborhood and arrest any who refuse to leave, the Chicago Tribune
(2020-08-20). US imposes sanctions on Syrian military commanders & officials 'for their efforts to prevent a ceasefire'. rt.com 
Washington has announced sanctions on senior Syrian government officials and the leaders of several military units, with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accusing top National Defense Forces members of subverting a ceasefire. | In a statement on Thursday, the US State Department said it was imposing sanctions on the leadership of a number of Syrian military units, including National Defense Forces commander Fadi Saqr. | The US and its allies are "united in continuing to apply pressure" on the Syrian president and his government "until there is a peaceful, political solution to the conflict," Pompeo said in th…
(2020-08-20). Arms in the air? UAE-Israel peace deal kickstarts long-stalled F-35 purchase from Washington. rt.com 
The UAE-Israeli peace deal could sprout into a lucrative arms contract, as the UAE's foreign minister said it had removed the obstacles for purchasing F-35 fighters from the US. Washington said such a deal is already under review. | Formal normalization of ties with Tel Aviv should remove "any hurdle" in the path of the potential new arms deal with the US, the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said Thursday. | "We have legitimate requests … We ought to get them … the whole idea of a state of belligerency or war with Israel no longer exists," Gargash told the NATO-sponsored pro-war Atl…
(2020-08-20). Doctors say condition of Moscow protest leader Navalny has stabilized, as Kremlin promises probe if traces of poison are found. rt.com 
The team treating Alexey Navalny has managed to stabilize his condition, a lead medic has said. Dr Anatoly Kalinichenko said Russia's best-known anti-corruption activist was in intensive care and getting the necessary treatment. | The doctor also said there are no plans to transfer Navalny to Moscow. His supporters have requested that be moved to Germany or France so he can be admitted to a specialist clinic. Earlier, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that "if the Kremlin or the Russian Health Ministry received a request for Navalny's transfer to a foreign hospital, it would be considered…
(2020-08-20). Riding Russiagate? New Call of Duty game promises return to COLD WAR with colorful propaganda & interview with KGB defector. rt.com 
Makers of the Call of Duty video game series have gone full Cold War, setting their latest shooter in that era and using the infamous 'active measures' interview with a KGB defector in the teaser trailer. | Activision unveiled the cover artwork for the 'Cold War' installment of its 'Call of Duty: Black Ops' series on Thursday, featuring a split-screen of Soviet and American propaganda from the era. | ùöÉùöíùöñùöé ùöíùöú ùöù&…
(2020-08-20). Racism cured? Elizabeth Warren displays alphabet toys spelling BLM in background during DNC speech, gets ridiculed. rt.com 
US Senator Elizabeth Warren's attempt at a Black Lives Matter nod was mocked on Twitter after she had the letters BLM spelled out with toy alphabet letters in the background of her video address to the DNC. | The progressive senator spoke to the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday from a childhood education center, located in Springfield, Massachusetts. | Warren's
(2020-08-20). 'We believe in law enforcement': Texas governor pledges to financially punish cities that attempt to defund the police. rt.com 
Governor of Texas Greg Abbott has issued a stark warning to left-leaning cities in the Lone Star State, saying he will withdraw funding from municipalities that try to defund law enforcement agencies. | The Republican politician sent the unambiguous message after Austin's city council slashed its police budget by $150 million last week. "Texas will defund cities that try to defund their police. We support law enforcement in Texas," Abbott tweeted late on Wednesday. | Discussing the issue on Fox News, Governor Abbott accused liberal precincts of "caving to socialism," and argued that the violence that's erupted…
(2020-08-20). 'Loneliness epidemic': Half of American singles aren't looking for a relationship or even seeking casual dates, Pew poll shows. rt.com 
Half of single adults in the US aren't looking for casual dates, let alone a committed relationship, reflecting a trend toward more reclusive lifestyles in Japan and other developed nations, a new Pew Research Center poll showed. | Some 50 percent of Americans who aren't in a relationship aren't seeking a
(2020-08-20). Western Media Misperceptions About Belarus, Lukashenko & Putin. strategic-culture.org 
The West is trying to engineer popular opinion in Belarus towards a "color revolution," fairly obviously. But they are on a sticky wicket. Western Ukraine was genuinely enthusiastic to move towards the west and the EU, in the hope of attaining a consumer lifestyle. Outside of central Minsk, there is very little such sentiment in Belarus.
(2020-08-20). Obama warns US democracy is at stake if Trump is re-elected. thecanary.co 
Former US president Barack Obama has warned that American democracy could falter if Donald Trump is re-elected in the autumn.Obama's stunning rebuke of his successor was echoed by Kamala Harris at the Democratic Convention as she embraced her historic role as the first Black woman on a US national political ticket alongside presidential hopeful Joe Biden.The former president — who broke barriers himself as America's first Black president — pleaded with voters to "embrace your own responsibility as citizens — to make sure that the basic tenets of our democracy endure". | Obama warned: "Because that'
(2020-08-20). Williamson was warned of algorithm's impact on poorer pupils last month. thecanary.co 
Gavin Williamson was warned the exams algorithm would disadvantage poorer pupils around a month before it was axed, it has emerged as the embattled education secretary came under fresh scrutiny.Jon Coles, a former Department for Education director-general, issued a clear warning to Williamson that hundreds of thousands of students could receive the wrong grades, it became clear on Thursday as pupils learned their GCSE results.But Williamson pushed on with using the algorithm in England until he came under cross-party fire after nearly 40% of A-level students had their results downgraded.The Cabinet minister was h…
(2020-08-20). Prominent left veterans say vote Biden-Harris, then keep organizing. peoplesworld.org 
Alarm over the prospect of a second Trump presidency and desire for substantial change is preparing the ground for an unprecedented voter turnout in November. The virtual Democratic National Convention showcased the vast array of support coalescing around former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. That support ranges from former Ohio Republican …
(2020-08-20). Before Kamala Harris, There Was Charlotta Bass. counterpunch.org 
…
(2020-08-20). Vickery coal mine: serial climate vandal given go-ahead to expand. greenleft.org.au 
(2020-08-20). Cyclists protest climate destruction. greenleft.org.au 
(2020-08-20). University workers discuss how to become strike-ready. greenleft.org.au 
(2020-08-20). Berlin Dismisses Washington's Threats: The Construction of the Nord Stream 2 Gas Pipeline with Russia Will Proceed. globalresearch.ca Although the U.S. can threaten Germany, now during the American election campaign, threats cannot prevent the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany. It is interesting to observe how for the first time this century …
(2020-08-20). Zambian Socialist Party Secretary General Cosmas Musumali released from detention. peoplesdispatch.org Musumali was arrested along with nearly 30 other party workers while conducting a meeting. With the parliamentary elections only a month away, the ruling Patriotic Front has been cracking down on mobilizations and meetings by the opposition…
(2020-08-20). Video: In Mysterious Incident US Military Lost Two MQ-9 Reapers over Idlib. globalresearch.ca The shaky stability established in Syria after the end of the Turkish attack on the Syrian Army in Idlib in February and March of 2020 has collapsed. | Just a day after the confrontation between the US military and the Syrian …
(2020-08-20). The Hariri Assassination: Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) Verdict. Fake Justice on Behalf of Israel. globalresearch.ca In May 2007, Security Council Resolution 1757 established the STL "on the outskirts of the Hague." | Ten SC members voted "yes," none "no," Russia, China, South Africa, Indonesia, and Qatar abstaining. | Five judges were involved in proceedings, Judge David Re…
(2020-08-20). Trump Regime Further Escalates War on China's Huawei. globalresearch.ca Chinese tech giant Huawei calls itself "an independent, privately-held company that provides information and communication technology (ICT)…connect(ing) over three billion people in (over) 170 countries." | The company is leading the race to roll out 5G technology, its market potential worth …
(2020-08-20). Trump Regime Unilaterally and Illegally Imposing Snapback Sanctions on Iran. globalresearch.ca Unanimously adopted Security Council Resolution 2231 that affirmed the JCPOA nuclear deal eliminated UN sanctions on Iran. | Its provisions and the P5+1 approved nuclear agreement are binding international and US constitutional law under the Supremacy Clause — Article VI, Clause …
(2020-08-20). Saying Iran Is Paying Bounties To Kill Americans Is Pure Parody. popularresistance.org It was Russia in June, now it's Tehran. Don't US analysts understand that Taliban fighters really don't need any more motivation to target American troops? This is simply politicized (un)intelligence that isn't fooling anyone. | According to CNN, the Iranian government has paid "bounties" to the Haqqani network, a terrorist group with close links to the Taliban, for six attacks on US and coalition forces in Afghanistan in 2019, including one on December 11 which targeted Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, which wounded four US personnel.
(2020-08-20). Taliban rebuke US charges on ties with al-Qaeda. yenisafak.com The Taliban in Afghanistan Thursday "strongly rejected" a US Defense Department report about their alleged cooperation with al-Qaeda."Our Mujahideen [Taliban insurgents] are strong enough to combat the enemy and are not in need of support from any foreign side or organization," said Zabihullah Mujahed, the group's spokesman, two days after the release of a Department of Defense Inspector General quarterly report on Operation Freedom Sentinel in Afghanistan.He added that such "provocative" reports only serve to make Afghans even more skeptical about US intentions for peace. | On the Doha pact with the US signed th…
(2020-08-20). Venezuela Welcomes Turkish FM, Signs New Round of Agreements. venezuelanalysis.com Turkey agreed to build a new hospital in Venezuela on the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
(2020-08-20). The Hariri Assassination: Israel 's Fingerprints. globalresearch.ca This incisive article by Rannie Amiri focussing on Israel's spy ring in Lebanon was first published by Global Research on July 23, 2010. The article also addresses the role of the UN sponsored Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) | Is it …
(2020-08-20). Bernie Sanders' Full Speech At The 2020 DNC. zcomm.org Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke at the 2020 Democratic National Convention, saying that even though he did not receive the nomination "our movement continues."
(2020-08-20). Twelve US Billionaires Have a Combined $1 Trillion. counterpunch.org For the first time in US history, the top twelve U.S. billionaires surpassed a combined wealth of $1 trillion. On Thursday August 13th, these 12 had a combined $1.015 trillion. This is a disturbing milestone in the US history of concentrated wealth and power. This is simply too much economic and political power in the
(2020-08-20). Could the Duterte Regime Be COVID-19's Next Victim? zcomm.org Like Trump in the U.S. and Bolsonaro in Brazil, the Philippine strongman's utter failure to contain COVID-19 may kneecap his authoritarian ambitions…
(2020-08-20). As US stalls on extension of New Start treaty seeking to gain control over China, the world is on verge of dangerous arms race. thealtworld.com After three rounds of talks with Russia wrapped up this summer, the US is still equivocating on …
(2020-08-20). What's behind the US attack on China's tech sector. peoplesdispatch.org Charles Xu of the Qiao Collective talks about the context behind the US assault on China's technological sector, especially Huawei. He talks about the strategies of development deployed by China over the past few decades…
(2020-08-20). Covid-19 lockdown demonstrates how economy-wide transformation can halt climate change. nationofchange.org The blip in emissions will not have a longterm impact unless we invest in sustainable solutions on a grand scale.
(2020-08-20). California wildfires: A climate crisis embedded in the COVID-19 pandemic. wsws.org The heat wave and numerous wildfires were all predictable, so why wasn't California prepared?
(2020-08-20). After a big win against coal, NY climate activists are closer than ever to ending all fossil fuel investments. zcomm.org A recent surge in youth-led climate activism has revived a near decade-long effort to divest New York from the companies most responsible for causing the climate crisis…
(2020-08-20). New excess death counts reveal more complete toll of coronavirus pandemic. wsws.org As of mid-July, there were 178,500 excess deaths in just fifteen urban areas internationally, including New York City, Mexico City, Lima, Jakarta, Istanbul and Madrid.
(2020-08-20). Tensions rise as Zimbabwe's economy implodes. wsws.org There is widespread speculation about a possible coup to depose President Mnangagwa.
(2020-08-20). MAS, trade unions and coup regime strike deal to quell revolt by Bolivian workers. wsws.org This most recent betrayal of the MAS and COB proves once again they represent the interests of the Bolivian ruling class.
(2020-08-20). Mali coup: Democratic order must be restored 'as fast as possible'. news.un.org The UN on Thursday called for the "constitutional and democratic order" to be restored as soon as possible across Mali, following the military coup, and reiterated a call to respect the rule of law, and refrain from violence.
(2020-08-20). How Dairy Monopolies Keep Milk Off the Shelves. cepr.net Institute for New Economic Thinking See article on original site Consolidation in the dairy industry has created separate, inflexible supply chains for consumers and commercial markets. When COVID killed commercial demand, perfectly good milk and cheese was wasted. People rarely think about where the milk on supermarket shelves or the cheese on their pizzas comes …
(2020-08-20). All Spying All the Time: The Insatiable Appetite of the US Government to Spy on Everyone in America. globalresearch.ca During this summer of madness in Portland, Oregon, and sadness over COVID-19, two below-the-radar events occurred implicating the insatiable appetite of the United States government to spy on everyone in America. Regular readers of this column know that the feds …
(2020-08-20). COVID-19: African countries urged to promote a safe return to school. news.un.org School closures implemented to protect students from COVID-19, are hurting them in other ways, while the long-term impact of this disruption to education could create a "lost generation" in Africa, two UN agencies said on Thursday.
(2020-08-20). The COVID-19 Vaccine. The Imposition of Compulsory Vaccination with a Biometric Health Passport? globalresearch.ca The COVID-19 vaccine… | Is this THE final goal of this crisis, to impose a compulsory vaccination on everyone, with a biometric health passport and without it, the impossibility to move, to buy, to eat? | The near future will tell. | With …
(2020-08-20). New Zealand election date postponed as COVID-19 cases rise. wsws.org The election delay, only the fourth such postponement in the country's history, highlights the increasing political instability triggered by COVID-19.
(2020-08-20). Use COVID lessons to 'do things right' for the future, urges UN chief. news.un.org Lessons learnt from efforts to address the global pandemic must be used to "do things right for the future", UN Secretary-General António Guterres has said, addressing a gathering of leading parliamentarians.
(2020-08-20). Maryland's Republican governor overrules county order for private schools to remain closed. wsws.org The effort to force schools to open in Montgomery County will have the effect of spreading COVID-19 among the school-aged population…
(2020-08-20). Was COVID-19 a Cover for an Anticipated or Planned Financial Crisis? globalresearch.ca A major sign of financial distress in the US economy kicked in in mid-September of 2019 when there was a breakdown in the normal operation of the Repo Market. This repurchase market in the United States is important in …
(2020-08-20). Somalia at a critical juncture, as federal, state leaders, meet to break election impasse. news.un.org With elections slated for November delayed due to COVID-19, Somalia is at a critical juncture, the top United Nations official in the country told the Security Council on Thursday, pressing federal and state leaders to agree on voting modalities, and bolster the capacity of forces which are meant to assume full control of national security, next year.
(2020-08-20). COVID-19 cases surge on college campuses as Yale administrator warns students to prepare for deaths. wsws.org Despite overwhelming scientific evidence and the most recent experiences of school like UNC-Chapel Hill and Notre Dame, many schools are still pushing forward with reopening plans.
(2020-08-20). Rafael Correa will run for vice-presidency of Ecuador in 2021 general elections. peoplesdispatch.org Former president Rafael Correa announced that he will run alongside economist Andrés Arauz in the upcoming general elections in Ecuador, but considerable obstacles to their participation in the upcoming elections remain…
(2020-08-20). 750 Million Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes Approved for Release in Florida Keys. globalresearch.ca The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) yesterday approved the first-ever U.S. release of genetically engineered mosquitoes. Despite public outcry and scientific dispute over the human health and environment risks posed by this field trial, the approval permits the release …
(2020-08-20). Face Masks Pose Serious Risks to the Healthy. globalresearch.ca First published by GR on May 26, 2020 | "By wearing a mask, the exhaled viruses will not be able to escape and will concentrate in the nasal passages, enter the olfactory nerves and travel into the brain." — Russell Blaylock, …
(2020-08-20). The CIA Versus the Kennedys. globalresearch.ca Former Congressman Ron Paul and his colleague Dan McAdams recently conducted a
(2020-08-20). Planet in Crisis, Higher Values of Society Corrupted, The Expression of Moral and Ethical Values. globalresearch.ca One cannot fail to recognise the ubiquitous crisis in all forms of leadership that exists on the planet today. Qualities of wisdom, courage and statesmanship, once admired and emulated by aspiring people of principle, have been undermined and sterilised via …
(2020-08-20). Privatization of Urban Areas? American Cities Need Bailouts Not More Usurious Bond Schemes. globalresearch.ca On August 14, the final abandoned home was demolished with the more than $265 million in Hardest Hit Funds initially designed to preserve neighborhoods as opposed to their destruction in the majority African American city of Detroit. (See
(2020-08-20). Green Bay police videos prompt march for Black lives. fightbacknews.org Green Bay, WI – On August 14, more than 30 community members gathered at Brown County Courthouse to protest the recent 'public service' videos put out by the Green Bay Police Department. The third video, titled "Hands Up, Don't Shoot," is particularly offensive. The videos are meant to portray change, while no actual change takes place, and a murderer, Officer Erik O'Brien, remains employed. | In fact, GBPD promoted O'Brien to sergeant after he murdered Jonathon Tubby, an Oneida man, on October 19, 2018. Police Chief Andrew Smith publicly defends O'Brien, while making comments that compare Jonathon Tubby's…
(2020-08-20). University Greed in the Midst of a Global Pandemic. zcomm.org This is the way of the modern University administration—they are sneaky, they are greedy, and they care nothing for the health and safety of their students…
(2020-08-20). Detroit teachers vote overwhelmingly to strike against unsafe school openings. wsws.org The 91 percent vote to strike is part of the widespread opposition to the opening of schools in the midst of a pandemic.
(2020-08-20). Food delivery workers strike in multiple Indian cities against drastic reduction in pay. peoplesdispatch.org Delivery personnel with the Indian company Swiggy are protesting in a number of cities claiming that the payment they get per order has sharply decreased, as have other incentives…
(2020-08-20). Algerian journalist Abdelkrim Zeghileche faces prison term for "undermining national unity" peoplesdispatch.org Abdelkrim Zeghileche, an active supporter of the Hirak protests, has been in pre-trial detention since June 23 and his trial is expected to begin in a few days. He faces a three-year prison term if convicted…
(2020-08-20). Algerian journalist Abdulkrim Zeghileche faces prison term for "undermining national unity" peoplesdispatch.org Abdulkrim Zeghileche, an active supporter of the Hirak protests, has been in pre-trial detention since June 23 and his trial is expected to begin in a few days. He faces a three-year prison term if convicted…
(2020-08-20). Toronto police culpable in class action lawsuit over their brutal suppression of 2010 G20 protests. wsws.org The June 2010 police state blitz in Toronto was the largest mass arrest in Canadian history.
(2020-08-20). The UAW at the Democratic National Convention: Gangsters and warmongers lock arms. wsws.org The prominent role of the United Auto Workers at the convention underscores the reliance of the Democratic Party on the gangster-ridden unions to suppress the resistance of the working class to wage and job cutting and the homicidal back-to-work campaign.
(2020-08-20). Chinese academic expelled for denouncing President Xi. wsws.org Xi's consolidation of power is not a sign of strength but reflects the fragile and fractured character of the CCP, which has no progressive answer to the developing social and economic crisis or to Washington's war drive.
(2020-08-20). The CIA Democrats in the 2020 elections. wsws.org Following the example of the 2018 elections, the Democratic Party is putting forward a large new group of military-intelligence candidates for Congress in 2020.
(2020-08-20). No right for US to request snapback of UN sanctions on Iran. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 20 (MNA) — China says the US has no right to request snapback of UN sanctions on Iran after pulling out from the JCPOA.
(2020-08-20). 'US shouldn't try its luck, it'll only be humiliated again'. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 20 (MNA) — Iran's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Majid Takht Ravanchi in his Thursday tweet said the US should not try its luck for it will only be humiliated again.
(2020-08-20). 'We must be ready for post-sanctions era'. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 21 (MNA) — Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh believes that Iran needs to be ready for post-sanctions era.
(2020-08-20). Iranian defense industry competitive with modern intl. rivals. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 21 (MNA) — In a statement on Thursday, IRGC said Iranian defense industry is competitive with its developed and modern international rivals.
(2020-08-20). New Iranian cruise, ballistic missiles unveiled. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 20 (MNA) — Iranian ministry of defense unveiled the two home-grown 'Martyr Haj Qasem ballistic missile' and 'Martyr Abu-Mahdi cruise missile' on Thursday.
(2020-08-20). S.Korea must be accountable for halting drug imports to Iran. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 20 (MNA) — Iranian First Vice President Es'hagh Jahangiri said on Thursday that South Korea must be held accountable for its negative response to drug imports to Iran.
(2020-08-20). Great strides taken in Iran's nuclear industry. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 20 (MNA) — AEOI, in a tweet on Thursday, said with or without the activation of the trigger mechanism against Iran, the body has taken major steps in empowering its nuclear industry and providing 90,000 SWU.
(2020-08-20). UAE chargé d'affaires summoned over seizure of fishing boat. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 20 (MNA) — Iran's minsitry of foreign affairs summoned the chargé d'affaires of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over the seizure of a fishing boat on Monday by the Emirati coastguard in the Persian Gulf.
(2020-08-20). VIDEO: Iran unveils 2 new home-grown missiles. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 20 (MNA) — Iran on Thursday unveiled two new types of long-range missiles on the occasion of national Defense Industry Day.
(2020-08-20). World Bank Says Bold Debt Relief Plans Needed to Confront COVID Crisis. indybay.org World Bank President David Malpass called for debt cancellation for poor countries struggling with the coronavirus, in an interview he gave to The Guardian.
(2020-08-20). #SaveThePostOffice Day Of Action! Tuesday, August 25. popularresistance.org Since the Coronavirus crisis hit, USPS has become more essential than ever, from delivering life-saving medicine, to sustaining our democracy through mail-in voting. It has also become more endangered than ever, facing a massive budget crisis. Postal workers and the public are united in urging Congress to pass $25 billion in emergency COVID-related relief for USPS. | Through mass public outcry, we've begun to roll back Trump's new appointee Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's most recent plans to reduce service. We need to keep pushing for the $25 billion dollars in funding the USPS desperately needs.
(2020-08-20). Detroit Teachers Vote Overwhelmingly To Authorize Safety Strike. popularresistance.org During an emergency special meeting Wednesday, members of the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) voted to authorize a potential safety strike aimed at pressing the Detroit Public Schools Community District to implement basic science-based safety protocols before schools reopen during the continuing coronavirus pandemic. | The vote authorizes the DFT executive board to call a safety strike if the union and the school district do not reach an agreement. Members voted 91 percent in favor of authorizing a safety strike.
(2020-08-20). Will COVID-19 Spur A Wave Of Unionization? popularresistance.org In mid-March, someone asked me whether COVID-19 would spur a wave of unionization. My first reaction was no. How could workers possibly unionize when there was all this social distancing and people couldn't even meet in groups? Moreover, I thought workers would be so cowed by the horrors of the pandemic that they wouldn't give much thought to unionizing. | That response was short-sighted. I didn't realize how furious many workers would become about the uncaring, even callous way their companies have treated them during this crisis—about the many employers that didn't lift a finger to provide masks or hand s…
(2020-08-20). Belarus: This Color Revolution Is Already Dead. popularresistance.org The color revolution attempt in Belarus, which we predicted in June, evolved over the last week. But today's events tell us that it will soon be over. | While President Alexander Lukashenko claimed to have won 80% of the votes during last Sunday's election, the 'western' candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya claimed that she had won. (While the 80% is certainly too high it is most likely that Lukashenko was the real winner.) Protests and riots ensued. On Tuesday Tikhanovskaya was told in no uncertain terms to leave the country. She ended up in Lithuania.
(2020-08-20). DNC 2020: What's In Store On the 4th Day? sputniknews.com Presidential candidate Joe Biden will make his acceptance speech to an empty conference hall tonight…
(2020-08-20). For Skeptics and the Curious: RDIF Releases Information On Development of Russia's COVID-19 Vaccine. sputniknews.com According to Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, the organization and its partners have received requests from over 20 countries for a total of 1 billion doses of the coronavirus vaccine.
(2020-08-20). Canadian Government Extends COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Program by 4 Weeks. sputniknews.com TORONTO (Sputnik) – The Canadian government is extending its COVID-19 wage subsidy by another four weeks, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement.
(2020-08-20). Iranian FM Zarif Calls on UN Security Council to Prevent US From Reimposing Iran Sanctions. sputniknews.com UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sent a letter to the UN Security Council calling on the members to prevent the United States from attempting to re-impose United Nations sanctions against Iran because it is not anymore a participant in the 2015 nuclear agreement.
(2020-08-20). US Air Force May Have Accidentally Revealed Interest in Nuke-Armed Hypersonic Missiles. sputniknews.com Eyebrows already askew were raised even further last week when the US Air Force quietly but quickly withdrew a request for information that seemed to suggest it was looking to build a hypersonic nuclear weapon.
(2020-08-20). 'Coalition to March on DNC' Holds Rally Against Racism and Police Brutality in Milwaukee. sputniknews.com The Democratic National Convention is taking place between 17-20 August in a mostly virtual format to formally pick the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2020 US election.
(2020-08-20). Washington's Gift to President Putin. strategic-culture.org Russia is often portrayed as resisting international norms and rejecting honest olive branches from the West. But Russia has made many attempts at peace and partnership only to be rejected. Watch the video and read more in the
(2020-08-20). It's Not Happening: The Mainstream Media Is the Enabler of American Dysfunction. strategic-culture.org Has anyone seen anywhere in the mainstream media a serious discussion of Israel's possible role in the Beirut bombing? I am not suggested an evidence-free indictment of Israel but rather just a review of Israel's possible motive and a consideration of its capability to carry out such an attack without having to directly do it itself with one of its bombs or missiles. Given the Jewish state's unrelenting hostility towards Hezbollah and its repeated violations of Lebanese territory and airspace, it would seem to me that it would at least merit a sentence or two in the New York Times or Washington Post. | Or how abo…
(2020-08-20). 2019 saw record levels of annual loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet, study finds. thecanary.co The annual ice mass loss from Greenland in 2019 broke the previous record melt in 2012 by 15%, a new study suggests. | The Greenland Ice Sheet is one of the largest contributors to sea level rise, and is associated with about 0.76mm per year, out of the total of about 3.5mm per year rise in global mean sea level from 2005 to 2017, researchers say. | Using the satellite missions Grace (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) and its follow-on mission Grace-FO, experts have been able to quantify ice mass loss by tracking changes in gravity. | Ingo Sasgen from the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar…
(2020-08-20). Contact tracing apps 'unlikely to contain Covid-19 spread without support'. thecanary.co Contact tracing apps are unlikely to be effective in reducing the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19) unless there is a large-scale uptake by the population and it is supported by other public health control measures, scientists have said. | Their findings, published in the journal Lancet Digital Health, are based on a review of data from 15 scientific studies published between January and mid-April this year. | The researchers, led by University College London, also said evidence on the effectiveness of automated contact tracing systems is limited and there is an "urgent need for further evaluation of these apps".
(2020-08-20). Latinx Democrats Received the Same Number of DNC Prime-Time Slots as Republicans. truthout.org On the first night of the Democratic National Convention (DNC), four Republicans spoke in support of former Vice President Joe Biden. That's the same as the number of Latinxs who will be given time to speak during prime time for the entire week of the convention. While the first face to appear on-screen during the first-ever virtual DNC was Eva Longoria, the activist and actor of "Desperate Housewives" fame, only three other Latinxs received prime-time billing: Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto…
(2020-08-20). Warren Uses DNC to Demand Child Care as "Basic Infrastructure of This Nation" truthout.org Speaking on the third night of the Democratic National Convention from a Massachusetts kindergarten facility that's been shuttered for months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday lamented the failure of the wealthiest country on the planet to provide crucial services to families with children and demanded that child care be treated as "part of the basic infrastructure of this nation." | "Our economic system has been rigged to give bailouts to billionaires and kick d…
(2020-08-20). Remembering Charlotta Bass, the First Black Woman to Run for VP in 1952. truthout.org Image Credit: Southern California Library | Senator Kamala Harris is the first Indian American and first Black woman to be nominated for vice president on a major party ticket, but, as many historians have noted, Harris is not the first Black woman to run for vice president. That distinction belongs to the journalist and political activist Charlotta Bass, who was the editor of The California Eagle for nearly 30 years, one of the country's oldest Black newspapers, which covered women's suffrage, police…
(2020-08-20). USPS Sorting Machines Are Still Being Dismantled Despite DeJoy's Promise to Stop. truthout.org In spite of promises from Postmaster General Louis DeJoy earlier this week to suspend radical changes to United States Postal Service (USPS) facilities that resulted in slower mail delivery, some post offices in Michigan appear to be continuing to dismantle their mail sorting machines. |
(2020-08-20). GOP Is Waging a War on Voting. Here Are 8 Ways You Can Protect Election 2020. truthout.org The 2020 presidential election will not be decided by the popularity of candidates or their ideas. It will not be decided by how many people intend to vote for each candidate. The usual dramas of polls, debates and running mates are irrelevant. | The election will be decided by how many people try to vote and how many votes get counted and reported correctly in a handful of battleground states. Donald Trump is not trying to appeal to more voters with popular ideas. He is appealing to those who…
(2020-08-20). Obama Breaks With Convention Protocol to Call Trump a Threat at DNC Night Three. truthout.org The third night of the Democratic National Convention was an affirmation of the formidable opposition to a second Trump term. Here was Kamala Harris, a Black and Indian American woman, becoming the vice-presidential nominee with the crack of a gavel. Here was Hillary Clinton, the road not taken made flesh, dressed in suffragette white and warning the country not to blow it again. Here was Elizabeth Warren with a plan. Here were children made electric in their fear of dying in bullet-riddle…
(2020-08-20). UN health body weighs in on Africa schools reopening. yenisafak.com As schools re-open in many African states, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday stressed the need to continue preventive measures against coronavirus.In a media briefing, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, Africa director of WHO, said the issue needs to be addressed with the same urgency that we have seen in opening up economies and businesses.Moeti said the WHO's advice is to weigh the risks, to use the data on COVID-19 cases in the community to guide decisions on re-opening schools "and to put in place measures to enable physical distancing […] as well as ensuring students wear masks and are able to wash their…
(2020-08-20). Day After Chiding Democrats for Calling for Mail-In Voting Amid Pandemic, GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy Tests Positive for Coronavirus. commondreams.org The lawmaker said he will self-quarantine and follow advice of medical experts. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/getty-cassidy.jpg …
(2020-08-20). Battling "The Empire" of Gang Green Collaborators, Timber Industry, and Trump's Forest Service in the North Cascades. counterpunch.org Several pseudo environmental groups joined forces with the timber industry and the Forest Service against the Alliance for the Wild Rockies after it filed a lawsuit last year against the Mission Restoration Project on Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in the Methow Valley west of Twisp, Washington. This scenic, pristine, and remote rural area is sandwiched between the Pasayten
(2020-08-20). Bring Back Affirmative Action to UC Berkeley. counterpunch.org An Open Letter to Michael Drake, UC President Carol Christ, UC Chancellor, Kamala Harris,Vice Presidential Nominee, It is not possible for me to think of myself without thinking of the U of C and what opportunities it provided —Dr. Michael Drake I wish to congratulate you on being the first African American president of the
(2020-08-20). Turkey: E-commerce volume up 64% in H1 amid COVID-19. yenisafak.com Spurred by the novel coronavirus pandemic, Turkey's e-commerce volume surged 64% year-on-year in the first half of 2020, the country's trade minister announced Thursday.The January-June figure hit 97.7 billion Turkish liras ($14.2 billion), up from 55.9 billion Turkish liras ($9.98 billion) in the same period last year, Ruhsar Pekcan said.She underlined that 91% of the total e-trade volume comprised of domestic spending in the first six months of the year, versus 81% in 2019.The share of e-commerce in the country's total trade reached 14.2% in January-June, up from 8.4% in the same period last year, Pekcan added…
(2020-08-20). Fourteen missing amid ship collision off Shanghai, China. yenisafak.com At least 14 crew members remain missing after two ships collided near the mouth of the Yangtze River early on Thursday, local media reports said.According to the Beijing-based daily Global Times, an oil tanker carrying 3,000 tons of gasoline collided with a gravel boat 1.5 nautical miles southeast of the estuary's lightvessel.The collision, which occurred near Shanghai, caused a major fire on the deck of the patrol tanker, while gravel boat sank.Rescue teams have so far saved three crew members of 17 who were onboard, while 14 are still missing, the newspaper reported.This was the first collision between ships ne…
(2020-08-20). US weekly jobless claims top 1M. yenisafak.com The number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits last week slightly increased and topped 1 million after recording the lowest figure the previous week since the coronavirus pandemic began, the US Labor Department said Thursday.A total of 1,106,000, jobless claims were filed, representing a week-on-week increase of 135,000.The previous week, the lowest number recorded since mid-March, 963,000, signaled the virus-hit labor market is on the mend.However, claims entered a downward trend as the economy started moving toward reopening.The US is the worst-hit country by the pandemic, with more than 5.5 millio…
(2020-08-20). Turkey helps South Sudan produce face masks. yenisafak.com Turkey's state-run aid agency TIKA has provided South Sudan sewing machines and cloth rolls for making masks to help it respond better to the coronavirus pandemic.The 30 sewing machines, and 1,000-meter cloth roll will help in the production of about 15,000 face masks, the Turkish ambassador to South Sudan said while handing them over to the Ministry of Labor in the capital Juba on Thursday."We are ready to support South Sudan whenever needed," Tugrul Biltekin said."We are working closely with the South Sudanese government, and have divided our aid into five phases. This is the last phase, to provide masks," he s…
(2020-08-20). 'About 75% patients feel COVID-19 effects months after recovering'. yenisafak.com Almost three-quarters of patients have reported symptoms of COVID-19 three months after recovering, according to a new study in the UK.The study of 110 patients was carried out by North Bristol NHS Trust as part of its Discover project, which aims to identify the long-term effects of the virus — "Long COVID."A total of 81 patients out of 110 — almost 74% — experienced symptoms, including breathlessness, excessive fatigue, and muscle aches, after 12 weeks, the research found.Although the majority had recovered from the initial symptoms, such as a high fever, cough, and losing their sense of smell…
(2020-08-20). Airbnb bans parties in COVID-19 fight. yenisafak.com No more parties and events in homes listed on Airbnb, the short-term home rental company said on Thursday as it tries to enforce strict social-distancing norms to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.The new rules include a cap on occupancy at 16, with hosts or guests who try to skirt the rules facing a ban from Airbnb's community and even legal action, the company said on Thursday."Instituting a global ban on parties and events is in the best interest of public health," Airbnb said in a statement, adding that the ban applies to all future bookings.Airbnb said 73% of its listings globally already ban parties in their hous…
(2020-08-20). Cuba to begin clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine. yenisafak.com Cuba will begin the first stage of a clinical trial for a COVID-19 vaccine Aug. 24, officials said Wednesday.The Finlay Vaccine Institute registered a clinical trial for one of its candidates at the Cuban Public Registry of Clinical Trials. The SOBERANA 01 trial is on phase I and II and involves 676 volunteers between the ages of 19 and 80."Achieving an effective vaccine against COVID-19 is a priority for our entire science and innovation system at BioCubaFarma. Today we see how solid and accelerated progress has been made in this project in the Finlay Institute," said Eduardo Martínez, president of the BioCubaFa…
(2020-08-20). Iran says it detained a UAE ship, its crew on Monday. yenisafak.com Iran seized a United Arab Emirates-registered ship violating its territorial waters this week, Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, adding that UAE coast guards killed two Iranian fishermen on the same day."On Monday, an Emirati ship was seized by the border guards of Iran and its crew were detained due to illegal traffic in our country's waters," state TV quoted the statement as saying."On the same day, UAE guards shot dead two Iranian fishermen and seized a boat … the UAE has expressed regret for the incident and in a letter on Wednesday announced its readiness to pay compensation."
(2020-08-20). US-Iran showdown on cards over UNSC 'snapback sanctions'. yenisafak.com After the UN Security Council turned down a resolution seeking an "indefinite extension" of the arms embargo on Iran, the US is all set to trigger snapback sanctions against the country."We'll be doing a snapback," US President Donald Trump told reporters on Saturday "You'll be watching it next week," referring to unilateral reinstatement of all pre-2015 international sanctions on Iran.The US' envoy to the UN, Kelly Craft, said the US will "follow through on that promise" and "stop at nothing" to trigger a snapback of sanctions on Iran.According to reports, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said the council'
(2020-08-20). South Korea says Russia violated its air defense zone. yenisafak.com South Korea on Thursday alleged that at least six Russian aircraft violated its air defense zone.According to South Korean military officials, the Russian military air activity prompted its Air Force to respond and push them out of the Korean Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ), the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported.Details released by the South Korea military said two Tu-95MS strategic bombers and four other Russian military jets on Wednesday entered the KADIZ near South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo in the East Sea."There was no prior notice" about the air activity by the Russian side, the South…
(2020-08-20). California's notorious 'Golden State Killer' faces sentencing. yenisafak.com A former California police officer dubbed the "Golden State Killer" who confessed to 13 murders and dozens of rapes during the 1970s and '80s faces a life prison term when he is sentenced in Sacramento on Friday.Joseph James DeAngelo, 74, will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole following three days of emotional hearings in which victims or their family members confronted him in open court."What a gut punch it was that I had been brutally raped by a full-time police officer," victim Gay Hardwick said, according to the Sacramento Bee newspaper. She was attacked in her San Stockton home…
(2020-08-20). Turkey's Central Bank keeps interest rates steady. yenisafak.com The decision was announced in a statement following the bank's eighth Monetary Policy Committee (MCP) meeting of 2020."The gradual normalization of pandemic-specific financial measures and recent tightening steps taken in liquidity management are judged to support macrofinancial stability," said the bank statement.Saying that uncertainties over domestic and external demand conditions remain significant, the bank stressed that it will continue with liquidity measures.In recent weeks the bank has taken several steps to tighten liquidity conditions to support the Turkish lira such as halving the overnight borrowing…
(2020-08-20). 'Efforts to block Turkish energy ships will pay price'. yenisafak.com Anybody who tries to block Turkish energy exploration in its coastal waters will regret it, said the head of a Turkish political party on Thursday."Anyone who dares to confront our navy and research ships in the [Eastern] Mediterranean or the Aegean will pay the heaviest price," Devlet Bahceli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), said in a written statement.Bahceli reiterated that Turkey's rightful actions are in line with international law, adding that they "upended global plans."Greece, France, Egypt, and other countries have moved to deprive Turkey of Mediterranean energy resources and box it in,…
(2020-08-20). NYT Urges Biden to Shun His Party's 'Left-Leaning Brand'. commondreams.org …
(2020-08-20). If Joe Biden Rejects His Progressive Base, Trump Will Win. commondreams.org "If Joe Biden ignores, demoralizes or actively alienates his progressive base, he could pave the way for another Donald Trump victory," writes the authors. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/joebiden_3_0.jpeg …
(2020-08-20). 'Big Mistake': Progressives Slam Biden Campaign for Dismissal of Muslim-American Advocate Linda Sarsour. commondreams.org "Weaponizing the charge of 'anti-Semitism' to silence criticism of Israel is despicable," said activist Ady Barkan. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/getty-sarsour.jpg …
(2020-08-20). The "Great" Reopening. commondreams.org A kid wears a face mask and a backpack in Kips Bay as the city continues Phase 4 of re-opening following restrictions imposed to slow the spread of coronavirus on August 15, 2020 in New York City. (Photo: Noam Galai/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/schoolreopening.jpg …
(2020-08-20). New Unemployment Claims Again Exceed 1 Million—A Reminder That 'Now Isn't the Time to Cut Benefits That Support Jobs'. commondreams.org Some economists reiterated calls for extending the $600 weekly boost that's opposed by Trump and congressional Republicans. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/unemployment_sanders_coronavirus_0.jpg …
(2020-08-20). NIAC Statement on U.S. Decision to Seek "Snapback" of Iran Sanctions at UN. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2020-08-20). War, Peace and the Democrats. commondreams.org "What was missing—from the national convention, from the halls of Congress, from the party as a whole—was any official stance against war. By which I mean, today's wars," writes Koehler. (Screenshot/ Democratic National Convention – August 17, 2020) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/peacednc.png …
(2020-08-20). Ending the School to Prison Pipeline. commondreams.org A protester holding a "kids need counselors not cops sign" in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Photo: Michael Siluk/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/counselorsnotcops.jpg …
(2020-08-20). Send in the Clowns for the Circus is in Town. dissidentvoice.org Don't bother, they're here, already performing in the center ring under the big top owned and operated by The Umbrella People. Trump, Biden, Pence, Harris, and their clownish sidekicks, Pompeo, Michelle Obama, et al., are performing daily under the umbrella's shadowy protection. For The Umbrella People run a three-ring circus, and although their clowns pop …
(2020-08-20). Selected Articles: Was COVID-19 a Cover for an Anticipated or Planned Financial Crisis? globalresearch.ca We hope that by publishing diverse view points, submitted by journalists and experts dotted all over the world, the website can serve as a reminder that no matter what narrative we are presented with, things are rarely as cut and …
(2020-08-20). Looking for the truth in a sea of false information. thecanary.co Unreliable information is hurting the global effort to defeat the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. A surge in false information has created the perfect storm for cybercrime and spreading harmful falsehoods. The increase of misinformation and disinformation during a health emergency hamper an effective public health response while sowing confusion and distrust. To combat this crisis, international collaboration is essential, while citizens must understand the key terms in the uphill battle against the rise of false information. | Coronavirus has created the perfect storm for waves of false information to travel ac…
(2020-08-20). The Rise of False Information. thecanary.co This short film, produced by Wilder says, "unreliable information is hurting the global effort to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic. A rise in false information has created the perfect storm for cybercrime and spread of harmful falsehoods. The spread of misinformation and disinformation during a health emergency hamper an effective public health resp…
(2020-08-20). So Far, 2020 Has Been Our Year of Magical Thinking. thenation.com So Far, 2020 Has Been Our Year of Magical Thinking…
(2020-08-20). School Reopenings Are Only Going to Get More Chaotic. thenation.com School Reopenings Are Only Going to Get More Chaotic…
(2020-08-20). What Belarus Stands to Lose. thenation.com What Belarus Stands to Lose…
(2020-08-19). Popular viral video firm sues Facebook over Russian propaganda label. mronline.org 
The company behind In The Now, Soapbox and Waste-Ed is taking on media giant Facebook, who it claims is falsely labeling it as Russian state-controlled propaganda.
(2020-08-19). Oxfam: Saudis Carry Out Equivalent of One Attack Every Ten Days on Yemen's Medical and Water Facilities. mintpressnews.com According to a new Oxfam analysis, the Saudi Colation has carried out the equivalent of "one air raid every ten days during the conflict affecting hospitals, clinics, ambulances, water drills, tanks and trucks," since it began the war in 2015.
(2020-08-19). Trump Is Losing the Tech War Against China. thenation.com Trump Is Losing the Tech War Against China…
(2020-08-19). The Fake News About Iran & the Taliban Aims to Achieve Three Strategic Objectives. globalresearch.ca The CNN report earlier this week alleging that Iran paid bounties to the Taliban to kill US troops aims to reinforce the narrative that Tehran supports "terrorists", portray the country as an obstacle to peace in Afghanistan, and lastly prompt …
(2020-08-19). Lukashenko Just Hinted at a 'Phased Leadership Transition' in Belarus. globalresearch.ca Belarusian President Lukashenko's announcement that presidential elections will follow a planned constitutional referendum possibly paves the way for a "phased leadership transition" in the Color Revolution-beleaguered former Soviet Republic, one which opens up an opportunity for Russia to protect its …
(2020-08-19). Oliver Stone on challenging Hollywood convention & film as a "disappearing" art form. thegrayzone.com Red Lines host Anya Parampil speaks with award winning screenwriter and director Oliver Stone about his memoir, "Chasing the Light"….
(2020-08-19). Oliver Stone on challenging Hollywood convention & film as a 'disappearing' art form. thegrayzone.com Red Lines host Anya Parampil speaks with award-winning screenwriter and director Oliver Stone about his memoir, "Chasing the Light". Anya Parampil and Oliver Stone discuss the legendary screenwriter and director's experience as a soldier during the Vietnam War; his films, including "Platoon" and "Scarface"; his work on Latin America; and his views on the demise …
(2020-08-19). 'Green Frontier' and 'Wild District': Bolivarian vs. Bolsonarian revolution. peoplesworld.org 
Two series from Colombia, Green Frontier and Wild District, both Netflix originals and both done by the same production house, Dynamo, stake out the left and right of Colombian politics. The iconography of the progressive series, Green Frontier, links it with a history of Latin American films dealing with the continent's Indigenous, a part of …
(2020-08-19). Covid-19: Lockdown of the Global Economy of Planet Earth. Diabolical Project: The Closing Down of 193 National Economies Is Not "A Solution" globalresearch.ca Planet Lockdown. Devastating economic and social consequences. | We are living one of the most serious crises in modern history. | According to Michel Chossudovsky, the coronavirus pandemic is used as a pretext and a justification to close down the global …
(2020-08-19). "We Will Make Biden Do It": Economist Darrick Hamilton on Pushing the Next Admin to the Left. democracynow.org 
As Democrats coalesce around Joe Biden ahead of the November presidential election, we speak with economist Darrick Hamilton, a former Bernie Sanders supporter who took part in the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force, about where the Democratic Party is headed on economic policy. Hamilton says that while Biden's policies are not as radical as the moment requires, he can be pushed by social movements. "We will make Biden do it," Hamilton says, quoting Franklin D. Roosevelt on the need for activists to pressure lawmakers. "But first and foremost, Donald Trump needs to get removed."
(2020-08-19). Headlines for August 19, 2020. democracynow.org Joe Biden Formally Wins Democratic Presidential Nomination, Postmaster General Promises to Suspend Service Cuts Until After Election, Notre Dame Cancels In-Person Classes Amid COVID-19 Outbreak Linked to Party, Coronavirus Death Toll from U.S. Prisons and Jails Tops 1,000, World Health Organization Says Young People Are Driving Coronavirus Outbreaks, Malian President Deposed in Military Coup Following Weeks of Protests, Senate Intelligence Committee Alleges Trump Campaign Associate Was Russian Agent, Far-Right Activist, Banned from Twitter over Racism, Wins Florida House GOP Primary, RNC to Feature St. Louis Coup…
(2020-08-19). Dems Formally Nominate Joe Biden for President, as DNC Features Republicans & Sidelines Progressives. democracynow.org 
Joe Biden is the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, after he was formally picked by the party to challenge President Trump in November on the second night of the virtual Democratic National Convention. We feature highlights from the night, which featured speeches from 17 so-called rising stars in the Democratic Party, including voting rights activist Stacey Abrams, who unsuccessfully ran for Georgia governor in 2018, as well as Democratic heavyweights like former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. For a second night in a row, the DNC prominently featured the voices of Republicans and former Republicans…
(2020-08-19). Sunrise Movement: Dems Must Address Climate Crisis as DNC Drops Pledge to End Fossil Fuel Subsidies. democracynow.org 
The Democratic National Committee has dropped a pledge to eliminate tax breaks and subsidies for the fossil fuel industry from its party platform, after a DNC spokesperson said the amendment was originally included in "error," despite both Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris supporting it on the campaign trail. Varshini Prakash, co-founder and executive director of the Sunrise Movement, says it is "disappointing to see" Democrats back away from the pledge, but adds that as long as social movements sustain pressure, "it will be a priority for the Biden administration, shoul…
(2020-08-19). Ady Barkan, Medicare for All Activist Dying from ALS, Urges Biden to Adopt Universal Healthcare. democracynow.org 
As the Democratic Party formally selected Joe Biden as its nominee for president at the virtual Democratic National Convention, one of those who joined in the call to elect him was activist Ady Barkan, who is paralyzed and unable to speak due to terminal ALS. Barkan is a leading advocate of Medicare for All and has publicly challenged Biden, who does not support Medicare for All. "We live in the richest country in history. And yet we do not guarantee this most basic human right. Everyone living in America should get the healthcare they need, regardless of their employment status or ability to pay," Barkan said, u…
(2020-08-19). Return to Sender: Amid National Outcry, Trump's Postmaster General Drops Plans to Gut USPS — For Now. democracynow.org 
After massive public outcry against cuts to mail service ahead of November's election, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has announced he will suspend changes to the U.S. Postal Service until after the election, when a record number of voters are expected to cast ballots by mail. President Trump has admitted he's working to undermine the USPS in order to make it harder to vote by mail in November. We speak with Lisa Graves, executive director of the policy research group True North Research, who says Louis DeJoy is "the most partisan person, in 100 years at least, to head…
(2020-08-19). Keep It Real: "Circle in the Darkness: Memoirs of a World Watcher". Review of Diana Johnstone's Book. globalresearch.ca Diana Johnstone has written a compelling and insightful book. It is mostly a review and analysis of significant events from the past 55 years. It concludes with her assessment of different trends that are being debated on the Left today …
(2020-08-19). UN salutes real-life heroes doing 'extraordinary things, in extraordinary times'. news.un.org Marking World Humanitarian Day, top UN officials are honouring the workers overcoming "huge challenges" to save and improve the lives of millions of women, men and children, hit hard by crises and the COVID-19 pandemic.
(2020-08-19). Saudi Arabia Is Just An Honest America: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix. thealtworld.com Saudi Arabia is just an honest version of America. The tyranny is right out in the open, state censorship is straightforward instead of being outsourced to Silicon Valley, the oligarchs and the official government are the same people, they don't pretend their wars are humanitarian, and they just directly murder journalists they dislike instead of a using fake judicial system to do it. | ~ | Look at Yemen with fresh eyes and it will haunt your dreams and fill you with mountain-moving rage. | That's why people don't. | That's why people should. | ~ | Steal from the wealthy and give a bit to your friend and they'll…
(2020-08-19). Colombia: Three AWA Indigenous Youths Assassinated in Nariño. telesurenglish.net The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) Tuesday denounced the murder of three Awa indigenous youths in the Pialapi Pueblo Viejo Reservation in the Nariño Department. | RELATED: | Armed Forces representatives had to walk for 12 hours to get to the crime scene and try to clarify what had happened. | The Awa Camaguari community leaders requested to President Ivan Duque's administration more National Unit fo…
(2020-08-19). Ecuador: Moreno Does Not Keep His Word on Indigenous University. telesurenglish.net In Ecuador, Indigenous organizations expressed their disagreement with President Lenin Moreno's decision to establish a museum and not an Indigenous university at the former headquarters of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in Quito. | RELATED: The Ecuadorean Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE) suspects that such a decision is an act of revenge due to the October protests, which stopped the applicati…
(2020-08-19). Reuters (Unsurprisingly) Looks Away as Ecuador Tries to Outlaw Opposition Parties. zcomm.org Reuters routinely buries information that would badly damage the reputation of US allies in the Americas…
(2020-08-19). Humans Are an Endangered Species: Will They Act to Save Themselves? zcomm.org "We cannot defeat this pandemic with a divided world."
(2020-08-19). Dalí and the Marx Brothers: The Mirror Scene that Crashed. counterpunch.org 
"If I held you any closer, I'd be on the other side of you." -Groucho Marx We could use some comic relief in these troubled times, and the times are always troubled. My grandfather used to say, "If you're not a little wacky today, there's something wrong with you." Some people look to mindfulness for
(2020-08-19). Tenant Unions For The Future. popularresistance.org Calls to rent strike have yet to cohere into a national political movement. But as the economic crisis deepens, tenants' fates will ultimately be decided by their level of collective organization. | With the arrival of the pandemic, staying home became emergency work for a failing state. Amid disastrous negligence at every level of government, one of the most ordinary facts of life in capitalism—rent—suddenly appeared clearly as an affront. "One section of society here demands a tribute from the other for the very right to live on the earth," Marx wrote of landlords. In the early spring, with state-le…
(2020-08-19). Germany's IG Metall trade union preparing to enforce jobs massacre and deep wage cuts. wsws.org Big business and the trade unions are exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to secure the upper hand in the global trade war by imposing savage attacks on workers.
(2020-08-19). Anti-Immigrant Policies Are Not Only Cruel, They Also Have an Economic Cost. truthout.org U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the government agency that processes visas, green cards and citizenship applications, claims it's going broke. USCIS officials are threatening to furlough some
(2020-08-19). Will Biden do enough to fight the climate crisis? therealnews.com 
Biden has a climate plan. It's good—but does it go far enough?
(2020-08-19). Dems nominate Biden with roll call featuring workers. peoplesworld.org 
MILWAUKEE—Delegates to the Democratic National Convention formally nominated Joe Biden for president on August 18 in a roll-call that spotlighted a wide variety of working-class people and causes in the U.S., just after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and universal health care activist Andy Barkan made their own dramatic presentations. An unofficial tally disclosed 3,605 votes …
(2020-08-19). Trumka: Dems 'have to pay attention to working people' to win. peoplesworld.org 
As they head into the homestretch of the 2020 campaign, national Democrats "have to pay attention to working people" to win this fall, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says. And presidential nominee Joe Biden, who was formally approved by the party's virtual convention roll call on August 18 "gets it," he declares. "He's always been a …
(2020-08-19). The Complete Guide: US Government Role in Thailand's "Student Protests" thealtworld.com 
Virtually every aspect of "student protests" in Thailand are funded and backed by the US and aimed at destabilizing a key partner of China, reversing Thai-Chinese relations, and advancing Washington's Beijing containment policy. | Thailand is a key partner of China's and has pivoted toward Beijing at Washington's expense; | Protesters are backed by pro-US billionaire-led opposition parties; | US-backed billionaire-led opposition vowed months ago to "take to the streets;" | US government funds core protest leader Anon Nampa via National Endowment for Democracy (NED); | US also funds orgs trying to "rewrite" Thaila…
(2020-08-19). Le Kha Phieu °presente! workers.org 
On Aug. 7, another of the heroic and determined generation of revolutionaries who guided Vietnam's liberation movement passed away. Le Kha Phieu was born in 1931 in Thanh Hoa province in the northern part of Vietnam (then French Indochina). At 15, he joined the revolutionary struggle to gain independence from . . . |
(2020-08-19). After explosion, imperialists pressure Lebanon; Iran, China send aid. workers.org 
From jungewelt.de, Aug. 18. The author has been covering Syrian, Lebanon and Palestine for progressive German-language publications for decades. Translation by John Catalinotto. It was only last January — in response to the street protests — that the technocratic government of the engineer and former university professor Hassan Diab was . . . |
(2020-08-19). The pandemic, technology, and remote work: the corporate push for greater control over workers' lives. mronline.org 
The U.S. economy is undergoing a major transformation largely driven by the coronavirus pandemic. One hallmark of that transformation is the explosion in what is called "remote" work.
(2020-08-19). EDITORIAL — El virus, el PIB y el afán de lucro. workers.org 
"El costo de la pandemia de coronavirus en la economía de la nación se volvió enfáticamente más claro el jueves", escribió el New York Times el 30 de julio, "cuando el gobierno detalló el colapso de tres meses más devastador registrado, que borró casi cinco años de crecimiento". 'Pero cada . . . |
(2020-08-19). Democrats vs. Republicans: Which party really CARES? workers.org While the corporate media focus public attention on the imminent opening of the Democratic and Republican Party conventions and the electoral contest, another battle matters much more to tens of millions of people still out of work: the failure of Congress to pass a second stimulus bill. The provisions of . . . |
(2020-08-19). Trump's War on the Post Office and the Census Bureau. counterpunch.org 
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(2020-08-19). Defecting From Trump's GOP. counterpunch.org 
Rick Wilson has worked to elect Republicans for thirty years, but he will "no longer use those skills to serve the party I once loved. That party is gone." He has not become a Democrat, but he is adamantly anti-Trump. His book, Running Against the Devil; A Plot to Save America From Trump and Democratsfrom
(2020-08-19). Mayor Keller's Killer Cops: An Assessment of Court-Ordered Police Reform in Albuquerque. counterpunch.org 
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller says the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) is making progress at police reform, but you can't ask Albuquerque residents Ken Reiss and Jose Vallejos what they think about Keller's claims. APD officers killed them last week. Reiss, the co-owner of a beloved college-area dive bar in Albuquerque, wore a tattered ball cap
(2020-08-19). Will There Ever be Elections Again in Bolivia? counterpunch.org 
On November 10, 2019, President Evo Morales Ayma of Bolivia announced his resignation from the presidency. Morales had been elected in 2014 to a third presidential term, which should have lasted until January 2020. In November 2019, protests around his fourth electoral victory in October led to the police and the military asking Morales to step down; by every description of the term, this was a coup d'état. Two days later, Morales went into exile in Mexico.
(2020-08-19). Today is the anniversary of the US organizing a coup in Iran. therealnews.com 
CIA documents offers key details on how the U.S. and Britain overthrew Iran's democratic government in 1953, says the National Security Archives' Malcolm Byrne…
(2020-08-19). President of Mali resigns following military take over. peoplesdispatch.org 
The coup was in response to the protests going on for the last few months in the country demanding the resignation of the president, widespread reforms and the expulsion of French troops from the country…
(2020-08-19). DSA-backed challenger has a shot at Baltimore's city council. therealnews.com 
Educator Franca Muller Paz saw the way COVID-19 impacted her students and that inspired her third party run.
(2020-08-19). Among this Week's Victims of Israeli State Violence: A Disabled Elderly Palestinian Man. mintpressnews.com 
The week is not yet over but already Palestinians multiple Palestinian families are making funeral arrangements and planning hospital visits. The following are three stories — one death and two injuries. Each story raises many questions, more than there is space to fully answer, but there remains a benefit in asking. | A sixty-year-old disabled man is shot: | On Monday, a sixty-year-old Palestinian man approached an Israeli checkpoint on foot, not in the pedestrian section, but in the area of the checkpoint designated for vehicles. Israeli guards shouted at him to stop, but he kept walking "suspicio…
(2020-08-19). Should We Be More Worried About the Economy? cepr.net 
We are really in an unprecedented period where the economy is trying to recover from the shutdowns of April and May while being faced with partial shutdowns due to the resurgence of the pandemic in large parts of the country. We are struggling to make sense of data, which often has a substantial lag. We …
(2020-08-19). UAE- Israel 'peace' deal is a dagger aimed at Palestinians. liberationnews.org 
By Joyce Chediac On Aug 13, Israel and the United Arab Emirates agreed to end decades of hostility and normalize relations. The agreement was brokered by, and announced by President Trump, who called it, "a significant step towards building a more peaceful, secure and prosperous Middle East." Nothing could be further from the truth. This …
(2020-08-19). En honor a las Ligas Nacionales Negras: Solo la pelota era blanca. workers.org 
El gran Satchel Paige Este año, 2020, es el centenario de las Ligas Nacionales Negras. No la Liga Nacional de Grandes Ligas, sino las Ligas Nacionales Negras. Me gustaría que conocieras a algunos de mis héroes: Cool Papa, Peach Head, Double Duty, Satch, Buck y Peanut. Incluso si eres un . . . |
(2020-08-19). Fidel at 94: The ideas of a revolutionary never die. workers.org 
Makasi was 16 when he first learned about Fidel Castro. As a Black Latinx youth, Makasi notes that "growing up as a Puerto Rican in the U.S., learning about Fidel showed me how someone from a small Caribbean island can challenge the most powerful and most vicious empire in the . . . |
(2020-08-19). 'Trump should thank her': AOC 'endorses' Bernie Sanders, but bends the knee to Biden. rt.com 
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez angered some Democrats when she appeared to endorse Bernie Sanders at the Democratic National Convention. But her endorsement was a procedural one, and the establishment machine had the last laugh. | In a minute-long appearance at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night, the New York congresswoman formally nominated Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for the presidency of the United States. The nomination was a procedural one, as every candidate who has received more than 300 delegates during primary season must be nominated, and Sanders later transferred his delegates to the p…
(2020-08-19). Biden plays president, demands Russia fall in line on Belarus. rt.com 
Joe Biden may be an uncertain election away from becoming president, but he's already tweeting like one. Following an entirely predictable script, Biden demanded that Russia "be told not to interfere" in Belarus' affairs. | "The brave citizens of Belarus are showing their voices will not be silenced by terror or torture," Biden tweeted on Wednesday. "The U.S. should support Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's call for fair elections. Russia must be told not to interfere—this is not about geopolitics but the right to choose one's leaders." | The brave citizens of Belarus are showing their voices will not be silenc…
(2020-08-19). Joe Biden officially nominated as Democratic presidential candidate. rt.com 
Joe Biden has clinched the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, becoming the official 2020 pick alongside running mate Kamala Harris after emerging from a crowded primary field. | Though Biden was the only Democratic candidate left in the running after facing off with early rivals during the primary, he formally seized the nomination on the second night of the party's national convention on Tuesday, selected in a virtual roll call vote by delegations from 57 states and territories. | "Thank you very, very much from the bottom of my heart. It means the world to me and my family, and I'll see you on Thurs…
(2020-08-19). Bill Clinton lectures Trump on 'taking responsibility' & proper Oval Office behavior while backing Biden's 2020 bid. rt.com 
Former US president Bill Clinton took aim at the Trump administration's pandemic response in his speech to the Democratic convention, saying it has been "only chaos," while urging voters to send Joe Biden to the Oval Office. | "Denying, distracting and demeaning work great if you're trying to entertain or inflame, but in a real crisis, it collapses like a house of cards," Clinton said of President Donald Trump's handling of the ongoing health crisis. | At a time like this, the Oval Office should be a command center. Instead, it's a storm center. There's only chaos. Just one thing never changes — his deter…
(2020-08-19). AdBlock is getting CANCELLED for allegedly making users see an unskippable Trump ad on Youtube. rt.com 
Anti-Trump netizens have begun ditching the AdBlock app en masse, after users reported they couldn't turn off a YouTube political advertisement sponsored by the president's campaign. | The online outrage over US President Donald Trump's campaign ads began on Tuesday, prompting AdBlock — a browser extension that allows adverts to be filtered out online — to trend on Twitter. YouTube videos with titles such as "Did something happen to Joe Biden?" and "Democrats ruined their cities" apparently couldn't be skipped, blocked or decreased in volume, according to some Twitter users. | Meanwhile, some users r…
(2020-08-19). American Samoa 'hostage situation' & Rhode Island 'calamari ninja': Twitter loses it over DNC's virtual roll call. rt.com As the Democratic Party moved to nominate Joe Biden, viewers watching at home were somewhat distracted, infatuated with Rhode Island's calamari-wielding "ninja" and a bizarre "hostage-taking" scene in American Samoa. | The party's national convention pushed into its second night on Tuesday, seeing Biden officially elevated as the Democrats' 2020 presidential candidate alongside running mate Kamala Harris. During the roll call vote prior to the nomination, however, spectators couldn't help but notice that delegates in American Samoa, a US territory, were flanked by a pair of uniformed soldiers, giving the appea…
(2020-08-19). Prohibited activity: US Army investigating soldiers in viral DNC 'hostage situation' video. rt.com 
First they were mocked online for posing in a bizarre "hostage-taking" scene. Now they're being investigated for taking part in a political event in uniform. The soldiers who appeared in a Democratic video can't catch a break. | As the Democratic National Convention voted on Tuesday to confirm Joe Biden as its presidential candidate, delegates appeared by video link to cast their votes for the former vice president. One such stream, from American Samoa, drew ridicule, as the territory's top Democrats appeared flanked by a pair of masked soldiers in a scene reminiscent of a ransom video. | Also on rt.com…
