The insider: How national security mandarins groomed Pete Buttigieg and managed his future
Max Blumenthal | thegrayzone.com | 2019-12-18
Pledging to \"end endless wars,\" Pete Buttigieg claims he has \"never been part of the Washington establishment.\" But years before…
thegrayzone.com/2019/12/17/national-security-mandarins-groomed-pete-buttigieg/

Brisbane forum calls for broad support for Assange and Manning
wsws.org | 2019-12-18
The resolution adopted by the forum focussed on the need to take the defence of the WikiLeaks founder out to the working class globally.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/18/foru-d18.html

Progressives Need a United Front for Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren
Norman Solomon | indybay.org | 2019-12-18
Clear differences and a nonaggression pact…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/15/18828927.php

India\'s Government is going to war against its own people
Vijay Prashad | mronline.org | 2019-12-18
On December 13, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights released a powerful statement that criticized India\'s new citizenship law. This \"fundamentally discriminatory\" Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019 would expedite citizenship for persecuted religious minorities from India\'s neighboring countries. But in the list of those minorities, it names only Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, […] | Source…
mronline.org/2019/12/17/indias-government-is-going-to-war-against-its-own-people/

China postpones UN Security Council discussion on Kashmir
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-18
China has postponed a discussion by the U.N. Security Council planned for Tuesday about the situation in the disputed Indian territory of Jammu and Kashmir because the U.N. peacekeeping mission there was not ready to provide a brief, diplomats said.The Himalayan region has long been a flashpoint in ties between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan, with both claiming Kashmir in full but ruling it in part. U.N. peacekeepers have been deployed since 1949 to observe a ceasefire between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir.China\'s U.N. mission had on Monday requested the closed door briefing, after Pakistan\'…
yenisafak.com/en/world/china-postpones-un-security-council-discussion-on-kashmir-3507717

Capitalist growth and social change — a WW commentary
Deirdre Griswold | workers.org | 2019-12-18
Growth. Atlanta climate crisis protest, Sept. 27. Every day, the price of stocks on Wall Street go up and down depending on the growth of the economy. Growth of mineral extraction, growth of agriculture, growth of manufacturing and especially growth of sales and growth of capital. When growth slows down, . . . | Continue reading Capitalist growth and social change — a WW commentary at Workers.org…
workers.org/2019/12/44941/

Boeing\'s Perilous Bungling Requires New Leadership
Ralph Nader | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
The Boeing executives and marketeers responsible for over-ruling Boeing engineers on the 737 MAX are still in charge of this very troubled aerospace company. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg and the rubber-stamp Board of Directors, with two trophy ambassadors, are still running Boeing — thirteen months after the deadly 737 MAX crash in Indonesia and nine…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/boeings-perilous-bungling-requires-new-leadership/

How Skewed Polling and Media Bias are Warping American Attitudes About the Green New Deal
Robert Fisk | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
What are opinion polls and what exactly do their outcomes signify? Their results are predicated on two things: 1) The level of information the respondents have been exposed to. 2) The framing of the questions on the poll. What is missing, when the media report the results of these polls, is their own failure to…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/how-skewed-polling-and-media-bias-are-warping-american-attitudes-about-the-green-new-deal/

Afghanistan War — The Crime of the Century
Rep. Ron Paul | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
\"We were devoid of a fundamental understanding of Afghanistan. We didn\'t know what we were doing.\" So said Gen. Douglas Lute, who oversaw the US war on Afghanistan under Presidents Bush and Obama. Eighteen years into the longest war …
globalresearch.ca/afghanistan-war-crime-century/5698096

Indian Kashmir sees more than $2.4 billion losses since lockdown
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-18
A lockdown in Indian-administered Kashmir has cost its economy more than $2.4 billion since the government stripped it of its special status, officials of the Himalayan region\'s main trade organisation said on Wednesday.\"In the last 120 days we have witnessed how each and every sector has bled … we fear this crisis will further intensify in 2020,\" Sheikh Ashiq Ahmed, president of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), told Reuters.The government in August revoked the constitutional autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir, India\'s only Muslim-majority state, splitting it into two federal territories in a bid…
yenisafak.com/en/world/indian-kashmir-sees-more-than-24-billion-losses-since-lockdown-3507713

North Korean-US tensions rise as end-of-year deadline approaches
wsws.org | 2019-12-18
In the absence of any US sanctions\' relief or meaningful talks, North Korea has threatened to resume its nuclear- and missile-testing program.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/18/nkor-d18.html

At least 12,000 people flee Idlib amid regime, Russian attacks
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-18
Fleeing attacks by the al-Assad regime and its allies, at least 12,000 civilians have been forced to abandon what is supposed to be a cease-fire zone in northwestern Syria and headed for the Turkish border. | Mohamed al-Hallaj, director of the Response Coordinators Team, told Anadolu Agency that the regime, Russia, and Iranian-backed foreign terror groups have struck civilian settlements in the past 24 hours.The southern Marratinnuman district, located east of Idlib city, faced the highest migration rates, and fleeing families are in dire need of items such as shelter, blankets, beds and tents, he added.A total o…
yenisafak.com/en/world/at-least-12000-people-flee-idlib-amid-regime-russian-attacks-3507723

A Mined History: The Bougainville Referendum
Binoy Kampmark | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
It would be an understatement to claim that Bougainville, that blighted piece of autonomous territory in Papua New Guinea, had been through a lot. Companies have preyed upon its environment with extractive hunger. Wars and civil strife have beset its infrastructure and economy. Some 900 kilometres from the PNG mainland, it has been what might…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/a-mined-history-the-bougainville-referendum/

A Minute With: the \'Star Wars\' actors behind C-3PO and Chewbacca
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-18
\"Star Wars\" actor Anthony Daniels has portrayed the fretful droid C-3PO in ten movies over 42 years. His next appearance hits global theaters on Thursday in \"The Rise of Skywalker.\"Fellow star Joonas Suotamo stepped into the furry Chewbacca costume in 2015 for \"The Force Awakens\" and plays the towering Wookiee on the big screen for the fourth time in the new film.Daniels and Suotamo spoke with reporters about their characters, their costumes and trying to wow former co-star Harrison Ford. The following are edited excerpts.Q: When this whole thing started, when you read the first script for \"Star Wars,\"
yenisafak.com/en/life/a-minute-with-the-star-wars-actors-behind-c-3po-and-chewbacca-3507715

US Army XVIII Airborne Corp posts sympathetic portrayal of Nazi war criminal on Facebook
wsws.org | 2019-12-18
The publication of a glowing portrayal of Nazi war criminal Joachim Peiper by the Army\'s XVIII Airborne Corp\'s Facebook page exposes a constituency within the military for fascism.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/18/face-d18.html

WW editorial: Fight for socialism enters new decade
Minnie Bruce Pratt | workers.org | 2019-12-18
We are coming to the end of another year, another decade. What are the significant events to consider? The U.S. war on Afghanistan, begun in 2001, continued, while the bankruptcy of U.S. imperialism was recently revealed by the Washington Post in \"The Afghanistan Papers.\" This review of internal U.S. government . . . | Continue reading WW editorial: Fight for socialism enters new decade at Workers.org…
workers.org/2019/12/44953/

Every Generation Gets Its Own \'Little Women\'
Erin Schwartz | thenation.com | 2019-12-18
Every Generation Gets Its Own \'Little Women\'…
thenation.com/article/little-women-film-review/

Expanding California Trade with the African Continental Free Trade Area
Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi | indybay.org | 2019-12-18
Technology and innovative cultural exchange toward expanding California Pan African Trade builds upon coherent understanding of the African Continental Free Trade Area. The first day of Kwanzaa the sun, earth and moon are aligned in a good way, Habari Gani.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/17/18828967.php

Turkey\'s Operation Kıran neutralizes 139 PKK terrorists
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-18
total of 139 terrorists have been neutralized and over 300 caves, shelters, and warehouses destroyed in the last four months during Operation Kiran, according to Turkey\'s Interior Ministry.On Aug. 17, Turkey launched Operation Kiran in the country\'s southeast against YPG/PKK terrorists in the Van, Hakkari and Sirnak provinces, followed by the launch of Operation Kiran-2 on Aug. 27 in the Mardin, Sirnak and Batman provinces. Six more iterations of the operation followed, including Operation Kiran-8 which is underway in rural areas of the eastern Bitlis and Siirt provinces.With Turkey ramping up its fight against…
yenisafak.com/en/news/turkeys-operation-kiran-neutralizes-139-pkk-terrorists-3507714

GM Oshawa auto assembly ends production, eliminating 5,000 jobs
wsws.org | 2019-12-18
The Unifor union suppressed all opposition to the closure of the factory while stoking animosity toward Mexican autoworkers.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/18/osha-d18.html

De-Facto Bolivian President to Issue Arrest Warrant for Morales
Telesur | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
The self-proclaimed president of Bolivia, Jeanine àÅñez, said on Saturday that an arrest warrant could be issued for the democratically elected President, Evo Morales, in the coming days. | \"If he has to come to Bolivia, he knows that | …
globalresearch.ca/de-facto-bolivian-president-issue-arrest-warrant-morales/5698107

Mexico Finds \"World\'s Largest Lithium Deposit\" Just Before US Focus & $1.4 Trillion War-Aimed NDAA
Ryan Cristián | thelastamericanvagabond.com | 2019-12-18
Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (12/17/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …
thelastamericanvagabond.com/daily-wrap-up/mexico-finds-worlds-largest-lithium-deposit-just-before-us-focus-1-4-trillion-war-aimed-ndaa/

Istanbul Photo Awards 2019 exhibition opens at UN
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-18
Anadolu Agency on Tuesday launched an exhibition at United Nations headquarters in New York featuring the works of award-winning photojournalists who competed in the international Istanbul Photo Awards 2019.The event, hosted by high-level Anadolu Agency executives, opened with the attendance of Turkey\'s UN Ambassador Feridun Sinirlioglu.Addressing the opening ceremony, Sinirlioglu said: \"We are very pleased to see the growing interest that Anadolu Agency\'s annual photo awards have enjoyed over the years.\"Some 15,000 people from over 100 countries applied for this year\'s competition, he called, and congratulated t…
yenisafak.com/en/life/istanbul-photo-awards-2019-exhibition-opens-at-un-3507721

India is Gradually Leaning Toward a Dangerous Unitarianism
Nyla Ali Khan | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
One of the unfortunate calamities of India\'s historical past is that today religio-cultural tensions continue to sharpen divisions along communal lines in the country. The Citizenship Amendment Bill and National Register of Citizens of India have increased the impetuousness and insanity that the rhetoric of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP),…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/india-is-gradually-leaning-toward-a-dangerous-unitarianism/

America\'s First \'Endless War\' Was Fought in the Philippines
Danny Sjursen | thenation.com | 2019-12-18
America\'s First \'Endless War\' Was Fought in the Philippines…
thenation.com/article/moro-war-tomdispatch/

The Very Bad Space Force Deal
Karl Grossman | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
Unless grassroots action somehow stops it, it looks likely that the Trump scheme for a Space Force, a sixth branch of United States armed forces, will happen. The U.S. House of Representatives last week passed the $738 billion military policy bill that gives Trump his sought-for Space Force as he moves for what he terms…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/the-very-bad-space-force-deal/

Turkey\'s education spending goes up in 2018
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-18
Turkey\'s education expenditures increased nearly 22% year-on-year in 2018, the country\'s statistical authority announced on Wednesday.The country spent 214.6 billion Turkish liras ($44.5 billion) last year, up from 176.5 billion Turkish liras ($48.3 billion) in 2017, the Turkish Statistical Institute said.The figure rose most for pre-primary education by 27.3% and upper secondary education with 24.3% during the same period.The share of education spending on Turkey\'s GDP stood at 5.8% in 2018, compared to 5.7% a year earlier.Public sources financed 72.9% of the education expenditure in Turkey last year. The larges…
yenisafak.com/en/economy/turkeys-education-spending-goes-up-in-2018-3507725

US Senate: Republicans Pass Bill Creating Trump\'s \'Space Force\'
teleSUR, jg, JF | telesurenglish.net | 2019-12-18
The U.S. Senate Tuesday approved to pass a US$738 billion defense policy bill that creates President Donald Trump\'s \"Space Force\" and gives federal employees 12 weeks of paid paternity leave. | RELATED: | US Congress Rejects $175m Funding for Middle East \'Deal of the Century\' | The Republican-controlled Senate voted 86-8 in favor of th…
telesurenglish.net/news/us-senate-passed-2020-ndaa-bill-wide-majority-20191217-0021.html

McDonald\'s shuts all Peru restaurants to mourn dead workers
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-18
McDonald\'s has shut all its restaurants in Peru for two days of mourning after two of its employees died, the burger chain said on Twitter.The two teenaged employees were electrocuted while cleaning the kitchen of a McDonalds in Pueblo Libre, a district in the capital Lima, Peruvian daily La Republica reported.\"In response to the terrible loss of our two colleagues Carlos Gabriel Edgardo Campos Zapata and Alexandra Antonella Porras Inga, we wish to announce that we have declared two days of mourning from this morning, during which all our restaurants nationwide will remain closed,\" McDonald\'s Peru said on Twitter…
yenisafak.com/en/news/mcdonalds-shuts-all-peru-restaurants-to-mourn-dead-workers-3507726

The Threat to Life as We Know It: The View from Sri Lanka
Quincy Saul | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
Ranil Senanayake is the originator of the science and art of Analog Forestry, and founder of the Belipola Arboretum and the International Analog Forestry Network. He is respected as the foremost systems ecologist in Sri Lanka, and has lectured and worked throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In addition to scientific papers, he also writes…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/the-threat-to-life-as-we-know-it-the-view-from-sri-lanka/

Sin Taxes & Other Orwellian Methods of Compliance That Feed the Government\'s Greed
John W. Whitehead | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/sin-taxes-other-orwellian-methods-of-compliance-that-feed-the-governments-greed/

A Totalitarian Republic?
Dan Corjescu | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
Faction: A number of citizens, whether amounting to a minority or majority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community –James Madison The executive of the modern state is but…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/a-totalitarian-republic/

Revving the Solar Engine to Support Local Jobs, Clean Energy
Orion Thornton | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
Of all the federal government programs struggling out there, there\'s one that\'s actually working — the federal investment tax credit (ITC) for renewable energy systems. The ITC is a federal incentive for homeowners, businesses, farmers and ranchers that is reducing the cost of going solar and helping increase the amount of clean energy installed around the…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/revving-the-solar-engine-to-support-local-jobs-clean-energy/

A Modest Proposal for Improving Senate Impeachment Trials
Thomas Knapp | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) makes no bones about his position on the likely upcoming impeachment trial of US president Donald Trump. \"I am trying to give a pretty clear signal I have made up my mind,\" he tells CNN International\'s Becky Anderson. \"I\'m not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here.\" Well,…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/a-modest-proposal-for-improving-senate-impeachment-trials/

The Stubborn Persistence of the Military-Industrial State
William Hartung | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
I\'ve been writing critiques of the Pentagon, the national security state, and America\'s never-ending military overreach since at least 1979 — in other words, virtually my entire working life. In those decades, there were moments when positive changes did occur. They ranged from ending the apartheid regime in South Africa in 1994 and halting U.S.
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/the-stubborn-persistence-of-the-military-industrial-state/

Impeachment: What Lies Beneath?
Jim Kavanagh | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-18
The Democrats have now revealed the hand they\'re going to play for impeachment. I have been vehemently arguing against playing this game and pointing out how futile it is, but, seeing the two cards actually laid out on the table, even I am gobsmacked at what a loser of a hand they\'ve got.
counterpunch.org/2019/12/18/impeachment-what-lies-beneath/

Merkel opposes US sanctions against Nord Stream 2
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-18
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed legislation to slap sanctions on companies building the massive underwater pipeline to bring Russian natural gas to Germany, but it was uncertain whether the measures would slow completion of the project.
yenisafak.com/en/news/merkel-opposes-us-sanctions-against-nord-stream-2-3507728

Impeach & Remove Demonstration in Silicon Valley
Indivisible Orchard City | indybay.org | 2019-12-18
Intersection of Stevens Creek Blvd & Winchester Blvd, at the border of Santa Clara 95050 and San Jose 95128.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/15/18828908.php

Impeach & Remove Demonstration in Redwood City
MoveOn | indybay.org | 2019-12-18
Sequoia Station (outside the shopping center), intersection of Jefferson Ave and El Camino Real, Redwood City, CA 94063…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/14/18828901.php

Impeachment (and removal): Good for public health
LDGTHH | nationofchange.org | 2019-12-18
We need to save American lives now. The best remedy would be to annul an illegitimate election. At the very least, impeach.
nationofchange.org/2019/12/17/impeachment-and-removal-good-for-public-health/

Chicken Trump Balloon Effigy Makes an Appearance on Impeachment Eve
Text: RR Photos: Wesley Chang, Pro Bono Photo | indybay.org | 2019-12-18
December 17 rallies came one day ahead of a vote planned by the U.S. House of Representatives on impeachment. In Palo Alto, CA, hundreds gathered in Lytton Plaza downtown.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/18/18828981.php

Trump makes fascistic appeal in impeachment letter
wsws.org | 2019-12-18
While Trump is seeking to exploit the impeachment to rally a right-wing movement, the Democratic Party is fearful of and hostile to mobilizing mass popular opposition to Trump.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/18/trum-d18.html

Large Pro-Impeachment Rally Held in Clovis, CA
Peter Maiden | indybay.org | 2019-12-18
Around 350 demonstrators turned out for a pro-impeachment rally in Clovis, adjacent to Fresno. It was one of over 600 demonstrations nationwide that were organized by MoveOn.org.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/18/18828974.php

Impeach & Remove Rally in Livermore (Tri Valley)
MoveOn | indybay.org | 2019-12-18
Flagpole Plaza, intersection of First St and S. Livermore Ave., Livermore, CA 94550…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/14/18828900.php

Impeach & Remove Demonstration in Pacifica
MoveOn | indybay.org | 2019-12-18
Intersection of Hwy 1 & Reina Del Mar, Pacifica, CA 94044…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/16/18828949.php

Impeach & Remove: Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Monterey
MoveOn.org, Indivisible Santa Cruz, others | indybay.org | 2019-12-18
Impeach & Remove events in Santa Cruz, Watsonville, and Monterey…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/15/18828907.php

Impeachment Day: The Yacht Sequoia and the Trump v. Nixon fiasco
Lynda Carson | indybay.org | 2019-12-18
The Yacht Sequoia Cruise Certificate that has spent many years hanging on the wall of my apartment is dated around 2 months before former disgraced President Richard Nixon resigned from office. Facing imminent impeachment, Nixon resigned from office on August 9th, 1974, barely a few days after his fateful trip into history aboard the Yacht Sequoia on August 5, 1974, where he learned that a Court had ordered him to release the transcript of an incriminating tape recording that revealed he had indeed approved the cover-up of the notorious Watergate-breakin. I enjoy keeping this little piece of history around to rem…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/18/18828979.php

Boris Johnson\'s Britain
Dr. Binoy Kampmark | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-18
Britain is looking drenched at the moment; colours blue and yellow seem to be streaking through the country. The Scottish Nationalists have re-asserted control lost to the Conservatives in 2016. In the rest of the country, seats never touched by …
globalresearch.ca/boris-johnson-britain/5698117

Getting away with murder: \'clash\' as media euphemism for \'massacre\'
Alan MacLeod | mronline.org | 2019-12-18
After deposing Evo Morales in a U.S.-backed coup November 11, Bolivia\'s military selected Jeanine Añez as president. Añez immediately signed a decree pre-exonerating security forces of all crimes during their \"re-establishment of order,\" understood by all sides as a license to kill. Those same forces have now conducted massacres of Morales supporters near the cities […] | Source…
mronline.org/2019/12/18/getting-away-with-murder-clash-as-media-euphemism-for-massacre/

Erdoğan meets Malaysian king ahead of summit
yenisafak.com | 2019-12-18
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday met with Malaysian King Sultan Abdullah Riayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah at the presidential complex in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia\'s capital.The two leaders spoke behind closed doors for half an hour.Erdoğan is currently in Malaysia to attend a summit of Muslim leaders to discuss issues facing the Islamic world, including development, administration, identity and culture, justice and freedom, and Islamophobia.
yenisafak.com/en/world/erdogan-meets-malaysian-king-ahead-of-summit-3507727

In the Midst of Trump\'s Attacks, Offshoots of Progress in Congress for Immigrants\' Rights
Madhuri Grewal | aclu.org | 2019-12-17
From the continued separation of families, to attacks on asylum-seekers, to the largest immigration raid ever in a state, to an unprecedented number of immigrants jailed by ICE, this year was filled with new lows for the…
aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/in-the-midst-of-trumps-attacks-offshoots-of-progress-in-congress-for-immigrants-rights

AOC bill: Federal contractors must obey labor law and allow unions–or lose
Mark Gruenberg | peoplesworld.org | 2019-12-17
WASHINGTON (PAI)–Every year, the federal government hands out billions of dollars–$500 billion last year–to corporate contractors and, through them, subcontractors. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants to ensure those dollars go to union members, union shops, or firms that will let workers unionize. If they don\'t, the first-year Democratic Socialist U.S. representative from New York City says …
peoplesworld.org/article/aoc-bill-federal-contractors-must-obey-labor-law-and-allow-unions-or-lose/

Doctors issue open letter to the Australian government: Julian Assange at risk of death in prison
wsws.org | 2019-12-17
The following open letter has been issued to the Australian government by Doctors4Assange on behalf of more than 100 signatories.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/17/open-d17.html

Over 100 doctors demand Australian government act to save the life of Julian Assange \"before it is too late\"
wsws.org | 2019-12-17
Addressing Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, the doctors write: \"Should Mr Assange die in a British prison, people will want to know what you, Minister, did to prevent his death.\"
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/17/doct-d17.html

Powerful response to call for stepped-up fight to free Assange and Manning at SEP (Australia) meeting
wsws.org | 2019-12-17
The speakers stressed that the upsurge of support for Assange and Manning was inseparable from the growth of the class struggle internationally.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/17/meet-d17.html

Five Years After Obama\'s Cuba Opening, Cubans Are Reeling From the \"Trump Effect\"
Medea Benjamin | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-12-17
CODEPINK Cuba Delegation in Havana December 17, 2019, Havana, Cuba: Gloria Minor had been preparing her AirBnB in Havana for years, investing every penny her sister sent her from Miami in repairing and refurbishing her apartment. With President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro re-establishing relations five years ago, Minor was sure the expected flood of …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/12/five-years-after-obamas-cuba-opening-cubans-are-reeling-from-the-trump-effect/

Progressives need a united front for Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren
Norman Solomon | nationofchange.org | 2019-12-17
The need for a Sanders-Warren united front should be clear — as clear as the imperative of rolling back the monstrous right-wing power that has controlled the presidency during the last three years.
nationofchange.org/2019/12/17/progressives-need-a-united-front-for-bernie-sanders-and-elizabeth-warren/

Progressives Need a United Front for Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren
Norman Solomon | indybay.org | 2019-12-17
Clear differences and a nonaggression pact…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/15/18828927.php

US Venezuelan embassy protectors denied right to fair trial
The Grayzone | thegrayzone.com | 2019-12-17
Four US activists protecting Venezuela\'s embassy in Washington, DC face prison time after the Trump administration illegally arrested them. And now…
thegrayzone.com/2019/12/16/venezuelan-embassy-defenders-denied-right-fair-trial/

COP25 was a failure, but activists\' collective organizing at the talks was unprecedented
Amy Goodman | nationofchange.org | 2019-12-17
Indigenous leaders and environmentalists blasted the United Nations for marginalizing civil society groups over two weeks of negotiations at the climate summit, while welcoming polluters.
nationofchange.org/2019/12/17/cop25-was-a-failure-but-activists-collective-organizing-at-the-talks-was-unprecedented/

We Need to Support Every Workers\' Struggle, Including the Fight at Google
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-17
The progressive movement in this country owes thanks to the new generation of workplace organizers, who are carrying our movement forward. Among them are four activists we should recognize and support: Laurence Berland, Rebecca Rivers, Paul Duke and Sophie Waldman, who were fired from Google for organizing their fellow workers. | Workers at Google have been protesting many of the company\'s actions over the last two years. A year ago, Google\'s decision to pay a reported $90 million in severance to…
truthout.org/articles/we-need-to-support-every-workers-struggle-including-the-fight-at-google/

Why Are Democrats So Afraid of Medicare for All?
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-12-17
We might expect that corporate billionaires and Koch-funded Republican right-wingers would be howl-at-the-moon opponents of a wealth tax, Medicare-for-All, and other big progressive ideas to help improve the circumstances of America\'s workaday majority. | But Democrats, too? Unfortunately, yes. Not grassroots activists, but a gaggle of don\'t-rock-the-corporate-boat, fraidy-cat elected Democrats. | These naysayers are the party\'s old-line politicians, lobbyists, and other insider elites who are now screeching that Democratic candidates must back off those big proposals. | Why? Because, they squawk, being so bold,…
truthdig.com/articles/why-are-democrats-so-afraid-of-medicare-for-all/

Turkey Threatens Retaliation Against Proposed US Sanctions
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-17
Intervention by one nation in the internal affairs of others breaches the UN Charter and other international law. | Non-intervention is a core Charter principle, calling for disputes to be settled \"by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace …
globalresearch.ca/turkey-threatens-retaliation-against-proposed-us-sanctions/5698028

Dublin\'s anti-racist march for peace emphasizes \'no room for hate\' in Ireland
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2019-12-17
The Irish government launched a public consultation earlier in October to strengthen the country\'s existing laws regulating hate speech and hate crimes, and the right wing forces have opposed the move.
peoplesdispatch.org/2019/12/17/dublins-anti-racist-march-for-peace-emphasizes-no-room-for-hate-in-ireland/

Aung San Suu Kyi Denies Burmese Genocide of Rohingya at The Hague
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-17
Burma\'s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has asked the U.N. International Court of Justice to drop the genocide case against Myanmar, formerly Burma. Suu Kyi is a Nobel Peace Prize winner who spent over a decade fighting against the Burmese military, which she is now defending. Last week, Suu Kyi appeared in person at the court to dispute the charges and called the allegations of genocide against Rohingya Muslims \"incomplete and misleading.\" The Burmese military killed and raped thousands of Rohingya and f…
truthout.org/video/aung-san-suu-kyi-denies-burmese-genocide-of-rohingya-at-the-hague/

Black Alliance for Peace: The War over Meaning
Black Alliance for Peace | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-17
The struggle over interpretation or meaning has emerged as a critical terrain of struggle as the ruling class desperately attempts to maintain the dominance of the liberal capitalist/democratic discourse as the only legitimate interpretative framework. | The ruling elite\'s efforts to …
globalresearch.ca/war-over-meaning/5697977

Bolivian trade union confederation enters far-right coup regime
wsws.org | 2019-12-17
Following massacres of workers and peasants and amid the continued hunting down of protest leaders and indigenous people, the COB\'s decision is a criminal betrayal of the working class.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/17/boli-d17.html

A People\'s Guide to Revolution: How Leaderless Revolts Lose the Battle Before it Even Begins
Laith Maruf | mintpressnews.com | 2019-12-17
Reflections on how mass media and leaderless movements have affected the success of popular protests from Quebec in 2012 to Lebanon today.
mintpressnews.com/peoples-guide-revolution-why-popular-protests-fail/263503/

Indian students unite in solidarity against police brutality
Pavan Kulkarni | peoplesdispatch.org | 2019-12-17
On Sunday December 15, police brutally attacked two Muslim institutions (Jamia Millia Islamia University in the New Delhi and Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh) where students were protesting the recently passed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). At least 125 people were injured in the police attacks and 50 were detained. In response to the barbaric violence, students from across India have taken to the streets against police brutality and the \'unconstitutional\' CAA. | The university campus and the surrounding areas remain besieged by the police. Despite the imminent risk of further violent repression by t…
peoplesdispatch.org/2019/12/17/indian-students-unite-in-solidarity-against-police-brutality/

Colombia and the Revolutionary Process
Nino Pagliccia | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-17
In order to have a revolutionary process, it is necessary to go through revolutionary stages. First, what\'s needed is a raised consciousness that may trigger some outrage by a sector of society which may subsequently grow into sustained protests. The protests might gather a critical mass with the support of the general population and turn…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/17/colombia-and-the-revolutionary-process/

France: Workers Start 13th Day of Strike Against Pension Reform
telesurenglish.net | 2019-12-17
Through demonstrations and the stoppage of public transport, French unions Tuesday carry out the thirteenth consecutive day of a national strike against President Emmanuel Macron\'s pension reform. | RELATED: | France: Unions Keep Pressure Against Macron\'s Pension Reform | Their protests, which happen on the eve of a Christmas holiday, will measure the…
telesurenglish.net/news/France-Workers-Start-13th-Day-of-Strike-Against-Pension-Reform-20191217-0001.html

Reuters Shields OAS Over False Claims That Sparked Bolivia Coup
Joe Emersberger | fair.org | 2019-12-17
by Joe Emersberger Reuters ( 12/4/19) highlights the findings of the Organization of American States–while omitting the criticism of those findings. | Organization of American States (OAS) election monitors published a \"final report\" on December 4– 22 days later than promised–on Bolivia\'s October 20 presidential election, won by President Evo Morales. The tardy…
fair.org/home/reuters-shields-oas-over-false-claims-that-sparked-bolivia-coup/

Bulgaria\'s Willingness to Host NATO Naval Center Is Aimed at Containing Russia in the Black Sea
Paul Antonopoulos | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-17
In a joint statement between NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, the latter announced last Thursday that the Bulgarian Black Sea city of Varna is a willing new home of NATO\'s Naval Force Coordination …
globalresearch.ca/bulgaria-host-nato-naval-center-containing-russia-black-sea/5698034

Video: Douma \'Chemical Attack\' Narrative Collapses, Russia Trains New Militia in Hasakah
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-17
Russia has started creating a local force that will operate in northeastern Syria areas abandoned by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, several Syrian media outlets claim. | According to reports, the Russian military will train and equip a new pro-government militia …
globalresearch.ca/video-douma-chemical-attack-narrative-collapses-russia-trains-new-militia-hasakah/5697974

Democrats\' Drilling Bill Insufficient to Meeting Climate Challenge
commondreams.org | 2019-12-17
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commondreams.org/newswire/2019/12/17/democrats-drilling-bill-insufficient-meeting-climate-challenge?cd-origin=rss

Huge Climate Victory! Denmark Mandates Global Warming Cure…By Law!
Brett Redmayne-Titley | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-17
Friday, Dec 6, 2019, saw the most important victory to date in the battle against Global Warming. Denmark\'s \"Climate Act\" will entirely revamp Denmark\'s climate policy — by law- and thrust it onto the world\'s centre stage by showcasing the …
globalresearch.ca/huge-climate-victory-denmark-mandates-global-warming-cure-law/5697730

Is Growth Passé?
Joseph Stiglitz | commondreams.org | 2019-12-17
There is ample room to change the quality of growth, to reduce its environmental impact significantly. (Photo: via Earth Island Journal) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/economic_growth_root_cause_climate_0.jpg …
commondreams.org/views/2019/12/17/growth-passe?cd-origin=rss

Northeast States Take Critical Step to Tackling Climate Change, Modernizing Transportation
commondreams.org | 2019-12-17
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commondreams.org/newswire/2019/12/17/northeast-states-take-critical-step-tackling-climate-change-modernizing?cd-origin=rss

Climate Change Accounting: The Failure of COP25
Binoy Kampmark | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-17
Prior to the UN Convention on Climate Change talks held in Madrid, the sense that tradition would assert itself was hard to buck. Weariness and frustration came in the wake of initial high minded optimism. Delegates spent an extra two days and nights attempting to reach a deal covering carbon reduction measures before the Glasgow…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/17/climate-change-accounting-the-failure-of-cop25/

Trump\'s North America Trade Deal Is Poised to Worsen Climate Change—But Dems Don\'t Seem To Mind
Rachel M. Cohen | commondreams.org | 2019-12-17
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, Democrat of Massachusetts, speaks about the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, known as the USMCA, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., December 10, 2019. (Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/pelosi_trade_850_567.jpg …
commondreams.org/views/2019/12/17/trumps-north-america-trade-deal-poised-worsen-climate-change-dems-dont-seem-mind?cd-origin=rss

Trump\'s North America Trade Deal Is Poised to Worsen Climate Change
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-12-17
While Congressional Democrats made clear that they would not bring the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to a vote until it had the backing of the AFL-CIO, support they finally secured last week, Democrats appear comfortable voting on the replacement trade deal that has virtually no support from leading environmental groups. | A House vote could come in the next few days and on…
truthout.org/articles/trumps-north-america-trade-deal-is-poised-to-worsen-climate-change/

COP25 \'disappointing\' as wealthy nations block several major commitments
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2019-12-17
After exhaustive and grueling negotiations involving nearly 200 nation-states, the 25th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP), held at Madrid, ended up with a deal that has disappointed observers and environmentalists across the globe. The summit, which was supposed to end on Friday was stretched for another two days, as it was hit by several roadblocks, making it the longest ever international negotiation on climate change. The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has called the conference a \"lost opportunity.\" | As always, poorer Third World nations called on the richer countries to t…
peoplesdispatch.org/2019/12/17/cop25-disappointing-as-wealthy-nations-block-several-major-commitments/

This Is Why the World Is Facing Climate Catastrophe
Ben Ehrenreich | thenation.com | 2019-12-17
This Is Why the World Is Facing Climate Catastrophe…
thenation.com/article/madrid-climate-summit-cop25/

Melting Greenland Could Displace 400M People; UN Climate Deal Does Little to Help
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-12-17
A new study says that Greenland is melting at a pace far faster than previously estimated and could displace 400 million people due to global sea-level rise.
therealnews.com/stories/melting-greenland-could-displace-400m-people-un-climate-deal-does-little-help

Missing Kashmiri Teenager Picked up by Army, Alleges Family
Newsclick | peoplesdispatch.org | 2019-12-17
A testimonial from Kashmir sheds light on 19-year-old Naseer Ahmad Wani from Doompora village, Shopian district. Naseer\'s family alleged that he was picked up from the house by Army personnel on November 30, 2019. Even after two weeks, they have not been given any information about his whereabouts. The family is inconsolable and are fearing for his safety. Is Naseer Ahmad Wani another statistic in the history of enforced disappearances in Kashmir?
peoplesdispatch.org/2019/12/17/missing-kashmiri-teenager-picked-up-by-army-alleges-family/

Sà£o Paulo Ford plant closure exposes Brazilian union as agent of capitalist \"restructuring\"
wsws.org | 2019-12-17
The Ford plant closure follows a series of similar union-imposed defeats that have radically changed the Brazilian auto industry.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/17/ford-d17.html

Nestlé and the Privatization of Water: A Tale of Many Cities
Franklin Frederick | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-17
On November 14th the Canadian group Wellington Water Watchers organized the \"All Eyes on Nestlé\" conference in the city of Guelph, Ontario, bringing together indigenous\' peoples and citizens\' movements fighting Nestlé\'s water takings from Canada, the US, France and Brazil. …
globalresearch.ca/water-new-colonial-powers-tale-many-cities/5697982

Video: Syria\'s President Assad Discusses Syria\'s Reconstruction, China\'s \"Belt and Road\" and US Aggression
Bashar al Assad | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-17
In the third of recent international interviews, Syria\'s President Bashar al Assad met with Phoenix Television, to discuss Belt and Road development projects with China\'s Phoenix Television. | Given that Syria and China are both part of the original Silk Road …
globalresearch.ca/assad-discusses-belt-road-us-aggression-china-phoenix-television/5697983

The So-called \"China Threat\": NATO and America\'s \"New Cold War\" on China
Jenny Clegg | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-17
The powers that be in the US are now viewing China as a deadly rival in a duel for global supremacy. Their aim at the summit was to draw their European allies into their China containment strategy. This was made …
globalresearch.ca/nato-us-new-cold-war-china/5698056

Patents, Theft of Intellectual Property (IP), Product Piracy and US-China Relations
Larry Romanoff | globalresearch.ca | 2019-12-17
There is one factor that contributed heavily to the wealth of America today that US history books seem to neglect. The US government and corporations today produce volumes of propaganda accusing China of copying American products or ideas, of having …
globalresearch.ca/winner-copying-olympics/5698015

Democrats Aren\'t Forcing Jeff Van Drew to Join the GOP
Joan Walsh | thenation.com | 2019-12-17
Democrats Aren\'t Forcing Jeff Van Drew to Join the GOP…
thenation.com/article/jeff-van-drew-new-jersey-impeachment/

McConnell Rejects Democrats\' Push on Impeachment Trial Witnesses
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-12-17
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is rejecting the Democrats\' push for fresh impeachment testimony against President Donald Trump and making a last-ditch plea for them to \"turn back from the cliff\" of Wednesday\'s expected vote to send the case to the Senate for trial. | McConnell\'s remarks Tuesday effectively slapped the door shut on negotiations for a deal proposed by the Democratic leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer, who wants to call top White House officials for the Senate trial, which is set to start next year if the House impeaches Trump this week. | \"If House Democrats\' case is this deficie…
truthdig.com/articles/mcconnell-rejects-democrats-push-on-impeachment-trial-witnesses/

Nancy Pelosi: Pull a Mitch McConnell, and President Trump is Toast
Richard W. Behan | counterpunch.org | 2019-12-17
Speaker Pelosi: when the Impeachment Resolution is passed, do not send it immediately to the Senate. Withhold it instead until the court cases are settled, until Don McGahn and others are forced to respond to their subpoenas, until the President is forced to submit his tax returns, until all the evidence has come to the surface and makes…
counterpunch.org/2019/12/17/117689/

Trump Decries \'Attempted Coup\' as Impeachment Highly Likely
telesurenglish.net | 2019-12-17
United States President Donald Trump accused Democrats of pursuing an \"illegal, partisan attempted coup\" Tuesday and declaring war on \"democracy\" as they seek to remove him from office for pressing Ukraine to investigate Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden. | RELATED: | U.S. House Committee Approves Charges For Trump Impeachment | \"This is nothing more than an illegal, partisan attempted coup that will be based on recent sentiment, badly fail at the voting booth,\" Trump\'s let…
telesurenglish.net/news/Trump-Decries-Attempted-Coup-as-Impeachment-Highly-Likely-20191217-0011.html

‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã‚ÄãThe issue-less impeachment: the corporate democrats stand for nothing, so they impeach for nothing
Glen Ford | mronline.org | 2019-12-17
The corporate Democrats are effectively exonerating themselves and their Republican brethren of the full spectrum of lawlessness that is everyday politics in the belly of the racist, imperial beast. | Source…
mronline.org/2019/12/17/%e2%80%8b%e2%80%8b%e2%80%8b%e2%80%8b%e2%80%8b%e2%80%8b%e2%80%8bthe-issue-less-impeachment-the-corporate-democrats-stand-for-nothing-so-they-impeach-for-nothing/

CIA Democrats back CIA-led impeachment
wsws.org | 2019-12-17
Ten out of eleven newly elected representatives with military-intelligence backgrounds have publicly backed impeachment.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/12/17/impe-d17.html

\'Bothsidesism\' Is Poisoning America
Laila Lalami | thenation.com | 2019-12-17
\'Bothsidesism\' Is Poisoning America…
thenation.com/article/trump-impeachment-journalism/

Nationwide rallies call for Trump\'s ouster on the eve of impeachment
Mark Gruenberg, John Wojcik | peoplesworld.org | 2019-12-17
WASHINGTON–From Anchorage to Honolulu, from San Diego to Miami, millions of people are taking to the streets at 5: 30 p.m. local time nationwide to demand lawmakers impeach, convict, and oust President Trump from office. The \"Impeach and Remove\" non-violent rallies in 632 cities and towns and counting have spread so far that the farthest east …
peoplesworld.org/article/nationwide-rallies-call-for-trumps-ouster-on-the-eve-of-impeachment/

Common Cause Calls for Impeachment of Attorney General William Barr
commondreams.org | 2019-12-17
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commondreams.org/newswire/2019/12/17/common-cause-calls-impeachment-attorney-general-william-barr?cd-origin=rss

How Our Defense Budget Became So Bloated
William D. Hartung | thenation.com | 2019-12-17
| Defense spending is higher now than it was during the Korean or Vietnam conflicts and may soon be twice the Cold War average.
thenation.com/article/pentagon-budget-william-hartung/