Venezuela: Major Natural Gas Explosion Act of ‘Sabotage’
teleSUR -EF | telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-25
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says an investigation will immediately begin regarding the explosion of a natural gas-filling plant located in Miranda State on Saturday evening that forced some 6,500 residents of Ocumare del Tuy to temporarily leave their homes. | RELATED: | Maduro: #NoMoreTrump Petition Hits 5 Million | Venezuela’s Minister of Popular Power of Oil and president of Petrol of Venezuela (PDVSA) tweeted that President Maduro is starting an investigation into the case, and has a…
telesurenglish.net/news/Venezuela-Major-…
The Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump: A Threat to American Democracy and an Agent of Chaos in the World?
Prof Rodrigue Tremblay | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-25
When 46.1% of Americans who voted for Trump in November they did not know precisely “what they were buying”. They did not expect that the promised “change” the Republican presidential candidate envisioned and promised was going to be, in fact, “chaos” and “turmoil” in the U.S. government.
globalresearch.ca/the-imperial-presidenc…
Prior to 9/11: US Covert Support to Al Qaeda in Macedonia, “Financing Both Sides”
Prof Michel Chossudovsky | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-25
This essay was first published by antiwar.com in April 2001, barely 5 months before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon. | It was subsequently published by Global Research when the site was launched in September 2001. …
globalresearch.ca/prior-to-911-us-covert…
Brazil Isn’t the Only Far-Right Government Destroying the Planet
Basav Sen | progressive.org | 2019-08-24
As the Amazon burns, the terrifying parallels between the U.S. and Brazilian governments highlight the damage authoritarian leaders are doing.
progressive.org/dispatches/brazil-far-ri…
Bolivia: Supertanker Makes ‘Successful’ 2nd Pass in Chiquatania
teleSUR -EF | telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-24
The Bolivian government says its efforts to douse the major fire in the country’s Chiquitania region was “successful”, after the Boeing 747 ‘Supertanker’, the largest of its kind in the world, made a second round Saturday to help extinguish the fires across the 700,000 hectares of forest in the nation’s arid southeastern. | RELATED: | Brazil: Bolsonaro Blames the Amazon Fires on Environmentalists | Minister of the Presidency Juan Ramon Quintana said the tanker focused on the area around Taperas, a savannah-like zone located between the mountain ranges of San Jose and Ipias. | Quintana said the plane, will…
telesurenglish.net/news/Bolivia-Supertan…
G7 Summit Starts Amid Discontent with Amazon Fires, Trade Wars
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-24
The European Council (EC) President Donald Tusk said on Saturday that it is difficult to imagine the European Union (EU) approving a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Mercosur as long as Brazil does not stop the Amazonian fires. | RELATED: | ‘Counter-G7 Summit’ Rejects Cynicism of Developed Nations | “The burning Amazon rainforest has become another depressing sign of our times. Of course we stand by the EU-Mercosur agreement … but it is hard to imagine a harmonious process of ratific…
telesurenglish.net/news/G7-Summit-Starts…
Leaked documents show Brazil’s Bolsonaro has grave plans for Amazon rainforest
Manuella Libardi | nationofchange.org | 2019-08-24
eaked documents show that Jair Bolsonaro’s government intends to use the Brazilian president’s hate speech to isolate minorities living in the Amazon region. The PowerPoint slides, which democraciaAbierta has seen, also reveal plans to implement predatory projects that could have a devastating environmental impact. | The Bolsonaro government has as one of its priorities to strategically occupy the Amazon region to prevent the implementation of multilateral conservation projects for the rainforest, specifically the so-called “Triple A” project. | “Development projects must be implemented on the Amazon basin to…
nationofchange.org/2019/08/24/leaked-doc…
Amazon Crisis: Mass Protests Erupt Across Brazil
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-24
Demonstrations against the far-right President Jair Bolsonaro and in defense of the Amazon rainforests lasted until late Friday night in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and dozens of cities throughout Brazil. The Brazilian security forces did not even try to prevent the mobilization of thousands who took to the streets. | RELATED: | Brazil: Bolsonaro Now Blames Governors for Fires at the Amazon | On Friday night, the former captain made a radio and television statement promising to fi…
telesurenglish.net/news/Amazon-Crisis-Ma…
Brazilian Troops Deploy to Fight Amazon Fires
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-08-24
RIO DE JANEIRO– Backed by military aircraft, Brazilian troops on Saturday were deploying in the Amazon to fight fires that have swept the region and prompted anti-government protests as well as an international outcry. | President Jair Bolsonaro also tried to temper global concern, saying previously deforested areas had burned and that intact rainforest was spared. Even so, the fires were likely to be urgently discussed at a summit of the Group of Seven leaders in France this weekend. | Some 44,000 troops will be available for “unprecedented” operations to put out the fires, and forces are heading to six Br…
truthdig.com/articles/brazilian-troops-d…
G7: Police Fire Tear Gas, 17 Counter-Summit Activists Arrested
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-24
French riot police fired tear gas at anti-capitalism protesters in Bayonne, a town near Biarritz, the luxurious resort where the Group of Seven (G7) leaders are meeting for their three-day annual summit. | RELATED: | G7 Summit Starts Amid Discontent with Amazon Fires, Trade Wars | Police also used water cannons on demonstrators who were holding the planned marches in Bayonne, 8km from the G7 venue. | Earlier, thousands of environmental activists, human rights defenders, social…
telesurenglish.net/news/G7-Police-Fire-T…
Israel’s Ban on Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar Backfires
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-24
| During Congress’s August recess, a group of 41 Democratic and 31 Republican congressmembers traveled to Israel on a delegation sponsored by American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). AIPAC subsidizes congressional trips to Israel in order to further the “special relationship” between Israel and the United States. Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. military aid: $3.8 billion annually. AIPAC is the chief Israel lobby in the United States and a consistent apologist for Israel’s oppressive policies t…
truthout.org/articles/israels-ban-on-ras…
Israel bombs Iraq, escalating violence targeting Iran
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2019-08-24
An Israeli bombing of a weapons depot allegedly used by Iran is the first Israeli strike on Iraq in nearly…
thegrayzone.com/2019/08/24/israel-bombs-…
Trump Administration Revives Clause That Kept Nazi-Era Refugees From the US
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-24
| During the Nazi era, roughly 300,000 additional Jewish refugees could have gained entry to the U.S. without exceeding the nation’s existing quotas. | The primary mechanism that kept them out: the immigration law’s “likely to become a public charge” clause. Consular officials with the authority to issue visas denied them to everyone they deemed incapable of supporting themselves in the U.S. | It is not possible to say what happened to these refugees. Some immigrated to other countries th…
truthout.org/articles/trump-administrati…
It’s Time to Indict Aung San Suu Kyi for Genocide Against the Rohingya in Myanmar
Mehdi Hasan | theintercept.com | 2019-08-24
Aung San Suu Kyi, a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is an essential part of the decimation of the Rohingya Muslims in Burma. She should face trial.
theintercept.com/2019/08/24/aung-san-suu…
68 Protesters Detained as Leaders Gather at G-7 Summit
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-08-24
BIARRITZ, France–The Latest on the Group of Seven summit (all times local): | 11: 05 p.m. | French authorities have detained 68 people taking part in a tense protest near the G-7 summit. | The regional administration says those detained are accused of throwing projectiles, concealing their faces or possessing objects that could be used as weapons. | Police fired tear gas, water cannon and dispersion grenades at a crowd of about 400 mostly peaceful anti-capitalism demonstrators Saturday in the town of Bayonne. The regional administration says n…
truthdig.com/articles/68-protesters-deta…
US commander says navy ready for Venezuela intervention
wsws.org | 2019-08-24
The threat by the head of the US Southern Command came as both Trump and Maduro confirmed that US and Venezuelan officials have been holding direct talks.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/24/vene…
Twitter relying on US/European gov-funded regime-change groups to crack down on foreign states
Ben Norton | thegrayzone.com | 2019-08-24
Twitter is relying on organizations funded by the US government and European allies, such as right-wing lobby group Freedom House,…
thegrayzone.com/2019/08/24/twitter-relyi…
Safe Zone in Northern Syria is Fully Operational: Turkish MoD
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-24
The safe zone in northern Syria is fully operational now after weeks of negotiations between the U.S. and Turkish defense officials, Turkish Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar was quoted as saying on Saturday by the state-owned Anadolu news agency. | RELATED: | Syrian Army Opens Humanitarian Corridor For Terror Victims | Akar pointed out that the two sides agreed to force out the ‘terrorists’ that were occupying several areas in the northern part of the country. | Prior to the imple…
telesurenglish.net/news/Safe-Zone-in-Nor…
“Child Actorvism” and the Extinction Agenda of Neoliberal Racists
Mathew Maavak | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-08-24
There is no shortage of social justice causes trumpeted by the West‚Ä with a revolving medley of “child actorvists” at the forefront. The logical observer may question whether these endless multi-billion dollar campaigns have had any tangible effect at all, except in serving as a stalking horse for mass-mediated interferences in the affairs of other …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/08/child-actorvi…
Bernie Sanders’ Manhattan project: The game-changing Green New Deal
Juan Cole | nationofchange.org | 2019-08-24
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ breathtaking Green New Deal, with an advertised price tag of $16.3 trillion, is aimed at nothing less than saving the planet from the worst consequences of global heating. | The plan aims to create 20 million new, well-paying jobs. It should be noted that one possible outcome of big Federal R&D monies and a rapid shift to renewables would be to revivify the US industrial sector, which has fallen to only 12 percent or so of the US GDP. Although the price tag seems formidable, Sen. Sanders points out that climate inaction wil…
nationofchange.org/2019/08/24/bernie-san…
Media Availability: Prabir Purkayastha on How Big Data’s Threat to Elections and Democracy Is Quickly Becoming a Global Problem
Eds. | mronline.org | 2019-08-24
The cost of the 2016 U.S. elections was $6.5 billion if we combine the presidential and congressional elections. The Indian Parliamentary election of 2019 outspent the 2016 U.S. 2016 election, costing about $8.6 billion. | Source…
mronline.org/2019/08/24/media-availabili…
How an application for propane fracking attempts to circumvent New York’s fracking ban
Justin Mikulka | nationofchange.org | 2019-08-24
Four years after New York announced the state was banning hydraulic fracturing (fracking), Tioga Energy Partners, LLC has filed an application with the state to frack for natural gas, but there’s a catch. The company is proposing to swap propane into the industry standard mix that usually calls for water. | Environmental advocates consider this application to use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and specifically a propane gel, an attempt…
nationofchange.org/2019/08/24/how-an-app…
Can We Reach 100 Percent Renewable Energy in Time to Avert Climate Catastrophe?
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-24
| Ten years ago, two climate scientists, Mark Jacobson and Mark Delucchi, published a groundbreaking article in Scientific American outlining a road map for becoming 100 percent reliant on energy generated by water, wind and sun by 2030. This was something that needed to be done “if the world has any hope of slowing climate change,” the researchers warned at the time. | The article proved incendiary. “First of all, nobody believed…
truthout.org/articles/can-we-reach-100-p…
Air pollution now linked to degenerative eye disease and mental health problems in children
Alexandra Jacobo | nationofchange.org | 2019-08-24
It seems like nearly every week a new study is coming out to warn us of a new link between air pollution and various health problems. This week two new studies have revealed a link between air pollution from cars, general air pollution, and serious health problems. | A new study conducted by researchers in the United States and Denmark showed a connection between air pollution and an increased risk of mental health problems in people that spend their childhood in areas with high levels of air pollution. | When looking at the insurance data for 151 million individuals collected between 2003 and 2013 in the Unit…
nationofchange.org/2019/08/24/air-pollut…
“We are all equal!” Captain who saved refugees refuses award from Paris mayor
wsws.org | 2019-08-24
Klemp repudiated the award and denounced the anti-refugee polices of the Paris authorities.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/24/klem…
Centrists Are Going to Kill Us
John Atcheson | commondreams.org | 2019-08-24
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks during a rally at Howard University May 13, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/views/2019/08/24/centri…
Unifor convention gives centre-stage to Trudeau, Freeland and the Liberal re-election campaign
wsws.org | 2019-08-24
Unifor is spearheading a massive union drive to keep the big business, pro-austerity, pro-war Trudeau Liberal government in power.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/24/unif…
Huawei, evil Chinese & decapitated cat: Bannon serving warmed-over propaganda to Trump & Americans
rt.com | 2019-08-24
Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon has faced the “China threat” head-on with a lukewarm propaganda film dramatizing the Huawei case in Canada, hoping to galvanize the American people (and president) for a second Cold War. | Claws of the Red Dragon — “inspired by real life events” — tells the tale of a stand-in for Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou, her arrest in Vancouver on US orders, the retaliatory arrest of two Canadians for definitely not spying in China, and the Huawei-standin’s totally real collusion with an especially evil Chinese government. Characters include a plucky Chinese-Canadian journalist hot…
rt.com/usa/467176-bannon-huawei-china-pr…
Insulin Prices Killed Josh Wilkerson. Now His Mother Is Taking On Big Pharma
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-08-24
| When Josh Wilkerson was a boy, he would page through his family’s church directory to find people celebrating birthdays that day so he could call and wish them, “Happy Birthday!” He played Little League baseball and loved pro wrestling, often pantomiming the faux violence he saw on TV with his three brothers. One time, he peed on his brother’s bed after they’d fought and blamed it on spilled apple juice. | He was, in other words, a vibrant, lighthearted kid. “He was normally easygoing a…
truthout.org/articles/insulin-prices-kil…
Henry A. Giroux and the culture of neoliberal fascism
Christian Fuchs | mronline.org | 2019-08-24
HENRY A. GIROUX’s book The Terror of the Unforeseen analyzes the conditions that have enabled and led to Donald Trump’s rule and the consequences of that rule, that have ushered in an authoritarian version of capitalism. Giroux provides a realistic analysis that holds out the hope that, through collective efforts, change is possible and democracy […] | Source…
mronline.org/2019/08/24/henry-a-giroux-a…
Trump’s Concentration Camps for Children
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-24
This week, the Trump Administration declared that immigrant children can be detained indefinitely, and in conditions that can be described as concentration camps. We talk to Sasha Abramsky of The Nation…
therealnews.com/stories/trumps-concentra…
#SaveTheAmazon: Action at Brazilian Consulate in Solidarity w/ Amazon’s Indigenous Peoples
Brasil Solidarity Network & others | indybay.org | 2019-08-24
Brazilian Consulate | 300 Montgomery Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California 94104…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/23/1882564…
Double Standards in Iran Reporting
Florian Zollmann | indybay.org | 2019-08-24
Iran has not attacked any country militarily in the last 100 years. This is mostly unmentioned in the media. Demonizations occur in the Iran reporting. In comparison, reporting about human rights in Saudi Arabia is not on the agenda.
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/23/1882562…
Seven Whispers of the White Dove
Iranian Students Association in America | indybay.org | 2019-08-24
Hertz Hall | 101 Cross-Sproul Path | University of California | Berkeley, CA 94720…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/23/1882564…
#CloseTheCamps: Daily Protest at ICE Headquarters San Francisco (Aug 29)
Month of Momentum Group | indybay.org | 2019-08-24
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 630 Sansome St, San Francisco 94111…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/24/1882566…
#CloseTheCamps: Daily Protest at ICE Headquarters San Francisco (Aug 30)
Month of Momentum Group | indybay.org | 2019-08-24
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 630 Sansome St, San Francisco 94111…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/24/1882566…
#CloseTheCamps: Daily Protest at ICE Headquarters San Francisco (Aug 24)
Month of Momentum Group | indybay.org | 2019-08-24
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 630 Sansome St, San Francisco 94111…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/24/1882565…
#CloseTheCamps: Daily Protest at ICE Headquarters San Francisco (Aug 31)
Month of Momentum Group | indybay.org | 2019-08-24
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 630 Sansome St, San Francisco 94111…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/24/1882566…
#CloseTheCamps: Daily Protest at ICE Headquarters San Francisco (Aug 28)
Month of Momentum Group | indybay.org | 2019-08-24
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 630 Sansome St, San Francisco 94111…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/24/1882566…
#CloseTheCamps: Daily Protest at ICE Headquarters San Francisco (Aug 26)
Month of Momentum Group | indybay.org | 2019-08-24
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 630 Sansome St, San Francisco 94111…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/24/1882565…
#CloseTheCamps: Daily Protest at ICE Headquarters San Francisco (Aug 27)
Month of Momentum Group | indybay.org | 2019-08-24
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 630 Sansome St, San Francisco 94111…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/24/1882565…
Sen. Jeff Merkley Speaks: His New Book on Trump’s War Against Migrant Families
World Affairs SF | indybay.org | 2019-08-24
World Affairs, 312 Sutter St., Suite 200, San Francisco 94108…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/08/24/1882565…
Kashmir: Decentralize Power and Revive Regional Political Institutions
Nyla Ali Khan | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
Introduction As the decade of the 1990s dawned, the politicial, cultural and socioeconomic fabric of Kashmir was severely impaired by the free rein given to Indian military and paramilitary forces to quell dissidence, and also by Pakistan-trained militants who, in a no holds barred conflict, inflicted atrocities on their co-religionists as well. New Delhi hadn’t…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/kashmir-dece…
Kashmir on the edge of the abyss
Tariq Ali | mronline.org | 2019-08-23
Tariq Ali on the situation in Kashmir. | Source…
mronline.org/2019/08/23/kashmir-on-the-e…
Climate change, Amazon fires come to France with G7 protests
Mark Gruenberg | peoplesworld.org | 2019-08-23
BIARRITZ, France–The continuing controversy over international action — or lack of it — to deal with climate change, and the latest big threat to the environment, the massive Brazilian Amazonian wildfires, will descend on the G7 summit here this weekend. The object: To force the leaders of the world’s top industrialized nations to do something …
peoplesworld.org/article/climate-change-…
Bolivia Orders World’s Largest Air Tanker to Combat Amazon Fires
Telesur | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-23
Bolivia’s President Evo Morales announced on Wednesday that Bolivia had contracted a Boeing 747 ‘Supertanker’ to help extinguish huge forest fires in the Amazon that have that spilled over from Brazil. By Wednesday evening, the government confirmed that the tanker …
globalresearch.ca/bolivia-orders-world-l…
Amazon Fires Put the Planet at Risk
Tierra Curry | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
In Brazil, the Amazon rainforest is now burning at a record rate. The greedy, short-sighted policies of Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro are jeopardizing indigenous peoples and countless plants and animals. Indeed, in the midst of a climate emergency, Bolsonaro’s policies to slash environmental protections and develop the Amazon for mining, ranching and farming jeopardize…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/amazon-fires…
GOP Lobbyists Help Brazil Recruit U.S. Companies to Exploit the Amazon
Lee Fang | theintercept.com | 2019-08-23
This summer, fires are being used to clear wide swaths of the Amazon at an unprecedented rate. One-fifth of the Amazon has already been destroyed in the past 50 years; further industrialization of the rainforest risks destroying another fifth, a loss that would be catastrophic for the global ecosystem. | The disaster is widely blamed on interests seeking to clear the world’s largest rainforest for cattle ranching, mining, and export-focused agribusiness. Documents reveal that those interests a…
theintercept.com/2019/08/23/gop-lobbyist…
The Amazon Is Burning Because the World Eats So Much Meat
Eliza Mackintosh | commondreams.org | 2019-08-23
A satellite image from NASA shows the fires raging in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil in August 2019. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
commondreams.org/views/2019/08/23/amazon…
Mura Indigenous Tribe Vows to Protect Sacred Amazon Land
teleSUR, TR | telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-23
A record number of wildfires have raged for weeks and are decimating the Brazilian Amazon, the world’s largest tropical rainforest whose protection scientists say is critical to the fight against climate change. | The blazes have nearly doubled this year compared with the same period in 2018, according to Brazilian officials, prompting a global outcry. | The wildfires come against the backdrop of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, who has railed against environmental fines for farmers and called for indigenous reserves and other protected areas to be opened up for development. | The Mura tribe has long had…
telesurenglish.net/news/Mura-Indigenous-…
Bolsonaro May Send Army to Fight Massive Amazon Fires
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-08-23
France accuses the Brazilian leader of lying over his commitment to save the rainforest, which is seen as crucial to slowing global warming.
truthdig.com/articles/bolsonaro-may-send…
Wildfires rage throughout the Amazon rainforest
wsws.org | 2019-08-23
The Amazon rainforest supplies one-fifth of the world’s oxygen and plays a key role in the planet’s climate.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/23/fire…
‘Counter-G7 Summit’ Rejects Cynicism of Developed Nations
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-23
Less than 24 hours before the Group of Seven (G7) Summit begins, over 15,000 police and military have been drafted into Biarritz to prevent environmental, gender and social activists from reaching this French elegant town. | RELATED: | ‘G7 Summit Should Address Crisis at the Amazon’, Germany Says | “I know there’s 15,000 police and it doesn’t scare me,” activist Genevieve Legay said, adding that the “desperate” French government might use its security forces to hit “us who are aski…
telesurenglish.net/news/Counter-G7-Summi…
GateHouse’s Takeover of Gannett: Bad News for Journalism and the Planet
Janine Jackson | fair.org | 2019-08-23
USA Today’s “Just the FAQs” video ( 8/20/19) on the Amazon fires–which promises to explain, “How does this affect our planet?”–manages to avoid ever using the words “climate” or “global warming.” (There is one reference to “carbon and greenhouse gases,” not further explained.) | by Janine Jackson | USA Today ran a piece ( 8/20/19) on the Amazon fires in which “anthr…
fair.org/home/gatehouses-takeover-of-gan…
World Watching the Fate of Iranian Tanker
Prof. Vijay Prashad | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-23
At 11: 30pm on Sunday, August 18, the Iranian tanker Adrian Darya-1 left the shores of Gibraltar at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea. This ship had been detained about six weeks previous by British Royal Marines and Gibraltar officials. The …
globalresearch.ca/world-watching-fate-ir…
Australia joins US naval operation against Iran, foreshadows involvement in South China Sea
wsws.org | 2019-08-23
Sixteen years after the Iraq war, US imperialism has plans for even more catastrophic crimes–against both Iran and China.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/23/auir…
Trump Regime Threatens Illegal Sanctions on Nations Legally Buying Iranian Oil
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-23
The US under both extremist right wings of its war party is a rogue state by any definition. | It operates extrajudicially at home and abroad. It’s increasingly repressive and totalitarian, heading toward full-blown tyranny if the present trend continues unchecked….
globalresearch.ca/trump-regime-threatens…
US escalates preparations for nuclear war with Russia and China
wsws.org | 2019-08-23
After withdrawing from the INF treaty, the US is accelerating its preparations to fight a nuclear war with China or Russia by testing and stockpiling dangerous new weapons in a nuclear arms race.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/08/23/nucl…
More Russiagate unraveling? Ex-CEO says FBI instructed him to have relationship with Maria Butina
rt.com | 2019-08-23
Former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne has told media that he was ordered by the FBI to initiate a romantic relationship with imprisoned Russian gun activist Maria Butina, seemingly confirming claims made by her lawyer. | Byrne, who resigned from the online retail company on Thursday, explained to CNN’s Chris Cuomo that he had been asked by the FBI — on the orders of then-director James Comey — to “rekindle a romantic relationship” with Butina. | Taken aback by the claim, Cuomo interjected: “You believe that Jim Comey knew that you were being asked to do these things in the name of the United States gove…
rt.com/usa/467136-butina-byrne-fbi-infor…
WATCH: Plane cabin fills with smoke moments before emergency landing
rt.com | 2019-08-23
Horrified passengers of Hawaiian Airlines were lucky to escape disaster after their cabin filled with smoke during a flight to Honolulu on Thursday. Their plane made an emergency landing before the crew evacuated all on board. | Seven passengers, five adults and two children, were hospitalized after suffering “smoke-related symptoms,” the airline said in a statement. | Also on rt.com | | Watch Swiss fighter jets shadow Russian GOVERNMENT PLANE as ‘act of hospitality’ | Smoke began filling the cabin 20 minutes before the flight from Oakland, California lan…
rt.com/usa/467124-hawaiian-airlines-smok…
‘Crime does pay’: CNN hires disgraced ex-FBI director Andrew McCabe
rt.com | 2019-08-23
What does one get for leaking to the media, lying to federal investigators about it, and allegedly participating in a plot to derail an American election? If you answered jail time, too bad. The correct answer is a job at CNN. | …
rt.com/usa/467172-mccabe-cnn-russiagate-…
Weekend Read: ICE’s deliberate cruelty
splcenter.org | 2019-08-23
Five days after taking office, President Trump signed “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States” — an executive order calling for the hiring of thousands of new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and the use of state and local police to enforce immigration law.
splcenter.org/news/2019/08/24/weekend-re…
Suddenly West is Failing to Overthrow “Regimes”
Andre Vltchek | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-08-23
It used to be done regularly and it worked: The West identified a country as its enemy, unleashed its professional propaganda against it, then administered a series of sanctions, starving and murdering children, the elderly and other vulnerable groups. If the country did not collapse within months or just couple of years, the bombing would …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/08/suddenly-west…
Sasha Abramsky on Trump’s New Attack on Immigrants
CounterSpin | fair.org | 2019-08-23
Media…
fair.org/home/sasha-abramsky-on-trumps-n…
Trump Fine-tunes Peace Deal with Taliban
M. K. Bhadrakumar | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-23
The US President Donald Trump’s remarks at the Oval Office in the White House on August 20 regarding the Afghan peace talks and related issues exuded an overall sense of satisfaction that the “endless war” is finally ending –although …
globalresearch.ca/trump-fine-tunes-peace…
Venezuela’s Maduro Confirms Secret Trump Talks as US Navy ‘Ready’ For Action
Ricardo Vaz | venezuelanalysis.com | 2019-08-23
US Southern Command chief said US Navy will “do what needs to be done.”
venezuelanalysis.com/news/14634
US Navy “Ready” to “Restore Democracy” in Venezuela through Military Means?
Global Research News | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-23
“I’m not going to detail what we’re planning and what we’re doing, but we’re ready to implement policy decisions, and we’re ready to act … | The United States Navy is the most powerful navy in the world. … | If there …
globalresearch.ca/us-navy-ready-to-resto…
They Don’t Make Republicans Like the Great Paul Findley Anymore!
Ralph Nader | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
In his 22 years in Congress (1960 — 1982), Paul Findley achieved a sterling record for fundamental positions, proposals and breakthroughs that revealed a great man, pure and simple. He never stopped learning and applying his knowledge to advance the right course of action, regardless of political party, ideology or pressure from various groups. Findley,…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/they-dont-ma…
The War on Indigenous People is a War on the Biosphere Itself
Kenn Orphan | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
“Destroying rainforest for economic gain is like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal.” — E.O. Wilson “Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.” –Cree Proverb…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/the-war-on-i…
Indigenous People’s Rights and Canada’s ‘Vampire’ Pension Plan
Prof. James K. Rowe | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-23
Wet’suwet’en people have never ceded their land through treaty; like many Indigenous people they continue to practice relations of responsibility with the places and beings that give them life, including protecting them from ecological devastation. In January 2019, the RCMP …
globalresearch.ca/indigenous-peoples-rig…
Is Environmental Protection Possible?
Evaggelos Vallianatos | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
The US EPA I joined the US Environmental Protection Agency in 1979. It happened by accident. A friend in Alexandria, Virginia, was working for the personnel office of EPA. We talked and I expressed interest in EPA. I said to him something to the effect the EPA was a great and necessary institution in late…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/is-environme…
Educators Actually Do “Work” in the Summer
Laura Finley | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
I love what I do. Being an educator is interesting, creative, and rewarding. And it is also hard work. That’s why it is offensive as we head back to school to hear people say “must have been nice to have the summer off to do nothing.” Surely most do not intend to offend. I get…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/educators-ac…
Congo’s Patrice Lumumba: The Winds of Reaction in Africa
Kenneth Good | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
The Congo won independence from Belgium in June 1960 with Patrice Lumumba, age 35, as Prime Minister. Immediately it began to fall apart, under revanchist Belgian assault, Cold War pressures, adjacent settler colonial reaction and collaborationist Congolese elites like Moise Tshombe and Joseph Desire Mobutu. On 12 July Lumumba and President Kasavubu asked UN Secretary…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/congos-patri…
Our Vanishing World: Melting Glaciers
Robert J. Burrowes | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-23
Something is causing the worlds glaciers and mountain ice fields to melt. And, despite your first thought, it is not the ongoing climate catastrophe. | It does not matter where on Earth the glaciers and mountain ice fields are located, they …
globalresearch.ca/vanishing-world-glacie…
California Tightens Restrictions of Police Use of Lethal Force to Counter Nationwide Outrage over Unarmed Civilian Murders
Sarah Abed | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-23
A new law passed on Monday in California and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom now allows police officers to only use lethal force when it is “necessary” in response to a threat instead of the existing “reasonable” standard. | Assembly bill …
globalresearch.ca/california-tightens-re…
Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration Attack on Endangered Species Act
Earth Justice | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-23
Environmental and animal protection groups today sued the Trump administration over its new regulations that dramatically weaken the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Earthjustice filed the lawsuit on behalf of Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Club, Natural …
globalresearch.ca/lawsuit-challenges-tru…
Notes on Inauthenticity in a Creeping Fascist Nuthouse
Paul Street | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
The reigning corporate Democrats would rather lose to the right, even to a proto-fascistic white nationalist and eco-exterminist right, than lose to the left, even to a mildly progressive social democratic and environmentalist left within their own party. How else explain their insistence on promoting the ridiculous, right-wing arch-corporatist, imperialist, and dementia-plagued right-wing gaffe machine Joke Biden in the long march to the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries?
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/notes-on-ina…
Whither the Resistance to our Capitalist Overlords?
Gary Olson | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
All efforts to reform the American system is capitulation. — Chris Hedges Without massive resistance to white supremacy and war, the U.S. empire threatens to devour itself alive and will no doubt attempt to take us with it. — Danny Haiphong No serious change, remotely popular sovereignty, no protection and advance of the common good…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/whither-the-…
Why a Defense Agreement with Israel Would be a Disaster for Americans. Lindsey Graham’s Blank Check
Philip Giraldi | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-23
Two world wars began because of unconditional pledges made by one country to come to assistance of another. On July 5, 1914, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany pledged his country’s complete support for whatever response Austria-Hungary would choose to make …
globalresearch.ca/lindsey-graham-defense…
Hybrid wars are destroying Democracies
Vijay Prashad | mronline.org | 2019-08-23
In Brazil recently, I gave an interview to Brasil de Fato, which was born in 2003 as the weekly magazine of the World Social Forum. It is now one of the most important windows into Brazil’s political world. The newsletter this week carries the text of most of the interview. | Source…
mronline.org/2019/08/23/hybrid-wars-are-…
Brazil: From Global Leader to U.S. Lapdog
Helder F. do Vale | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
Brazil recently gained the vaunted status of “Major Non-NATO Ally.” This title symbolizes the new, preferential relationship that Brazil has been pursuing with the U.S. as a result of the continued efforts by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro to inaugurate a new phase in Brazil’s global role. Bolsonaro’s presidency has initiated deep changes in Brazilian foreign…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/brazil-from-…
The “Lungs of the Earth” Are Literally Being Burned Away as Unprecedented Wildfires Absolutely Ravage Our Planet
Michael Snyder | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-23
We have never seen anything quite like this. This week the skies above Brazil’s largest city turned black in the middle of the afternoon due to the massive wildfires that are currently raging in that country. But the wildfires aren’t …
globalresearch.ca/unprecedented-wildfire…
Mercosur-EFTA Sign Trade Accord After 20 Years of Negotiations
teleSUR -EF | telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-23
In a historic signing, countries within Mercosur and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) came to a free trade agreement Friday after 23 years of negotiations. | RELATED: | ‘Brazil to Leave Mercosur if Cristina Wins’, Minister Guedes | Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro called the document, “another great victory for our commercial opening and diplomacy,” who currently presides over the Mercosur bloc, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. The head of state,…
telesurenglish.net/news/Mercosur-EFTA-Si…
Top 1% up $21 Trillion. Bottom 50% down $900 Billion
Eds. | mronline.org | 2019-08-23
The insights of this new data series are many, but for this post here I want to highlight a single eye-popping statistic. Between 1989 and 2018, the top 1 percent increased its total net worth by $21 trillion. The bottom 50 percent actually saw its net worth decrease by $900 billion over the same period. | Source…
mronline.org/2019/08/23/top-1-up-21-tril…
David Koch, billionaire conservative & one of the world’s richest people, dies at 79
rt.com | 2019-08-23
US billionaire businessman and key Republican Party donor David Koch has died at the age of 79. | Koch stepped down from the family business, Koch Industries, last year amid health problems. His death has been confirmed by his older brother Charles. | “It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of my brother David,” says Charles Koch in statement.– Steve Herman (@W7VOA) August 23, 2019 | David was listed by Forbes…
rt.com/news/467142-david-koch-richest-di…
US: Billionaire Tycoon, Tea Party Donor David Koch Dies at 79
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-23
Billionaire industrialist David Koch, behind conglomerate Koch Industries who, as one of the world’s richest people became a major financier of conservative causes and the Republican party, has died at age 79, his brother said Friday morning. | RELATED: | Richest 10% in US Will Own 100% of the Wealth by 2052: Study | Charles Koch, Koch Industries Inc.’s chairman, disclosed the death in a statement, saying the cause of his younger brother’s death was prostate cancer. | Koch amassed his va…
telesurenglish.net/news/US-Billionaire-T…
Boris Johnson Government’s High Speed 2 (HS2) Rail Link Evaluation Fatally Flawed by Incompetent Ministers
Hans Stehling | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-23
It is inappropriate that the cost benefit analysis of the largest civil construction project in Europe, worth between £56 billion and £100 billion, is essentially in the hands of a newly appointed, inexperienced transport minister with a less than savoury …
globalresearch.ca/johnson-government-hs2…
Video: Khan Shaykhun Liberated, Northern Hama Pocket — Next
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-23
On August 21, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the Tiger Forces liberated the town of Khan Shaykhun and the areas of Khazanat and Tal Taeri, thus fully encircling remaining militants in northern Hama. | The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham strong points …
globalresearch.ca/video-khan-shaykhun-li…
Syrian Terrorists Cannot Hold Northern Hama Pocket for Long Time
Ahmad Al Khaled | globalresearch.ca | 2019-08-23
The Syrian army has managed to make significant progress in clashes with “opposition” groups in Northwestern Syria, taking the strategically important city of Khan Sheikhoun. The SAA also cut the highway located to the North from the city, blocking supply …
globalresearch.ca/syrian-rebels-cannot-h…
NPR Mocks Cancer Survivor in Drumbeat of Syria Propaganda
Rick Sterling | mintpressnews.com | 2019-08-23
While NPR snorts about Asma Assad “sporting a chic blonde pixie cut”, Lilly Martin points out that she was recently bald while fighting for her life.
mintpressnews.com/npr-mocks-cancer-survi…
What It’s Like to Grow Up Hunted
Josue De Luna Navarro | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
It was a quiet Sunday night when my dad told me to hide in a closet — and stay there until he said to come out. As I sat in the dark, I knew this was part of my life, part of my identity. The darkness and fear slowly penetrated my heart. I tightened up…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/what-its-lik…
What Netanyahu’s Travel Ban Has Revealed
L. Michael Hager | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
Until a few weeks ago America’s unqualified support for Israel was solidly bipartisan. Aided by media bias and reporter reluctance to address on-the-ground realities, AIPAC and its affiliates had the public relations space virtually to themselves. Reinforced by mainstream media, the “Exodus” narrative captured and retained popular sympathy, while U.S. policymakers began to regard Israel…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/what-netanya…
Meditation on a Racist Nation
Ron Jacobs | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
What You Gonna’ Do When the World’s on Fire? is a powerful film. Set in a Black neighborhood in the US deep South years after the flooding from hurricane Katrina, the film tells a story of hope and despair, anger and love, and joy and sorrow. Political in the sense that all human experience is…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/meditation-o…
Earth 4C Hotter
Robert Hunziker | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
A decade ago several prominent climate scientists discussed the prospects of a 4C Earth. Their concern was qualified “… if greenhouse gases do not slow down, then expect a 4C Earth by 2055.” Of course, that would be catastrophic, and one can only assume those scientists must have recognized real risks. Otherwise, why address the…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/earth-4c-hot…
The Realism and Unrealism of the Green New Deals
Pete Dolack | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
A problem facing advocates of serious action to deter global warming is that the costs of not acting aren’t quantifiable and remain somewhat abstract. In contrast, calling for a phase-out of fossil fuels understandably leads to fears of job losses, especially since capitalism isn’t going to offer new employment for those displaced. There will be…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/the-realism-…
What China’s Leadership is Really Worried About: Rising Debt
Tom Clifford | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
Beijing. The resort town of Beidaihe has just held one of the world’s most important, and secretive, political gatherings. Members of the public flock there in the summer months to relax on the beach gently lapped by the shallow waters of the Yellow Sea. But far from the madding crowd, the resort, 200 km north…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/what-chinas-…
Saving the Planet Means Fighting Bipartisan Corruption
Daphne Wysham | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
Burning fossil fuels boils our planet — that much is generally well known. But often these fuels do serious damage before they ever get to market. They spill out of pipelines, poison groundwater, or explode on trains. Even when they don’t, building new pipelines and export terminals helps companies sell more fuel — often of…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/saving-the-p…
On Those Downward Jobs Revisions
Dean Baker | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that its benchmark revision to its job numbers shows that the economy created 501,000 fewer jobs between March of 2018 and March of 2019 than previously reported. There are a few points to be made about this number. First, there is nothing fishy here. Trump has zero to do…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/on-those-dow…
The White-Nationalist Great Fear
David Rosen | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
A century ago, the nation was wracked by race wars known as the “Red Summer” of 1919. Today, race wars are resurging, but implemented not by gangs or groups as in the early-20thcentury but by isolated — and heavily armed — individuals who share a common white-nationalist ideology. During much of the late-1910s and early-20s, gangs…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/the-white-na…
Beware of the Gun-Lover-in-Chief
Rev. William Alberts | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-23
President Trump loves guns. They are an extension of his violent personality. It is assumed that, as a last resort, guns will be the means by which he will try to enforce his authoritarian will on Americans if he loses the election in 2020. The signs are there. When running for president, Donald Trump said…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/23/beware-of-th…