Jim Kavanagh (2019-08-16). Dead Man\'s Hand: The Impeachment Gambit. counterpunch.org The two-year Mueller investigation of Donald Trump\'s alleged collusion (\"largely synonymous with conspiracy\") with Russia is over. Nothingburger. The 448-page Mueller Report has been published in full, and made into a dramatic hour-and-twenty-minute stage performance adapted by a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright with a cast of Hollywood stars. Yawn. Then there was the seven hours of More

Aaron Maté (2019-08-16). Trump starves Venezuela, Democrats are silent. mronline.org The Trump administration is intensifying its economic warfare on the people of Venezuela with a crippling embargo—and facing no resistance from the Democratic Party. | Source

Louis Proyect (2019-08-16). The Vanity Cinema of Quentin Tarantino. counterpunch.org After being sorely disappointed by Quentin Tarantino\'s last two films— \"The Hateful Eight\" and \"Django Unchained\" —I decided to wait for a studio screener of \"Once Upon a Time in Hollywood\" in November. This is when I customarily get freebies from studio publicists hoping to influence my vote in NYFCO\'s awards meeting in early December. More

Ed Rampell (2019-08-16). \'Fefu and Her Friends\': Fornés\'s feminist odyssey at the Odyssey. peoplesworld.org LOS ANGELES—Originality is among those attributes I admire and cherish most in the arts, and Maria Irene Fornés\'s (1930-2018) Fefu and Her Friends is singular on several fronts. First of all, the Cuban-born, Obie Award-winning playwright\'s characters are eight females. This is far less common than mixed-gender or all-male casts, such as in Jason Miller\'s …

RT (2019-08-16). Modern medicine declares war on loneliness with drugs & bots, threatening introverts with extinction. rt.com With pharmaceutical and even robotic \"cures\" in the works for loneliness – a condition once considered part of the normal human emotional range but now framed as a health risk – we risk losing the ability to be alone at all.

Jenny Farrell (2019-08-16). Poetry selections for the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre. peoplesworld.org Percy Bysshe Shelley\'s lifetime was defined by the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and severe political repression in England and elsewhere in Europe. In contrast to other European countries, the power of the bourgeoisie in England had been consolidated in their own revolutionary period in the 17th century. Therefore, the ruling class in England had …

Evaggelos Vallianatos (2019-08-16). The War on Nature. counterpunch.org Ancient Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Chinese and Indians respected or worshipped several gods. Those gods were usually forces of nature, which opened the mind, eyes and hearts of human beings to the mysteries, beauty and truth of the natural world. The vast human majorities of the ancient world were peasant farmers and shepherds who cultivated More

Neve Gordon (2019-08-16). It\'s No Wonder the Military likes Violent Video Games, They Can Help Train Civilians to Become Warriors. counterpunch.org Following the recent massacres in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, the bestselling author Keith Boykin tweeted: Trump is on TV blaming the Internet, social media, video games and mental health for the mass shootings. Nonsense! Every country has Google, Facebook, video games and people with mental health issues. What they don\'t have is More

V. Copeland (2019-08-16). \'Expanding Empire\' — in 1969 and today. workers.org The following excerpt from \"Expanding Empire — The global war drive of big business and the forces that will stop it\" was written in 1969 during the Vietnam War. The author, Vince Copeland, was a founding member of Workers World Party and had been a militant steel worker fired in . . . | Continue reading \'Expanding Empire\' — in 1969 and today at Workers.org

Stuart A. Newman (2019-08-16). The Biotech-Industrial Complex Gets Ready to Define What is Human. counterpunch.org Fabricating part-human-part-nonhuman animals, with features of both, seemed like something out of Greek mythology until the late 20th century. New research then on \"geeps,\" fully developed, viable mixtures of goats and sheep, showed that constructing such \"chimeras\" was a real possibility. Still, the warning by H.G. Wells, a century before, in his novel \"The Island of Dr. Moreau,\" that scientific experiments like this could go terribly awry, seemed fantastical. But this will soon change. At the end of July, it was reported that the biologist Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte, director of a laboratory at the Salk Insti…

Joe Sims (2019-08-16). \"Proletarian billionaire\" act wears thin: Trump\'s war on workers. peoplesworld.org The U.S. working class has received special attention from the Trump campaign\'s first days; since his election, it has been singled out for special assault. \"America First\" was portrayed as making working-class America first; \"Make America Great Again\" meant reawakening the greatness of the American working class. But the Trump agenda as thus marketed had …

Kavitha Muralidharan (2019-08-16). \'Today We Seek Those Fish in Discovery Channel\'. counterpunch.org \"It\'s past 11.40 this morning, so next comes an update on speed,\" announces A. Yashwanth on the Kadal Osai radio station. \"For the last one week, or even a month or so, kachaan kaathu [the south wind] was very strong. The speed was as high as 40 to 60 [kilometres per hour]. Today, as if More

Paul Street (2019-08-16). Uncle Sam was Born Lethal. counterpunch.org One of the occupational and intellectual hazards of being a historian is that current events often seem far less new to oneself than they do to others. Recently a leftish liberal friend told me that the United States under the Donald Trump had \"become a lethal society.\" My friend cited the neofascist Trump\'s: horrible family separations and concentration camps on the border; openly white-nationalist assaults on four progressive nonwhite and female Congresswomen; real and threatened roundups of undocumented immigrants; fascist-style and hate-filled \"Make America Great Again\" rallies; encouragement of white suprema…

Andrew Levine (2019-08-16). Have They No Decency? counterpunch.org Before lightening and the Electoral College struck, making Donald Trump president, he famously boasted that he could walk out onto Fifth Avenue, shoot somebody, and become even more popular than he already was with his base. He was probably right — literally, even back then, before the Trump-induced accelerated degradation of the ambient political culture More

Rob Urie (2019-08-16). Neoliberalism and Environmental Calamity. counterpunch.org Current conditions represent a political emergency of sorts, meaning that ways of solving environmental and social problems will either be worked out or circumstances, led by the environment, will assume a life of their own. Given that these conditions are the result of historical processes that were decades and centuries in the making, understanding how More

Ron Jacobs (2019-08-16). People\'s Music for the Soul. counterpunch.org Folk music can mean many things. It can be songs one learned as a child from a record or a musical relative. The songs can be classic tunes with words as old as the songs themselves or the songs can be old tunes with brand new words. Or the entire tune can be a new More

Nick Pemberton (2019-08-16). Is White Supremacism a Mental Illness? counterpunch.org \"The most noxious element of neoliberalism is the reduction of all social issues to personal responsibility.\" —Henry A. Giroux \"Violence is one of the most fun things to watch.\" — Quentin Tarantino Have you ever wondered why we [women] are not just in armed combat against you? It\'s not because there\'s a shortage of kitchen More

David Yearsley (2019-08-16). Kind of Blue at 60. counterpunch.org Miles Davis\' Kind of Blue was released on August 17, 1959—sixty years ago tomorrow. That was ten years after, and ten degrees cooler, than the little big band of Miles\' Birth of the Cool. With Kind of Blue the baby had grown up: sleeker, more earnest, now distrustful of irony, and also cagier, suspicious without wanting to show anything that might suggest defensiveness. Its icy hauteur sets the standard for art that draws you in by pretending it doesn\'t need anyone or anything but itself. More

Nozomi Hayase (2019-08-16). The Prosecution of Julian Assange Affects Us All. counterpunch.org With the indictment of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and the imprisonment of whistleblower Chelsea Manning, we are seeing the US government\'s blatant attack on the First Amendment. This assault now is officially acknowledged by a US federal court, where the judge dismissed a Democratic National Committee (DNC) civil suit against WikiLeaks on the grounds of More

teleSUR (2019-08-16). Rashida Tlaib Blasts Israel for \'Oppressive Conditions\'. telesurenglish.net U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib blasted Israel on Friday for imposing \"oppressive conditions\" on her visit to the occupied West Bank. | RELATED: | Israel Reverses Ban on US Congresswoman Tlaib | Israel, who was conditionally allowing Tlaib to visit the occupied West Bank, issued a list of demands for the U.S. congresswoman that prohibited her from promoting the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) during her stay. | The U.S. congresswoman, in turn, said she would not visit her family there…

teleSUR (2019-08-16). Israel Reverses Ban on US Congresswoman Tlaib. telesurenglish.net Israel has decided to reverse the ban on U.S. congresswoman Rashida Tlaib Friday after she agreed to just visit her family in the occupied West Bank on humanitarian grounds. | RELATED: | Israel Confirms Banning Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib from Visiting Palestine Over BDS Support | Tlaib, a critic of Israeli policy towards Palestinians, has agreed to respect the restrictions imposed on her during the occupied West Bank trip and will not promote the Boyco…

Yoav Litvin (2019-08-16). Israel Fears a Visit by Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. counterpunch.org On July 16, Somali-American Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, together with Representatives John Lewis and Palestinian-American Rashida Tlaib, introduced bill HR-496 which is meant to affirm Americans\' \"right to participate in boycotts in pursuit of civil and human rights at home and abroad, as protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution\". Though not explicitly mentioned, HR-496 is at least More

Staff (2019-08-16). Bernie Sanders: If Israel Bans Members of Congress, It Shouldn\'t Receive US Aid. truthout.org | | Sen. Bernie Sanders told MSNBC Thursday night that perhaps Israel should not be receiving billions of dollars in U.S. military aid after the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu barred Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib from entering the country. | \"I wish I could tell you…that I am shocked. I am not,\" Sanders, a 2020 Demo…

Do No Harm Coalition, Public Health Awakening (2019-08-16). #CloseTheCamps: Protest by Healthcare & Harm Reduction Workers for Migrant Rights. indybay.org Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), | 630 Sansome St, San Francisco 94111…

Public Health Justice Collective & Others (2019-08-16). #CloseTheCamps: Protest by Public Health & Healthcare Workers for Migrant Rights. indybay.org Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 630 Sansome St, San Francisco 94111…

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams (2019-08-16). Jewish Activists and Allies Confront Amazon for Profiting Off ICE Terror. indybay.org More than 1,000 Jewish activists and allies gathered at an Amazon book store in New York City on Sunday to protest the online retail behemoth\'s collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which swept up nearly 700 people last week in what was reportedly one of the agency\'s largest-ever raids.

Cat Bell (2019-08-16). Haight Ashbury Peace Vigil. indybay.org Corner of Masonic and Fell at the Golden Gate Park Panhandle…

Stephen Lendman (2019-08-16). US Waging Wars on Multiple Fronts: Cold Wars, Hot Wars, Economic Wars, Propaganda Wars … globalresearch.ca Supported by both hawkish wings of its war party, the US is waging hot wars, cold wars, economic wars, financial wars, trade wars, anti-social justice wars, anti-human rights wars, anti-democracy wars, propaganda wars, sanctions wars, tariffs wars, protest wars, homeland …

teleSUR (2019-08-16). Brazil: Supreme Court Judges Sergio Moro\'s Lack of Impartiality. telesurenglish.net Brazil\'s Supreme Court (STF) will judge the lack of impartiality of former judge Sergio Moro in conducting trials against former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has remained a political prisoner since April 7, 2018. | RELATED: | Students Strike, Protest Across Brazil as Moro Orders Crackdown | From August 16 to August 22, the STF judges w…

WSWS (2019-08-16). 200 years since the Peterloo Massacre. wsws.org A savage attack by sword-wielding cavalry on a crowd of protesters in Manchester, England in August 1819 resulted in at least 18 people being killed and some 700 injured.

Philip Giraldi (2019-08-16). Punishing the World with Sanctions. Intended to Cause Real Pain. globalresearch.ca Sanctions are economic warfare, pure and simple. As an alternative to a direct military attack on a country that is deemed to be misbehaving they are certainly preferable, but no one should be under any illusions regarding what they actually …

Dave Lindorff (2019-08-16). Did the US really intend to destroy the Soviet Union with its nuclear monopoly? nationofchange.org 74 years ago by the United States dropped the only two atomic bombs exploded in war on cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Today, recalling those events, remember that the US still refuses to renounce a strategy of first-strike use of its nuclear arsenal. This has me pondering two questions that should raise enormous doubts in …

Adrienne Pine (2019-08-16). US Trained Honduran Police Get Medieval as Political Prisoner Edwin Espinal Released. mintpressnews.com The Honduran corruption canard keeps the focus on police resources and individuals rather than on the pangs of privatization, and so it is often the line favored by the U.S. State Department.

Derek Royden (2019-08-16). Ideas from hell: The far right\'s weaponized conspiracy theories. nationofchange.org Since the end of April, there have been three mass shootings that can be directly tied to white nationalism. The victims of these white supremacist terrorist attacks were almost all from minority communities, including Jewish people at a synagogue in Poway, California, Muslims in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand and most recently Latinx people …

WSWS (2019-08-16). Oslo mosque targeted in attempted far-right terrorist attack. wsws.org The Norwegian political establishment has promoted the hysterical anti-immigrant atmosphere that encourages fascist attacks.

Robert Shetterly (2019-08-16). George W. Bush\'s Infuriating Innocence Project. commondreams.org US President George Bush addresses the nation during his State of the Union address from Capitol Hill in Washington 20 January 2004. Bush vowed that the United States \"will never seek a permission slip\" to go to war as he took aim in his annual State of the Union speech at critics of the invasion of Iraq. At left is Vice President Dick Cheney; at right House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-IL. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque/AFP/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/george_w_bush_war_criminal.jpg …

Martin Bright (2019-08-16). \'Official Secrets\' Reveals How Little We Still Know About the Push for War in Iraq. thenation.com \'Official Secrets\' Reveals How Little We Still Know About the Push for War in Iraq…

WSWS (2019-08-16). US Kaiser Permanente workers vote overwhelmingly in favor of strike. wsws.org The 98 percent strike vote is a powerful expression of opposition to decades of attacks on workers by the multi-trillion dollar US health care industry.

Aaron Maté (2019-08-16). Trump worsens threat of nuclear catastrophe with Russia. thegrayzone.com MIT professor Ted Postol warns that Trump\'s withdrawal from the INF treaty threatens nuclear \'catastrophe.\' Guest: Theodore Postol, award-winning Professor…

Andrew Korybko (2019-08-16). What Explains Russia and China\'s Differing Stances towards Kashmir? globalresearch.ca Russia and China, two of the most important Great Powers that are jointly working to accelerate the emergence of the Multipolar World Order, are on totally opposite sides when it comes to Kashmir, with their differing stances being explained by …

WSWS (2019-08-16). Australian government boosts Special Forces despite war crimes charges. wsws.org The move is part of the preparation for war, as well as for the suppression of domestic dissent.

Andrew Korybko (2019-08-16). South Yemen Is Already Functionally Independent Even if It\'s Not Recognized as Such. globalresearch.ca The Southern Transitional Council\'s liberation of the former South Yemeni capital of Aden from the Saudi-backed Islah Islamists has restored the independence of the Old Cold War-era country. | STC vs. Islah | It was bound to happen sooner than later, but …

WSWS (2019-08-16). Newark, New Jersey suspends distribution of bottled water over expiration concerns. wsws.org City officials were forced to stop distributions Tuesday in response to concerns over cases of bottled water that were labeled as expired.

Bob Scofield (2019-08-16). Tit For Tat: Baltimore Takes Another Hit, This Time From Uruguay. counterpunch.org I imagine that however a Baltimorean feels when their city is attacked by the barbarian in the White House it has to be worse when the city is slighted by Uruguay, one of the world\'s most progressive countries. On August 5th the Uruguayan Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a warning to Uruguayans traveling to the More

The Canary (2019-08-16). Warning over facial recognition \'epidemic\' in the UK. thecanary.co Facial recognition technology has been used in shopping centres, museums and conference centres around the UK, an investigation has claimed. | Civil liberties group Big Brother Watch labelled use of the technology an \"epidemic\" and said its use on privately owned sites was \"deeply disturbing\". | The group said the Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield had carried out trials of the technology last year, while the World Museum in Liverpool and Millennium Point conference centre in Birmingham were also named in its investigation as locations where scans had taken place. | On Thursday, the Information Commissioner\'

Hans Stehling (2019-08-16). British Rail: A Mass Transport System Is an Essential Public Service Not a Get-Rich-Quick Scheme for Investors. globalresearch.ca Outdated rolling-stock, primitive or no air-conditioning, poor service, unreliable timetables and sky-high fares make Britain\'s railways the bad joke of Europe. | As millions of commuters are forced to use a rail system near to collapse, it serves a stark warning …

Victor Grossman (2019-08-16). Warnings, Ancient and Modern. counterpunch.org The wise priest Laocoà∂n, old legends say, vainly warned against the famous \"Trojan horse\". A hostile god sent giant serpents which strangled him and the big wooden present was opened. The soldiers hidden inside opened Troy\'s gates so the Greek battalions could rush in, kill the men, enslave the women and destroy the city. Its More

Staff (2019-08-16). A Wave of Solidarity With Kashmir Is Spreading Across the Globe. truthout.org | | Tragedy is unfolding in Kashmir. Split between India and Pakistan, the state has been under military occupation as a result of the partition of the subcontinent in 1947 and a war between the two powers the following year. On August 5, however, the right-wing Bha…

WSWS (2019-08-16). Financial turbulence continues as major economies move towards recession. wsws.org The gyrations in financial markets and the growing signs of recession—threatening to set in motion a crisis even more severe than that of 2008—pose vital political issues before the working class in every country.

Michael T. Hertz (2019-08-16). Looking backwards: 2020-1944. nationofchange.org Perhaps you\'ll recognize the reference in the title to this article to a novel published in 1888. It was the third most popular American novel of the 19th century after Uncle Tom\'s Cabin and Ben-Hur: Looking Backward: 2000—1887, a utopian novel by Edward Bellamy. When its second edition was published in 1889, it inspired 162 …

Stephen Lendman (2019-08-16). US Waging Wars on Multiple Fronts: Cold Wars, Hot Wars, Economic Wars, Propaganda Wars … globalresearch.ca Supported by both hawkish wings of its war party, the US is waging hot wars, cold wars, economic wars, financial wars, trade wars, anti-social justice wars, anti-human rights wars, anti-democracy wars, propaganda wars, sanctions wars, tariffs wars, protest wars, homeland …

Philip Giraldi (2019-08-16). Punishing the World with Sanctions. Intended to Cause Real Pain. globalresearch.ca Sanctions are economic warfare, pure and simple. As an alternative to a direct military attack on a country that is deemed to be misbehaving they are certainly preferable, but no one should be under any illusions regarding what they actually …

Andrew Korybko (2019-08-16). What Explains Russia and China\'s Differing Stances towards Kashmir? globalresearch.ca Russia and China, two of the most important Great Powers that are jointly working to accelerate the emergence of the Multipolar World Order, are on totally opposite sides when it comes to Kashmir, with their differing stances being explained by …

Yves Engler (2019-08-16). Media Can\'t Even Tell the Truth About Canada\'s Foreign Policy History. globalresearch.ca Media coverage of Canadian foreign policy is uniquely one-sided and biased. It\'s so bad that few readers, listeners or viewers will have ever seen or heard an honest analysis of this country\'s past, let alone current role around the world….

RT (2019-08-15). Russians everywhere! Biden aide cries \'spy plane\' about normal treaty flight over US. rt.com A routine Russian flight to Hawaii under the Open Skies treaty has been invoked by a former senior Obama administration official to stir up panic among the \'Russiagate\' holdovers, proving some conspiracies just refuse to go away.

RT (2019-08-15). US Navy expert laments \'Slav\' incompetence of new NATO navies in scary Russia essay. rt.com NATO\'s Eastern European member states have terrible navies that suffer from \"legacy concepts\" and equipment and can\'t do much against Russia, a prominent professor lamented, asking the US Navy to do something about it.

Nick Licata (2019-08-15). What Happened at Woodstock? counterpunch.org Fifty years ago, this week, close to 500,000 youth attended Woodstock. Each of us could tell a story of what happened there. This is mine. After hitchhiking a couple thousand miles around New England and Canada for the month of July 1969, I returned back to Bowling Green, Ohio, dead tired. I was met by More

Marshall Auerback (2019-08-15). It Was More Like a Couple of Asian Decades Than a Century. counterpunch.org It\'s become media orthodoxy to suggest that the era of U.S. hegemony is slowly slipping away and migrating to Asia—with China as its locus—as we proceed into the heart of the 21st century. There is, however, a competing narrative, one recently expressed by Michael Auslin on ForeignPolicy.com, who makes the case that the \"Asian Century\" \"is ending far faster than anyone could have predicted. From a dramatically slowing Chinese economy to showdowns over democracy in Hong Kong and a new cold war between Japan and South Korea, the dynamism that was supposed to propel the region into a glorious future seem…

Yves Engler (2019-08-15). Canadian Prime Ministers\' Sordid Imperialism. dissidentvoice.org Media coverage of Canadian foreign policy is uniquely one-sided and biased. It\'s so bad that few readers, listeners or viewers will have ever seen or heard an honest analysis of this country\'s past, let alone current role around the world. A recent Maclean\'s story titled \"The long history of \'go back to where you came …

Jesse Jackson (2019-08-15). End endless conflict and bring peace to Korea. peoplesworld.org July 27 marked the 66th anniversary of the signing of the Korean War armistice, which brought an end to hostilities that killed nearly five million people, including almost 40,000 U.S. service members. The war ended in a temporary cease-fire, which is why the United States still maintains 28,500 troops in South Korea. Nuclear missiles ring the …

Paul Rockwell (2019-08-15). Aloha from Dr. Martin Luther King and Tulsi Gabbard. mintpressnews.com \"Aloha,\" says Gabbard, \"is a powerful force that motivates us to take action for the well-being of others and our country.\" In King\'s famous words, \"The arc of the moral universe is long, but bends toward justice.\" Gabbard seeks to bend the arc of history away from war toward peace.

RT (2019-08-15). \'Like a scene that you see in war\': 6 cops shot in Philadelphia drugs raid gone wrong. rt.com Philadelphia police attempting to serve a drugs warrant were drawn into an hours-long shootout after heavily-armed suspects opened fire, wounding at least 6 officers and terrifying residents in the Nicetown-Tioga neighborhood.

Staff (2019-08-15). Germany Shows Signs of Recession — Is the Global Economy Next? therealnews.com Heiner Flassbeck argues that the China-US trade war is not having as much of an impact on the global economy as many assume. China\'s currency is not undervalued, despite its recent devaluation. Rather, the undervalued Euro gives Germany a real competitive advantage in world trade. It\'s actually Europe\'s economic weakness that is dragging down Germany,…

The Canary (2019-08-15). A-levels \'milestone\' hailed as more girls than boys take science. thecanary.co Girls have overtaken boys in A-level science entries for the first time, national figures show.The gender switch was hailed as \"a cause for celebration\" by scientists as school leaders suggested that an increase in female role models in the subjects may be contributing to the trend.The figures came in national A-level results, published today, which showed that across all subjects, the proportion of A-level entries awarded an A grade or higher has fallen to the lowest level for more than a decade.Students celebrate their A-level results at Roedean School in Brighton (PA)Girls narrowly clawed back the lead from bo…

Sharon Kelly (2019-08-15). Fracking and shale drilling caused spike in climate-warming methane pollution, says new study. nationofchange.org Climate-changing pollution reached unprecedented levels in 2018. That\'s both judged against the last 60 years of modern measurements and against 800,000 years of data culled from ice cores, according to the U.S. government\'s State of the Climate report, which was published this week with the American Meteorological Society. That pollution creates a greenhouse effect that is over 42 percent stronger than …

Richard Ward (2019-08-15). Our Lords, Their Flies. counterpunch.org As a college student, after reading Lord of the Flies for the second time (I\'d first read it as a young teenager), I asked the professor in my philosophy of literature class if he thought humans were inherently evil. He responded by asking if I was pursued by daemons. Taken aback, I replied that I didn\'t know More

Jonas Ecke (2019-08-15). The End of Humanitarianism? counterpunch.org Our current historical moment is characterized by a global push towards so-called \"counter-humanitarian policies\" that intentionally undermine hard-won rules aimed at preventing repetitions of the atrocities of the 20th century. The erosion of humanitarian norms has already changed how western countries deal with immigrants, wage war and deliver aid. Saving humanitarianism will require us to address the shortcomings of the current world order More

Zubeida Mustafa (2019-08-15). Trump\'s Ignorance Touches Off a New Crisis in Kashmir. truthdig.com South Asia is again in crisis and could be on the brink of war. For the second time in six months, the world is on tenterhooks, waiting to see what turn events will take. Because the two antagonists are armed with nuclear weapons, the possibility of a confrontation is taken seriously. And as has happened before, Kashmir is at the center of the dispute that has kept India and Pakistan at loggerheads for over 70 years. | The simmering cauldron came to a boil about 10 days ago, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, flush after a landslide electoral victory, revoked Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which e…

John Bachtell (2019-08-15). Changing world balance of forces in new stage of globalization. peoplesworld.org This is part 7 of the full main report, \"Unity to save people and planet; For full equality, democracy, peace, and green socialism,\" to the 31st National Convention of the Communist Party USA held in Chicago, Illinois, June 21-23, 2019. Other installments available here. The abbreviated oral presentation is available here. John Bachtell served as CPUSA national …

Steve Sweeney (2019-08-15). Turkey: Women\'s group offers solidarity to Syrian refugees. peoplesworld.org Women in Turkey have come together and sent a message of solidarity with thousands of Syrian refugees being deported as authorities crack down across Istanbul. The Yoƒüurtàßu Women\'s Forum met in Turkey\'s largest city to discuss the plight of the country\'s 3.6 million Syrian refugees as the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government implements a …

John McMurtry (2019-08-15). Overpopulation a Cover Story for Money-Cancer System. counterpunch.org It is not \"the rising tide of human numbers\" simpliciter that loots, pollutes and destroys the life carrying capacities of the planet. It is what all over-populationists conveniently ignore: (1) the much still exponentially self-multiplying tides of private money demand on the earth\'s resources that drives every degenerate trend in the planet\'s life carrying capacities, More

Norman Solomon (2019-08-15). Why Bernie Sanders is Right About the Washington Post—and Corporate Media Overall. counterpunch.org Many decades ago, the great media critic George Seldes observed: \"The most sacred cow of the press is the press itself.\" That remains true today. Bernie Sanders set off the latest round of outraged denial from elite media this week when he talked to a crowd in New Hampshire about the tax avoidance of Amazon More

George Ochenski (2019-08-15). Ominous Signs From the Hinterlands. counterpunch.org It\'s fair to say many people judge the state of the nation\'s economy and well-being by the performance of the stock market — even though only a small majority of Americans actually have a stake in the stock marker. It\'s also fair to say many Americans think of Montana as a hinterland \"somewhere up by Canada.\" But More

Staff (2019-08-15). The Black Working Class and Venezuela: Fighting The Same Enemy. therealnews.com Netfa Freeman discusses the unique perspective of the Embassy Protection Collective\'s work through the lens of the Black working class and their connection with Venezuela…

Akela Lacy (2019-08-15). 26-Year-Old Gun Violence Prevention Activist Is Taking on 26-Year Incumbent Rep. Bobby Rush. theintercept.com A 26-year-old organizer in Chicago is mounting a primary challenge to Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., who has been a member of Congress for 26 years. | Robert Emmons, whose best friend, high school classmate, and freshman roommate was shot and killed in 2015, is making gun violence prevention a cornerstone of his campaign. The Windy City experiences gun violence at alarming yet not uncommon rates, as compared to other metropolitan areas — but the number of fatal shootings is in some ways unique to Chicago, where Emmons\'s 21-year-ol…

Julie Hollar (2019-08-15). Here\'s the Evidence Corporate Media Say Is Missing of WaPo Bias Against Sanders. fair.org Bernie Sanders has taken to calling out corporate media for their anti-progressive bias, and their feathers have gotten quite ruffled. | In a campaign event Monday in New Hampshire, Sanders told the crowd: We have pointed out over and over again that Amazon made $10 billion in profits last year. You know how much they paid in taxes? You got it, zero! Any wonder why the Washington Post is not one of my great supporters, I wonder why? New York Times not much better. | The next day, he returned to the same point: And then I wonder why the Washington Post, which is owned by Jeff Bezos, who owns Amazon, doesn\'t write…

ACLU NorCal SCU Law Club (2019-08-15). Growing Anti-Immigrant Sentiments and Trump\'s Immigration Policies. indybay.org Charney Hall, Room 104. Santa Clara University School of Law | 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara 95050…

Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez (2019-08-15). \"Give us your rich\": Immigration reporter says trump admin is changing \"wholesale\" who gets into U.S. nationofchange.org \"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!\" Those are the words of Emma Lazarus inscribed on the Statue of Liberty. But this week, acting Director of Citizenship …

Public Health Justice Collective & Others (2019-08-15). #CloseTheCamps: Protest by Public Health & Healthcare Workers for Migrant Rights. indybay.org Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 630 Sansome St, San Francisco 94111…

Do No Harm Coalition, Public Health Awakening (2019-08-15). #CloseTheCamps: Protest by Healthcare & Harm Reduction Workers for Migrant Rights. indybay.org Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), | 630 Sansome St, San Francisco 94111…

Atossa Araxia Abrahamian (2019-08-15). Immigration Is for Rich People. thenation.com Immigration Is for Rich People…

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams (2019-08-15). Jewish Activists and Allies Confront Amazon for Profiting Off ICE Terror. indybay.org More than 1,000 Jewish activists and allies gathered at an Amazon book store in New York City on Sunday to protest the online retail behemoth\'s collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which swept up nearly 700 people last week in what was reportedly one of the agency\'s largest-ever raids.

Cat Bell (2019-08-15). Haight Ashbury Peace Vigil. indybay.org Corner of Masonic and Fell at the Golden Gate Park Panhandle…

Ted Rall (2019-08-15). The Root Cause of Mass Shootings is the Rage of Alienation. counterpunch.org Mass shootings prompt simple explanations of the gunman\'s motivation. At Columbine High School in Colorado, the killers supposedly snapped after being bullied. The guy who shot up a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado was wild-eyed carrot-topped nuts. After a massacre at a Walmart in El Paso, an anti-immigrant manifesto posted online pointed to right-wing politics. More

Stephen Lendman (2019-08-15). Trump Regime Gutting the Endangered Species Act. globalresearch.ca Richard Nixon was a friend of the earth, Donald Trump its mortal enemy. | Following the 1969 offshore Santa Barbara, CA February oil spill, the largest in US waters to that time, (now third-ranked after the 1989 Exxon Valdez and 2010 …

Stephen Lendman (2019-08-15). Fake News About Venezuela and the Power of Propaganda. globalresearch.ca Public ignorance and indifference about major issues let US authorities get away with mass murder and much more. | In a June 1950 commencement address, Boston University President Daniel Marsh said: | \"If the (television) craze continues…we are destined to have a …

Aaron Maté (2019-08-15). Top scientist denounces smears of Tulsi Gabbard on Syria. thegrayzone.com Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been smeared as an Assad apologist for her efforts to end the US-backed proxy war and…

teleSUR (2019-08-15). Russia Denounces Plan Based in Guyana to Destabilize Venezuela. telesurenglish.net Russia\'s Foreign Ministry reported on Thursday on a plan to train alleged Venezuelan refugees in a British military base in Guyana, this in order to deploy them in the South American country to perpetrate violent acts. | RELATED: | Maduro Says Uribe, Colombian Ambassador Plotting his Killing | The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, María Zajárova, said that \"dozens of alleged refugees from Venezuela have been transferred to a…

teleSUR (2019-08-15). Russia Denounces Plan Based in Guyana to Destabilize Venezuela. telesurenglish.net Russia\'s Foreign Ministry reported on Thursday on a plan to train alleged Venezuelan refugees in a British military base in Guyana, this in order to deploy them in the South American country to perpetrate violent acts. | RELATED: | Maduro Says Uribe, Colombian Ambassador Plotting his Killing | The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that \"dozens of alleged refugees from Venezuela have been transferred to a…

unitedEditor (2019-08-15). The US is already interfering in the upcoming Venezuelan elections. uwidata.com US President Donald Trump has maintained strong economic pressure against Venezuela, having signed numerous decrees blocking the assets of the Venezuelan authorities within US jurisdiction. Giants such as the Central Bank of Venezuela and the state-owned oil company PDVSA were also included in the sanctions list. Now, Washington has announced it will even impose sanctions …

James Carden (2019-08-15). Progressives Are Right to Endorse a \'No First Use\' Nuclear Weapons Policy. thenation.com Progressives Are Right to Endorse a \'No First Use\' Nuclear Weapons Policy…

Kaitlin Grable (2019-08-15). Why Mauna Kea needs your protection. nationofchange.org I was born on the island of O\'ahu, 98 years after the U.S. supported an illegal coup in my hometown of Honolulu to overthrow Queen Liliuokalani and steal Hawaiian land. I was born in a Hawai\'i that is radically and tragically different from the Hawai\'i of my ancestors. The Hawaiian word for land is \'aina. This word …

Abayomi Azikiwe (2019-08-15). Sudan\'s \"Constitutional Declaration\" Leaves Out Key Political Forces. Attempted Military Coups and Regional Intrigue. globalresearch.ca Members of the Sudanese Professional Association (SPA), a leading organization within the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), announced on August 9 that they would have no representatives in the soon to be created transitional government. | This report comes in …

Christopher Black (2019-08-15). America\'s \"Hybrid War\" against China has Entered a New Phase. globalresearch.ca The hybrid war, being conducted against China by the United States and its gaggle of puppet states from the UK to Canada to Australia, has entered a new phase. | The first stage involved the massive shift of US air and …

Jessica Corbett (2019-08-15). Planned Parenthood demands federal court intervene to stop trump attack on abortion rights and Title X program. nationofchange.org Planned Parenthood warned Wednesday that, without intervention from a federal court, it will be forced out of the Title X Family Planning Program next week because of the Trump administration\'s ban on health clinics receiving federal tax dollars if they provide or refer patients for abortions. The Health and Human Services Department declared last month it would …

teleSUR (2019-08-15). \'Hong Kong is a Chinese Affair\', China Warns the United States. telesurenglish.net The Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry reminded Thursday that Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China and \"no country has the right to interfere in China\'s internal affairs.\" | RELATED: | China Journalism Association Rejects Violence Against Reporter | \"We have noted that President Trump has previously said that \'Hong Kong is part of China and they have to solve it for themselves, without (external) recommendations\',\" Hua Chunying, the Foreign Affairs spokesperson r…

William Hawes (2019-08-15). Questioning the Extremely Online. dissidentvoice.org This essay is in regard to a crime that too often goes unmentioned when the conversations turn towards political analysis, the contemporary journalistic scene, and broader social critique: the crime of being extremely online. What does it mean to be extremely online? It mostly is as straightforward as it sounds. Generally, activities such as spending …

True Publica (2019-08-15). The Truth About the UK\'s Special Relationship with Israel. globalresearch.ca Britain does not have a special relationship with the USA. It is, and has been since the end of the World War, a subservient inferior \'partner\' doing what it is told. Britain stands next to the schoolyard thug and tries …

Staff (2019-08-15). Fracking and Shale Drilling Caused Spike in Climate-Warming Methane Pollution. truthout.org | | Climate-changing pollution reached unprecedented levels in 2018. That\'s both judged against the last 60 years of modern measurements and against 800,000 years of data culled from ice cores, according to the U.S. government\'s State of the Climate report, which was published this week with the American Meteorological Societ…

teleSUR (2019-08-15). \'Hong Kong is a Chinese Affair,\' China Warns the United States. telesurenglish.net The Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry reminded Thursday that Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China and \"no country has the right to interfere in China\'s internal affairs.\" | RELATED: | China Journalism Association Rejects Violence Against Reporter | \"We have noted that President Trump has previously said that \'Hong Kong is part of China and they have to solve it for themselves, without (external) recommendations,\'\" Hua Chunying, the Foreign Affairs spokesperson r…